My son’s fiancée drenched me with a hose and slapped me in front of thirty guests. She had no idea the entire crowd had been ordered to ruin me.

The warehouse was on the edge of an industrial park.

Hale told me not to go there. Officers had a warrant and needed space to work. I stayed at the office with Miriam, Adrian, and his lawyer while they searched.

Dante did not return after the dinner. He sent a message saying he had gone home. His driver later told an investigator he had dropped Dante at Serena’s apartment instead.

At midnight, Hale called. The warehouse held empty shipping cartons, a small number of the counterfeit vials, and records showing deliveries to three distributors.

“Was anyone there?” I asked.

“Grant. We arrested him when he tried to leave through the rear door.”

“Serena?”

“No.”

Adrian sat across from me. He could hear only my side of the call, but he knew who I had asked about. When I hung up, he said, “She helped move them, didn’t she?”

“We don’t know yet.”

He looked exhausted.

Serena had lived in his apartment for nearly a year. He had trusted her with keys, passwords, and family dinners. Now he was counting the things he had told her about the company.

“You can still care about the person you thought she was,” I said. “You have to deal with what she’s done.”

He nodded.

The next morning, Miriam arranged an emergency board session with an independent auditor present. The directors voted to delay the terminal sale and suspend Dante’s access to company accounts while the missing payments were reviewed.

Beatrice voted first. Martin followed after asking for a full record of his own dealings with Dante.

The vote was not unanimous. Three directors still defended him. But there were enough votes to protect the records.

After the meeting, Adrian came to my office.

“I should step down too,” he said.

“You should let the investigation run. Then decide what work you’re fit to do.”

“I signed the release.”

“Yes.”

He waited for me to soften it. I did not.

“I’m going to cooperate,” he said. “Whatever happens.”

“I know.”

Hale called at noon. Grant’s warehouse records showed that the payments from our reserve account had covered storage, transport, and the purchase of the counterfeit medication. Dante had signed the company approvals. The same records named Serena as the contact for one distributor.

She was being sought for questioning.

An hour later, Serena came to my office.

My receptionist called before letting her in. I asked Hale whether he wanted us to keep her there. He said officers were on their way and told me to avoid being alone with her.

Miriam stayed beside me as Serena entered. Her hair was loose, and she carried a handbag with both hands.

“I’ll tell them what happened,” she said. “But I need Adrian to hear me first.”

“He can choose whether to speak with you.”

Serena looked toward the hallway.

“Grant gave Dante the distributor. I handled messages. I didn’t know the medication was counterfeit until later.”

“When did you learn?” Miriam asked.

“After the first delivery.”

“And you kept arranging them?”

Serena’s eyes filled. “Grant said people would come after him if we stopped.”

I thought of the people who might have received the vials.

“Tell the investigators,” I said.

“I will. But Dante has records that make it look as if Adrian planned the whole thing.”

She took a folder from her bag. Miriam asked her to place it on the desk.

Inside were copies of messages between Grant and Adrian. I recognized Adrian’s number, but several lines did not sound like him. One claimed he wanted the cargo moved despite the damaged labels.

“When did you see these?” I asked.

“Yesterday. Dante showed Grant. Grant sent them to me.”

Miriam photographed the pages without touching the originals.

Adrian appeared at the doorway. He had come because my receptionist told him Serena was there.

She turned toward him.

“I wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” she said.

“For my mother?”

“For all of it.”

He looked at the folder.

“Did you write those messages?”

“No.”

“Did you know Dante had them?”

“I found out yesterday.”

Adrian’s face tightened. “I don’t know when you’re telling me the truth.”

Serena began to answer, but Hale arrived with two officers. She agreed to go with them. Before leaving, she looked at me.

“I did what I did in the garden,” she said. “I won’t deny it.”

“Good,” I answered.

Hale took the folder. His team could compare the messages with the phone records rather than rely on printouts.

That night, Adrian called me from his apartment. He had checked the message dates against his phone. Some were real. The lines about moving the cargo were absent.

“I deleted nothing,” he said.

“Give Hale your phone.”

“I already have.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“Mother, I thought marrying Serena meant I could finally make a choice without you watching over it.”

“You were allowed to choose her.”

“I wanted you to like her so badly that I ignored what she did in front of me.”

I thought of him standing by the cake as the water ran off my dress.

“You’ll have to live with that memory,” I said. “So will I.”

“I know.”

I ended the call and went downstairs. Rosa was at the kitchen table, repairing a loose button on my coat.

She set down the needle when she saw me.