“You did that yourself.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“You set me up.”
“I walked into my own store.”
“You dressed like…”
She stopped.
I waited.
“Like what?”
Her jaw tightened.
She looked away.
That answer was enough.
Martin was still standing near the register.
He had removed his management pin, but he hadn’t left.
I turned toward him.
“Why are you still here?”
He blinked.
“I…”
“Corporate security will interview you upstairs.”
His face fell.
“I understand.”
“Not because you failed to recognize me.”
He looked up.
“Because you knew she was wrong and helped her anyway.”
He swallowed.
“Yes, ma’am.”
That mattered.
There was a difference between ignorance and cowardice.
Both could damage a company.
Only one had looked me in the eye and asked me not to make things difficult.
Jasmine approached carefully.
“Ms. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“There’s something you should know.”
Martin’s head turned sharply.
Jasmine noticed.
So did I.
“What?”
She looked frightened.
“For the last month, we’ve been told to prioritize certain customers.”
“By who?”
“Management.”
I glanced at Martin.
He shook his head quickly.
“Not me.”
Jasmine continued.
“Corporate sent a list.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of list?”
“Preferred clients.”
“That’s normal.”
She hesitated.
“This one had instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“Some clients were allowed to close floors.”
I frowned.
“Without executive approval?”
“Yes.”
Martin interrupted.
“I received the directive too.”
I turned toward him.
“You just said it wasn’t you.”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
“Whose?”
He looked at Victoria.
Her face changed.
That was enough for me.
“What did you do?” I asked her.
She crossed her arms.
“Nothing.”
Richard ended his phone call and returned.
“Victoria.”
She looked at him.
“Tell her.”
Her face hardened.
“There is nothing to tell.”
Richard’s voice sharpened.
“The bank froze our financing because of a compliance complaint.”
My attention sharpened.
“What complaint?”
“Improper coordination during acquisition due diligence.”
I stared at him.
“Coordination with who?”
He looked at Victoria.
She stepped backward.
I suddenly understood why Jasmine had mentioned the list.
I looked at Martin.
“Did the preferred client directive come from Carter Retail or Whitmore?”
Martin hesitated.
“Technically neither.”
“Then where?”
“A consulting firm.”
“What firm?”
He swallowed.
“Lark Advisory.”
I knew the name.
Lark had been hired by Whitmore Capital to assist with operational transition planning after closing.
After closing.
Not before.
They had no authority inside our stores.
I looked at Richard.
“Did you authorize Lark to issue instructions to my managers?”
His expression went cold.
“No.”
Victoria spoke quickly.
“Dad, it wasn’t like that.”
He turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
She shook her head.
“I helped them understand client expectations.”
“Who is them?”
“Lark.”
“Why?”
“Because if we were buying the company, someone needed to improve things.”
My anger returned.
“You thought you owned Bellamy before the deal closed.”
She looked at me.
“I thought we were trying to make it better.”
“By removing customers you didn’t approve of?”
“That’s not what happened.”
Jasmine spoke from behind me.
“It is.”
Victoria turned.
“What?”
Jasmine’s voice shook.
But she continued.
“The list had categories.”
I felt cold.
“What categories?”
She looked at me.
“Platinum.”
“Gold.”
“Standard.”
Pause.
“And discretionary.”
I knew immediately which one mattered.
“What did discretionary mean?”
Martin answered this time.
“It meant management could refuse service.”
“Based on what?”
He looked ashamed.
“Presentation.”
I stared at him.
“That’s not a policy.”
“I know.”
“Income?”
“Sometimes.”
“Clothing?”
“Yes.”
“Race?”
His silence lasted too long.
Richard swore quietly.
Victoria snapped, “Nobody said race.”
I turned toward her.
“Did anyone need to?”
She opened her mouth.
No answer.
Jasmine looked toward the security guards.
“One of them refused to remove a customer last week.”
The younger guard beside the entrance raised his eyes.
“Was that you?” I asked.
He nodded.
“What happened?”
“I got written up.”
“For what?”
He hesitated.
“Failure to protect brand environment.”
That phrase hit me like acid.
“Who signed the write-up?”
He looked at Martin.
Martin’s shoulders fell.
“I did.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of losing your job?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“Now you have.”
He looked down.
I hated that answer.
But I hated the system that had made employees believe prejudice was safer than resistance even more.
Richard stepped toward Victoria.
“You worked with Lark?”
“Yes.”
“How closely?”
She hesitated.
“That depends what you mean.”
His face darkened.
“How closely?”
“I attended planning meetings.”
My pulse quickened.
“You were not part of the transaction team,” I said.
“I’m family.”
“That isn’t authority.”
She ignored me.
Richard didn’t.
“How many meetings?”
“Maybe six.”
“With who?”
“Lark’s managing partner.”
“Name.”
She paused.
“Adrian Cole.”
I knew him.
Everybody in private equity knew him.
Aggressive.
Smart.
Too comfortable with conflicts.
Richard’s face went pale.
“Adrian?”
Victoria frowned.
“What?”
Her father looked at me.
“Adrian used to work for us.”
I understood the problem immediately.
“How long ago?”
“Seven years.”
“In what role?”
“Strategy.”
“Why did he leave?”
Richard didn’t answer.
Victoria looked between us.
“Why does that matter?”
Richard stared at his daughter.
“Because he was fired.”
Her eyes widened.
“For what?”
“Unauthorized transfer of confidential information.”
Silence.
I felt the pieces shifting.
An unapproved consulting firm.
Internal store directives.
Client profiling.
A frozen bank facility.
Maybe this wasn’t just entitlement.
Maybe somebody had been using Victoria’s arrogance as access.
My phone rang.
My chief counsel.
I answered.
“Talk to me.”
“Simone, we found something.”
I stepped away from the group.
“What?”
“Lark Advisory received internal Bellamy sales data three weeks ago.”
My body went still.
“From our system?”
“Yes.”
“Authorized?”
“No.”
“How much?”
“Customer profiles, store performance, supplier contracts, lease terms.”
That was acquisition-grade data.
Potentially devastating in the wrong hands.
“Source?”
“We’re tracing it.”
I looked at Victoria.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
My attorney hesitated.
“Lark forwarded portions to an outside investment fund.”
My stomach tightened.
“Which fund?”
“North Coast Partners.”
I knew that name too.
A competitor.
One that had tried to buy Bellamy from me two years earlier.
I ended the call.
Richard saw my face.
“What happened?”
I told him.
His expression collapsed.
Victoria looked confused.
“Adrian said sharing data was normal.”
I stared at her.
“You gave him access?”
“No.”
“Then how did he get it?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“I introduced him to people.”
“Who?”
She looked toward Martin.
My eyes followed.
Martin went pale.
I walked toward him.
“Did you give Lark system credentials?”
“No.”
“Did anyone at this store?”
He swallowed.
“One analyst visited.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Name.”
“Ethan Marsh.”
Richard stiffened.
Victoria noticed.
“What?”
He whispered, “Ethan works for Whitmore Capital.”
I looked at him.
“Currently?”
“Yes.”
Now it was his company too.
His employee.
His fired former strategist.
His daughter.
My stolen data.
Richard pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling security.”
I stopped him.
“Not yet.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because if someone inside your company helped steal information, I want to know how far it goes before they realize we know.”
Victoria looked suddenly afraid.
Not arrogant.