Gerald stared at him.
“You're unbelievable.”
“No.”
Victor removed his glasses and cleaned them slowly.
“You're simply beginning to realize how badly you've miscalculated.”
Mr. Shu looked at Whitney.
“Do you know this man?”
Whitney shook her head.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“You don't know me.”
“No.”
“But I know you.”
Whitney felt uneasy.
“How?”
Victor placed his glasses back on.
“Because I've spent the last six months looking for someone who could do exactly what you just did.”
Gerald laughed bitterly.
“Don't turn this into some ridiculous story.”
Victor ignored him.
He looked at Whitney.
“You translated the contract without being told what was wrong with it.”
“Yes.”
“You identified two discrepancies.”
“Yes.”
“And you noticed the name.”
Whitney nodded.
Victor leaned back.
“That's why.”
Gerald slammed his palm against the table.
“Enough.”
Several diners flinched.
The manager, Daniel, immediately approached.
“Mr. Covington.”
Gerald turned.
“Don't interfere.”
Daniel remained calm.
“I need everyone to keep their voices down.”
Victor smiled.
“Good advice.”
Gerald pointed at him.
“You've been trying to sabotage this deal for months.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“I've been trying to stop you from stealing it.”
The room went silent.
Mr. Shu looked at Gerald.
“Stealing?”
Gerald shook his head.
“That's absurd.”
Victor reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a thin folder.
“I thought you'd say that.”
He placed the folder on the table.
Gerald immediately reached for it.
Victor moved it away.
“No.”
“What?”
“You don't get to destroy the evidence again.”
Gerald's face changed.
Whitney noticed.
“What evidence?”
Victor looked at her.
“That is exactly the question I hoped you would ask.”
He opened the folder.
Inside were several printed pages.
Emails.
Bank transfers.
Corporate documents.
And photographs.
Whitney recognized Gerald in several of them.
But then she saw something else.
Victor pointed to a photograph.
A younger Gerald stood beside a group of executives outside a hotel.
“This was taken eighteen months ago.”
Mr. Shu studied it.
“What does it prove?”
“That Gerald's company had already entered negotiations with another investment group before he approached you.”
Gerald shook his head.
“That's not illegal.”
“No.”
Victor turned another page.
“But what happened next is.”
Whitney looked at the documents.
There were dates.
Amounts.
Company names.
She didn't understand everything.
But she understood enough.
Gerald had apparently presented the same development project to multiple investors.
That alone wasn't necessarily unusual.
The problem was that the documents suggested he had taken confidential information from one group and used it to negotiate with another.
Mr. Shu's face became increasingly serious.
“You told us this project was exclusive.”
“It was.”
Victor laughed.
“No, it wasn't.”
Gerald glared at him.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
Victor turned toward Whitney.
“Ask him about Pacific Meridian.”
Gerald froze.
Whitney frowned.
“What is Pacific Meridian?”
Gerald answered quickly.
“Nothing.”
Victor smiled.
“Exactly.”
Mr. Shu's attorney looked up.
“Pacific Meridian was the company that withdrew from the waterfront project last year.”
Victor nodded.
“After investing thirty-five million dollars.”
Mr. Shu looked at Gerald.
“Where did their money go?”
Gerald's expression hardened.
“The project failed.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
He placed another document on the table.
“The project didn't fail.”
Whitney leaned closer.
“The project changed ownership.”
Victor nodded.
“Exactly.”
He looked at Gerald.
“Three weeks after Pacific Meridian withdrew, a company called Westbridge Holdings acquired the development rights.”
Mr. Shu's attorney checked the paperwork.
“Westbridge Holdings is owned by…”
He stopped.
Whitney finished the sentence.
“Gerald Covington.”
The table fell silent.
Gerald looked furious.
“You don't understand corporate structures.”
“No,” Whitney said quietly.
“I don't.”
Victor smiled.
“But I understand the words.”
Gerald turned toward her.
“What exactly are you trying to prove?”
Whitney met his eyes.
“I'm not trying to prove anything.”
She pointed toward the contract.
“I'm trying to understand why the agreement contains clauses that appear to protect your company while putting Mr. Shu's investment at risk.”
Gerald said nothing.
Victor nodded.
“And that is why I needed you.”
Whitney looked at him.
“Why me?”
“Because nobody in Gerald's organization expected you to understand what you were reading.”
Whitney frowned.
“That doesn't answer my question.”
Victor closed the folder.
“I need someone outside the companies involved.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone inside them has something to lose.”
Whitney looked toward Mr. Shu.
He was watching Victor carefully.
Then he looked at Whitney.
“Do you have legal training?”
“No.”
“Financial training?”
“No.”
“Business training?”
Whitney smiled.
“I work in a restaurant.”
Victor laughed.
“That may be exactly why you're useful.”
Gerald scoffed.
“This is ridiculous.”
Whitney turned toward him.
“Then why are you afraid?”
The question hit him harder than an accusation.
Gerald stared at her.
Whitney didn't raise her voice.
She didn't need to.
“Five minutes ago, you were laughing at me because I couldn't possibly understand Chinese.”
She glanced at the documents.
“Now you're angry because I understand it.”
Gerald's jaw tightened.
“You don't know anything about me.”
“Maybe not.”
Whitney looked at Victor.
“But he seems to know quite a lot.”
Victor nodded.
“More than Gerald would like.”
Gerald suddenly grabbed the folder.
This time Victor let him.
Gerald flipped through the pages.
His hands were shaking slightly.
“You can't use these.”
“Why?”
“They're confidential.”
Victor smiled.
“You should have thought about that before using confidential documents belonging to other people.”
Gerald looked at him with hatred.
“You think you're going to destroy me?”
“No.”
Victor leaned forward.
“I think you already did that yourself.”
Gerald's eyes narrowed.
“What do you want?”
“There it is.”
Victor smiled.
“The question I've been waiting for.”
Mr. Shu folded his hands.
“We are listening.”
Victor took a deep breath.
“I want the truth.”
Gerald laughed.
“That's all?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Then you walk away from this project.”
Gerald shook his head.
“Never.”
Victor nodded.
“Then we'll proceed with the investigation.”
Gerald's expression changed.
“What investigation?”
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Whitney.
“Tell them what you noticed.”
Whitney hesitated.
“I don't know what you're asking.”
“Look at the contract again.”
She did.
Victor pointed to the bottom.
“There's a reference number.”
Whitney found it.
“Yes.”
“Read it.”
She read the number aloud.
Victor smiled.
“Now compare it with the reference number on the original agreement.”
Mr. Shu's attorney searched through his files.
He found the document.
He compared the numbers.
His eyes widened.
“They're different.”
Gerald closed his eyes.
Whitney looked at him.
“Why?”
Gerald didn't answer.
Victor did.
“Because the document you were given tonight isn't the original.”
Mr. Shu stood.
“What?”
Victor pointed toward the pages.
“Someone altered it.”