Chapter 41
Sierra's tears slid down silently as she curled up in the corner of the sofa like a wounded little animal.
"Yes, I want to be in the sun, but no one's here with me."
Isabella gently put her arm around Sierra's shoulder, remembering how this once lively and cheerful girl had gradually become like this.
Three years ago, Sierra left Lumaria for a man, only to encounter something even more terrible.
Since then, the 15th of every month had become their regular venting day, no matter what.
Even now, caught up in her entanglement with Vitale, Isabella had never forgotten this promise.
So when she learned the business trip was to the city where Sierra lived, she came right away.
"Sierra, I'm here with you now. The sun really likes you, you should let it see you. God would be happy too, you know." Isabella said softly, her arm around Sierra's shoulder.
She wore a scarf around her neck to cover the marks Vitale had kissed onto her skin yesterday.
"I heard you were threatened by a mafia guy?" Sierra looked up with teary eyes, "Oh God, I almost fainted when Sonia told me. You're so great, how could you be tormented by someone like that?"
Isabella gently wiped away her tears, "Don't listen to Sonia's nonsense. I have a good job now, Aria and Amira are doing well, and we haven't been kicked out of our apartment."
She shook her head helplessly, "You know Sonia's always been jealous of me. We don't have the same mother, and she always thinks I'm trying to steal Colt."
"But Colt really is a jerk," Sierra said quietly.
"That's right, but she doesn't get it." Isabella checked her watch.
"Can you stay at my place these few days? I want to sleep holding you."
Isabella was immediately torn.
Vitale called for a video chat every night on time, and recently they'd developed some habits she couldn't talk about.
He could easily arouse her desire in front of the camera, making her lose control on screen in front of him.
Sierra absolutely couldn't see any of this.
"I really want to stay with you," Isabella said carefully, "but this is a business trip, and I have colleagues with me. How about this—when I'm not busy, I'll come stay with you? Or you could come to Lumaria and live with me? My apartment is pretty spacious."
Sierra shrank back, "I'm scared to leave here."
"Don't worry, Sierra." Isabella held her cold hand, "I'll figure something out."
"I don't want to get in your way." Sierra forced a smile, "I know you've always been good to me, but I want to get better on my own. You should go, right? Your phone's been ringing non-stop."
Isabella glanced at the urgent text from Laura—her colleague was already waiting downstairs to go to the factory.
"Yes, I need to go." She kissed Sierra's cheek, "I'll call you when I'm done. Make sure you eat well, and I will too."
"Actually..." Sierra suddenly said, "I'm thinking about getting a dog. What do you think?"
Tears instantly welled up in Isabella's eyes. This simple decision meant such huge progress for Sierra.
"Of course! That's wonderful!" She hugged Sierra tightly, "You're going to get better."
Downstairs, Laura was leaning against the car eating local bread, its golden crust shining in the sunlight.
"Got your friend sorted out?" Laura asked with her mouth full.
Isabella got in the car and fastened her seatbelt, "She's okay. Your bread smells really good."
"This is fuel for facing the factory challenge." Laura smiled and passed over the other half, "I heard the person in charge there is really difficult."
"The situation is worse than we thought." Laura took a deep breath, "The workers haven't been paid in three months. Two-thirds of the production lines are shut down, only the oldest equipment is barely running."
Isabella thought back to the files she'd read, her frown deepening, "The paperwork didn't show it was this bad, did it? Oh God."
"The books show a loss of five hundred million dollars." Laura picked up the thread, her voice dry, "But the real number might be bigger. The raw material purchase prices Costa Lawson reported were three times market price, but the finished products were sold at half market price. This obvious problem went on for two whole years, and nobody noticed."
Isabella felt dizzy, "Two years? Didn't headquarters ever audit?"
"Costa submitted perfect reports every month." Laura smiled bitterly, "And he always delivered profits on time—not much, but enough to keep headquarters happy. Until three months ago when the money suddenly ran out."
As soon as the car started, Aria called.
"This is bad!" Aria's voice was anxious, "The factory says they got robbed again—that's the third time this month! The manager is furious. Vitale and Amboni said you have full authority to handle it, and if there's any conflict..."
"They'll help me fight back?" Isabella finished.
"Oh God, Amboni looked so hot when he said that!" Aria couldn't help gushing.
"Calm down, Aria." Isabella shook her head helplessly, "Let me go see what's actually going on."
After hanging up, Laura asked curiously, "Sounds like our new job is exciting?"
"More exciting than I thought." Isabella looked out at the scenery flying past, "But what I'm most worried about right now is Sierra."
"That girl from just now?"
Isabella nodded, "She used to be the most cheerful person. Three years ago she left home for some jerk, ended up being abused and controlled. By the time she finally escaped, she'd become like this."
Laura was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Sometimes the scariest monsters aren't in factories, they're inside people."
An hour later, they arrived at the factory in the suburbs.
Before they even got out of the car, they heard a rough male voice shouting.
"Another five thousand euros missing! How the hell did this thief get in?"
A short, stocky middle-aged man walked toward them, his face dark,"You're the people from headquarters? Tell Vitale—either replace the whole security team, or I quit!"
Isabella calmly opened her briefcase, "Costa, before we discuss solutions, could you show us the security footage and the books?"
"The books?" Costa laughed coldly, "Miss, you think this is a game?"
"No," Isabella met his gaze, "I think it's the first step to finding the truth."
While reviewing the security footage, Isabella noticed a detail.
Every theft happened on nights when Costa was on duty alone.
She quietly sent Vitale a message: [Need bank statements for all employees for the past three months.]
Vitale replied instantly: [Already checking. Be careful with Costa, he has a gun. He used to work for my father.]
Isabella's heart skipped a beat, but she kept her face calm.
Just then her phone rang again—a photo from Sierra.
A cute golden retriever puppy.
[His name is Sunshine,] Sierra wrote, [Thank you for giving me courage.]
Isabella smiled and replied: [Proud of you, my friend.]