Chapter 8 Chapter 08

Like fifteen million dollars' worth of crypto for a married man with three kids was something you discussed with your partner. You don't just go on and buy that much without informing your partner. This was straight-up suspicious. Like, fifteen million? Seriously?

And it's not like we needed to save or anything. The money we had was enough for our great-grandkids to live off.

I heard Roman's footsteps, and I quickly placed his phone back and acted normal.

“I hope I didn't take that long,” he said as he returned with a bowl of diced fruit.

I gave him a small smile and started eating.

Roman went back to the kitchen to set the table as I tried to munch on one slice of apple the whole time.

I wasn't really eating. How could I? This was so strange.

After a few minutes, Roman was back. He had set the table, and the food was ready. He escorted me to the dining area, and I didn't even care how good it all looked, but I praised him because he always liked that.

We started eating, and that's when the question just blurted out of my mouth. I asked him if he had heard of crypto.

“This is so random, love,” he swallowed. “Where did you hear it?”

“On the news,” I lied. “I heard it's a good investment.”

“Of course not. No crypto can ever be a good investment. It's a scam,” he said quickly.

“So I shouldn't invest in them then?”

I watched for his reaction, and he did look uncomfortable. He gripped the spoon's handle, his throat moved up and down, and straight up, I knew whatever answer he was about to give me was a lie.

“The company is doing good already, love. We don't need all these online scams,” he said.

And gosh, for a second, I wondered if perhaps the notifications were a mistake because of the way he sounded so confident. It couldn't be that he was acting.

We had our food, and from there, he offered to clean the place. I didn't have the energy either, so I went to the bedroom and planned to nap, but ended up falling asleep for hours. When I woke up, it was already eight p.m.

“I'm so sorry,” I apologized.

Roman was seated in the chair by his computer.

“I know you wanted to spend time with me.”

“It's alright, love. The past few days have been rough on you. Taking someone's life is not an image that leaves you okay.”

There he went again, insinuating I was a murderer.

“Now come on... you can go back to sleep.”

“Are the kids back?”

“Yes, honey. They're all tucked in and they had their shower and dinner. Maria and I took care of that.”

He smiled with his eyes, and I whispered a thank you and told him I was going to take a shower before going back to bed.

“I'm also tired. I'll rest my eyes for a second.”

He stood up from the chair and came to the bedside. He gave me a small kiss on the cheek before getting into bed. He was already in his pajamas.

I went to the bathroom, took a shower, then dressed into PJs.

When I came out, Roman seemed to have fallen asleep, which wasn't a shock because as soon as his head hit the pillow, sleep completely took him.

I went out to check on the kids, and even Blossom was asleep. They all seemed so peaceful, and looking at them reminded me of my crime.

It was sweet looking at them, but there was a possibility this was my last time looking at them sleep. Like I might not get the opportunity to watch them grow because I would be locked up for murder.

And sure, his actions had nothing to do with my reaction. Just because Roman cheated didn't mean I should kill Elise, but that was honestly an accident. I didn't remember stabbing her, and with everything, it did sound fishy, like something was going on.

“Oscar.”

I remembered the name.

“I have to ask Roman about Oscar,” I said to myself, then left the kids' room.

Whoever killed Oscar might lead me to who killed Elise and was trying to frame me now.

I went back to the bedroom, only to be reminded that Roman was too gone to speak. He was fast asleep, and waking him would take a full bucket of water. Even then, it wasn't guaranteed.

Well, I walked to the computer, in hopes that maybe he was logged into the company files. Maybe Roman knew something, and he didn't want to tell me.

But just as I unlocked the computer, the company funds page popped up. It seemed Roman had forgotten to close it.

Out of curiosity, and because I remembered the crypto, I went in and checked just to be safe, you know.

Everything was normal.

All the transactions made sense.

But something in my brain told me not to stop looking. I didn't know why, but I looked deeper.

I went through the transactions one by one, trying to understand what I was seeing.

Then I noticed it.

A five-million-dollar investor pullout.

That didn't make sense because, for starters, I believed I knew all the investors. We didn't really have any new ones since I stepped down.

I stared at the transaction for a few seconds.

Why would this investor suddenly pull out?

As if that wasn't enough, another investor with a foreign name also pulled away, and this one was compensated ten million dollars.

My eyes widened.

First of all, Garcia Global Fund had a policy.

We didn't allow investors to pull out less than fifty million dollars.

They got five million quarterly, yes, but this said they withdrew their investment.

That was different.

That wasn't a quarterly payment.

They were pulling out.

I looked back at the amount.

Five million.

Then ten million.

Fifteen million.

My heart started beating faster.

The same amount that had just appeared in Roman's crypto wallets.

No.

I stared at the screen again.

There was no way.

But then Roman buying that same exact amount in crypto meant he was actually...

Oh God.

Roman was stealing funds from my company!