Chapter 90

Chapter 90

With a budget approved by Lily, I went shopping for security cameras with Jeffrey. He helped me to choose the best ones and hide them in the shop where my colleagues wouldn’t be able to see them. We then set up the software on my phone so that I could review the footage wouldn’t my coworkers being aware of it.

It took a few days for the cameras to catch anything. I didn’t expect anything to happen. immediately, but the longer the investigation took, the more anxious Lily became. Those missing checks were not cheap.

On the fifth day, I was at my apartment, reviewing hours of security footage, when something caught my eye.

During our lunch hour, when I was back in the employee lounge and everyone else was out at some restaurant, Samantha stopped at the cash register on her way out of the shop. She looked around herself nervously, opened the register, then removed what appeared to be a check and sl*pped it inside her jacket pocket. After closing the register, she left the shop without missing a beat.

My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. Samantha was one of Ever After Weddings‘ top employees, having barely missed the promotion to Head Wedding Planner.

I needed someone else to witness this, to ensure that I wasn’t imagining things or misinterpreting them.

“Jeffrey!” I called out. He was by my side immediately. “Could you take a look at this and tell me what you see?”

I rewound the footage and played it for him. He watched it with a neutral expression.

“It appears that the Samantha woman is stealing a check out of the cash register,” he replied. “At about 1:03 p.m., according to the time stamp. My money would be on her being your shop’s thief.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“Why is that?”

“Samantha is one of our best employees. I would hate to lose her.”

“I’m certain that the thousands that she’s already cost the company in stolen checks and decorations might outweigh the good customer service that she brings.”

I rubbed my eyes.

Maybe it was just this one time. I mean, what are the odds that she also stole the other-

Higher than the odds of there being multiple thieves in one company, unless they are

Chapter 90

working together.”

I cringed at his honesty.

“Still, I should finish reviewing this footage, to make sure that there isn’t anything else.”

“That would be wise,” he admitted.

Unfortunately, there did turn out to be something more. At 3:15, the camera that we had placed back in the storage room caught Samantha smuggling silver napkin rings into her purse and jacket pockets. Again, I had Jeffrey double–check the footage, and again, he saw exactly what I had seen.

“I’m sorry, but I think you know what this means,” he said.

I sighed and closed the app.

“Yes, I do.”

The next day at work, I had Lily on conference call on the laptop so that we could confront Samantha together. I had informed Terri and the other workers what I had discovered and asked Terri to send Samantha back to the employee lounge as soon as she came into work.

When she entered the employee lounge, I saw all the color drain from Samantha’s face.

“Samantha,” Lily said, “we need to have a talk. Please, sit.”

Samantha did as she was told but did not say a word.

“I assume that you know why we’ve called you back here?” Lily asked.

Again, Samantha did not say anything.

“Samantha, it will be easier if you just admit to what happened.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Samantha finally said.

Lily sighed.

“Crystal, show her the footage.”

On my phone, I played first the video of her stealing the check and then the video of her swiping the silver napkin rings. Samantha remained silent the entire viewing, and she did not offer any sort of explanation or apology after the videos were over.

“Well, Satnantha, what do you have to say for yourself?” Lily asked.

Iwas only taking what was rightfully mine,” Samantha said.

12:44 Fri, 5 Jan FF

Chapter 90

I gawked. Lily’s brows furrowed.

“Rightfully yours? Please, explain to me, how are my company’s checks and my company’s property rightfully yours?”

Samantha slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

“I have done everything for

criminal- she motione,is company for years,” she snapped. “Then you bring this

me- “onto the staff, and suddenly, all the responsibility is given

to her! All the credit is given to her!”

“First of all, Crystal is not a criminal-

”

“You literally plucked her off the street after she got out of prison!”

“It’s complicated.” I said, my only way to defend myself in this case.

Samantha rolled her eyes.

“Yes, because manslaughter is so complicated.”

She returned her attention to the laptop.

“And then she gets promoted over me, after working here for less than a year! What is that? I might have understood if Terri had been promoted over me, but not her.”

She glared at me momentarily.

I was only taking what I should have been earning as Head Wedding Planner.”

Lily leaned towards the screen and stared firmly at Samantha.

“Whether you like it or not, Crystal is Head Wedding Planner, not you, and you are going to return those checks and decorations by the end of the day. Otherwise, we will call the cops.” Samantha crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin defiantly.

“Then you better call the cops. I already cashed the checks, and the stuff has been pawned.”

Lily watched Samantha for a moment.

“Fine, Crystal, call the cops.”

It was an eventful day after that. The police came in, arrested Samantha, and took our statements. Needless to say, all appointments that day were cancelled.

By the time that I got back to my apartment and received Andrew’s phone call, I was almost too exhausted to answer.

Chapter 90

“Hello?” I asked wearily.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “I can call back later if now’s a bad time.”

“No, no. It’s just been a long day.”

“What happened?”

I immediately regretted how I said that, based on the concern in Andrew’s tone.

“It’s nothing too bad. Jeffrey and I caught who’s been stealing from Ever After Weddings.”

“Oh. Well, that’s a good thing, though, isn’t it?”

“It is. It was only a long, long day of confrontations, arrests, and questionings.”

Andrew chuckled.

“Sounds like fun. Did you get any actual work done?”

I huffed.

“That would be a ‘no‘. I have some good news, though.”

“Really? Well, why didn’t you start off with that? I could use some good news.”

I smirked.

“I have to keep you on your toes somehow.”

“Enough of that, now. What’s the good news?”

“Lily wanted to reward me for catching the thief, so she’s letting me directly interact with clients again.”

“Oh really? You’re off probation?”

I laughed.

“Yes. I can pick up right where I left off–with the clients who still want me, that is.”

“Yeah, there is that, isn’t there?”

“Not everyone is willing to let gossip go, it seems.”

“They’ll get there, I promise.

If you say so.

You know, this is something to celebrate. Why don’t we go out dancing tomorrow? I know of great place where we’ll blend right in with the crowd.

Chapter 90

I pursed my l*ps. I hadn’t been dancing in so long that I wasn’t sure if I could even do it anymore. I could embarrass myself in front of Andrew.

Did I really want to take that risk?

“Sounds great, but you have to promise not to laugh if it turns out that I can’t dance.”

“Don’t worry, I can dance well enough for the both of us.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned at his cockiness.

“I’ll hold you to that, Casanova.”