Chapter 3 - The Employee Who Stayed Quiet
Maya’s hands shook as she accepted the bottle of water Sophia offered her.
She did not drink it.
“My first week here, Monica told me there are two kinds of clients,” Maya said. “Women we serve and women we remove.”
Sophia leaned against the desk. “How does she decide?”
“Shoes. Handbag. Accent. Whether they come with a driver. Whether she recognizes their last name.”
Edward closed his eyes.
Maya kept going.
“If somebody looks rich, Monica gives them champagne and calls them darling. If they don’t, she makes them wait. Sometimes she says the fitting rooms are booked when they’re empty.”
“That’s disgusting,” Edward said.
“It gets worse.”
Maya finally looked at Sophia.
“There’s a private list.”
“What list?”
“Clients she thinks she can charge extra.”
Sophia felt her anger sharpen into something useful.
“Extra how?”
Maya explained that Monica had created unofficial “concierge fees.” Wealthy clients were told the extra money guaranteed privacy, rush alterations, or access to gowns not available to the public. The payments never went through Atelier Cole’s normal system.
“Where did the money go?” Sophia asked.
“I don’t know. But I saw envelopes.”
“Cash?”
Maya nodded.
“And the cameras?”
“Monica has a friend in operations. Grant Ellis.”
Edward’s head snapped up.
Grant was the company’s regional finance director.
He had been with Atelier Cole for nine years.
Sophia knew him.
She had approved his promotion eighteen months earlier.
Maya’s voice dropped. “When something happens that could get Monica in trouble, Grant tells security it’s a privacy issue and has the clip pulled.”
Edward reached for his phone.
Sophia stopped him.
“No calls yet.”
He stared at her.
“If Grant is involved, we need proof before he knows we’re looking.”
Maya finally took a sip of water.
Then she said, “There might be proof downstairs.”
“Where?”
“In a dress bag no one is allowed to touch.”
Sophia waited.
Maya whispered the inventory number.
May you like
Edward’s face went pale.
“That gown was reported destroyed in a shipping accident last month.”
