CHAPTER 6 — OLIVIA’S SECOND SECRET
Olivia contacted me before I could contact her.
She asked to meet at a coffee shop near the hospital.
Maya insisted on coming with me.
When Olivia arrived, she looked nothing like the confident woman from Gate 42. Her hair was loose, her eyes were swollen, and the engagement ring was gone.
She sat across from us.
“I didn’t know what Northstar was doing.”
“You received payments from it,” I said.
“I received consulting fees.”
“For what?”
“A cardiac device study.”
“Did you perform a study?”
She looked down.
“No.”
Maya leaned forward.
“How much were you paid?”
“One hundred twenty thousand dollars.”
My stomach tightened.
“And you never questioned it?”
“Daniel said the hospital couldn’t pay me directly until the study received final approval.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
The words sounded painfully familiar.
Olivia reached into her purse and removed a small black phone.
“I found this in the apartment.”
“Daniel’s?”
“He kept it locked in a desk. After the airport, I guessed the password.”
She placed it on the table.
The phone contained messages between Daniel, Richard and several hospital administrators.
They discussed invoices, referral percentages and consulting agreements.
Most of the language was vague.
But the pattern was clear.
Northstar had paid doctors who directed patients toward devices supplied by a company partially owned by Richard.
Some of those payments had been disguised as research grants.
Olivia’s name appeared repeatedly.
“You benefited from this,” I said.
“I know.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Her honesty surprised me.
“But I’m giving you everything.”
She unlocked another folder.
There were photographs of Daniel and Richard meeting with hospital executives, copies of contracts and voice recordings.
“Why did you record them?”
“Because three months ago, I began asking questions. Daniel became angry. He told me not to interfere in matters I didn’t understand.”
“And you stayed with him.”
“I thought he was protecting his career.”
She looked at me.
“I know how pathetic that sounds.”
I didn’t comfort her.
She had made choices.
So had I.
Olivia opened a recording.
Richard’s voice filled the small table.
“Once Rachel’s ownership is transferred, we close the old company and reopen under Northstar. Her name remains attached to the offshore distributions. If anyone looks backward, she takes the fall.”
Daniel responded.
“She won’t challenge it.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because she still loves me.”
My hands went cold.
Daniel had not merely taken advantage of my trust.
He had calculated it.
In his mind, my love was not something precious.
It was a weakness he could use.
Maya stopped the recording.
“This could lead to criminal charges.”
Olivia nodded.
“I’m prepared to cooperate.”
“Even if you’re charged too?”
Her face tightened.
“Yes.”
Before leaving, she handed me the black phone.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“The vacation wasn’t only an engagement trip.”
She opened an email confirmation.
Daniel had booked a private ceremony at a resort in the Bahamas.
The date was two days away.
“You can’t legally marry someone else while married to me,” I said.
“He planned to present the fake divorce decree.”
Daniel had intended to become a bigamist using a forged court document.
But Olivia had found something even stranger in his luggage.
A sealed envelope addressed to a Bahamian attorney.
Inside was a copy of my life insurance policy.
Daniel was the sole beneficiary.
The coverage amount had been increased six months earlier.
From five hundred thousand dollars to five million.
“I never approved that,” I whispered.
Maya examined the paperwork.
The beneficiary confirmation carried another forged signature.
Olivia looked toward the window.
“Daniel told me the policy was part of your divorce settlement.”
“Why would a divorced woman keep him as beneficiary?”
“I didn’t think about it.”
Maya’s voice became careful.
“Did Daniel ever say anything about Rachel’s health?”
Olivia hesitated.
“He said she had a heart condition.”
“I don’t.”
“He said the doctors believed stress could trigger a fatal event.”
The table fell silent.
Then Olivia unlocked one final message.
May you like
It was from Richard to Daniel.
Do not rush the final phase. Rachel’s collapse must appear natural.
