Not in the conversations with Richard.
Somewhere more recent.
She reached for her phone and opened the gallery.
After scrolling through several photographs, she found a picture taken at a business dinner approximately eight months earlier.
The photograph showed Vanessa standing beside Daniel, smiling at the camera.
Behind them were several guests.
One of those guests was a man whose face she recognized immediately.
She looked back at the document.
Then at the photograph.
Her hands began to tremble.
VANESSA: "No. That can't be possible."
She zoomed in on the photograph.
The man standing behind them was not Richard.
It was someone Daniel knew.
Someone who had attended several of his business meetings.
Someone who had been inside their home before.
Vanessa quickly picked up her phone and called Marcus.
MARCUS: "Hello?"
VANESSA: "Marcus, you need to come upstairs."
MARCUS: "What happened?"
VANESSA: "I found something."
MARCUS: "What?"
Vanessa looked at the photograph again.
VANESSA: "I think Richard has someone close to Daniel."
Marcus became silent.
MARCUS: "Are you sure?"
VANESSA: "Look at this picture. The name on the document matches someone who attended Daniel's business dinner."
Marcus slowly stood up.
MARCUS: "Don't send anything to anyone yet. I'll come upstairs."
Vanessa looked toward the bedroom door.
She suddenly realized that the problem might not have been limited to her past.
It might have already entered Daniel's life.
And if that was true, then the man who had been looking for her was not the only person they needed to worry about.
A few moments later, Marcus entered the bedroom.
Vanessa handed him the phone.
He examined the photograph carefully.
MARCUS: "Where did you get this?"
VANESSA: "Daniel took it after the dinner. I found it in my gallery."
Marcus enlarged the image.
His expression became increasingly serious.
MARCUS: "What's the name on the document?"
Vanessa pointed to the signature.
VANESSA: "Jonathan Reed."
Marcus looked at the photograph again.
MARCUS: "And who is this man?"
Vanessa swallowed.
VANESSA: "He's one of Daniel's business associates."
Marcus slowly lowered the phone.
MARCUS: "Does Daniel know?"
VANESSA: "Not yet."
MARCUS: "Then we need to tell him."
Vanessa nodded.
But before either of them could move, Daniel appeared at the bedroom entrance.
DANIEL: "Tell me what?"
Vanessa turned around.
Her expression immediately gave away that something was wrong.
Daniel looked at the phone in Marcus's hand.
DANIEL: "What did you find?"
Marcus exchanged a glance with Vanessa.
Then he turned toward Daniel.
MARCUS: "We may have discovered why Richard knew I was here tonight."
Daniel stepped into the room.
DANIEL: "Explain."
Marcus placed the phone on the bed and showed him the photograph.
DANIEL: "That's Jonathan."
VANESSA: "Do you know him?"
DANIEL: "Of course. He's been involved in several business discussions with me over the past year."
Marcus pointed toward the old document.
MARCUS: "Look at the signature."
Daniel studied it.
His face slowly changed.
DANIEL: "What does he have to do with Richard?"
Vanessa answered quietly.
VANESSA: "His name appears in the old company records."
Daniel looked at her.
DANIEL: "Are you telling me that Jonathan was involved in your previous business?"
VANESSA: "I think so."
Daniel stared at the photograph.
For the first time that evening, he felt a different kind of fear.
Until that moment, he had believed the problem belonged to Vanessa's past.
Now he was beginning to understand that someone from that past might have been standing right beside him for months.
And that person might have had access to information Daniel had never considered protecting.
DANIEL: "I want to know everything about Jonathan. Every transaction, every agreement, every conversation we've had."
MARCUS: "We'll need to be careful."
DANIEL: "I don't care how long it takes. I want the truth."
Vanessa slowly approached him.
VANESSA: "Daniel, there's something else."
He turned toward her.
DANIEL: "What now?"
She took a deep breath.
VANESSA: "I remember Richard mentioning Jonathan's name shortly before the company collapsed."
Daniel looked at her in disbelief.
DANIEL: "And you never thought to tell me?"
VANESSA: "I didn't recognize the connection until I saw the photograph."
DANIEL: "What exactly did Richard say?"
Vanessa closed her eyes, trying to remember.
VANESSA: "He said that someone was helping him move the remaining investments. He mentioned a business contact who could arrange everything without attracting attention."
Daniel slowly shook his head.
DANIEL: "And you think that person was Jonathan?"
VANESSA: "I don't know. But the name is the same."
Marcus picked up the document again.
MARCUS: "There's something else we should check."
He turned several pages until he reached a section containing a list of company representatives.
He pointed toward a paragraph near the bottom.
MARCUS: "Look at the date."
Daniel leaned forward.
It was dated just three weeks before the investment project collapsed.
Below the date was a list of authorized contacts.
One name appeared beside a financial authorization entry.
Jonathan Reed.
Daniel looked at the page for several seconds.
Then he slowly sat down.
DANIEL: "This cannot be a coincidence."
Nobody answered.
Outside, the street had become quieter.
The lights in neighboring houses were gradually going out, and the city seemed to be settling into the night.
But inside Daniel's home, the situation was becoming more complicated with every new discovery.
He had entered the house expecting to confront his girlfriend about another man.