Chapter 16 - Monica Comes Back
Monica returned to Atelier Cole at 3:17 in the morning.
She came through the front doors alone, without makeup, without heels, and without the sharp confidence Sophia had seen earlier.
Her black blazer was gone.
There was a bruise on her wrist.
Police met her before she reached the staircase.
“I need to talk to Sophia.”
Ortiz said, “You need a lawyer.”
“I need Sophia first.”
Against Ortiz’s advice, Sophia agreed to stand behind the interview-room glass while Monica spoke.
Monica admitted taking illegal fees.
She admitted helping move gowns.
She admitted humiliating clients who Grant considered “low probability buyers” because he wanted staff focused on people most likely to spend big.
Then Sophia asked the question that mattered.
“Did you pour water on me because Grant told you to?”
Monica looked down.
“Yes.”
Edward swore quietly behind the glass.
“Why?”
“He said you were coming undercover. He wanted you angry enough to reveal yourself before you saw how the salon really worked.”
“So the cruelty was real.”
Monica’s face twisted. “Yes.”
Not an excuse.
Not a misunderstanding.
A choice.
Monica said she had planned to run after the stockroom confrontation, but Grant called her from the road.
“He said Martin was cleaning up witnesses.”
Ortiz leaned forward. “What witnesses?”
“Rachel.”
Sophia felt cold.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. But I know why she disappeared.”
Monica looked directly toward the one-way glass, as if she could see Sophia standing behind it.
“Rachel found a second ledger. Not the one in the basement. The real one.”
“Where?” Ortiz asked.
Monica swallowed.
“She mailed it to someone two days before they forced her out.”
“Who?”
May you like
Monica answered with one name.
“Sophia Reed.”
