“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“She cleaned restaurants.”
Mr. Liang smiled sadly.
“Then she was probably smarter than many executives I know.”
Adrian interrupted.
“This is ridiculous.”
Mr. Liang turned toward him.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“This is not ridiculous.”
He picked up the English contract.
“You gave us one document.”
He raised the Chinese copy.
“And your people gave us another.”
Adrian's face tightened.
“My legal team made a translation mistake.”
“Perhaps.”
Mr. Liang's eyes narrowed.
“But there are four separate differences.”
The room went quiet.
Four.
Not one.
Not an accident.
Four.
Naomi looked at the documents again.
She noticed something else.
A signature.
Not Adrian's.
A name appeared beneath a section authorizing amendments.
Daniel Mercer.
She knew that name.
Everyone in the financial district knew it.
Mercer was Adrian's chief operating officer.
He was also known for being extremely careful.
Naomi looked up.
“Who is Daniel Mercer?”
Adrian froze.
“Why?”
“His name appears here.”
“That proves nothing.”
Naomi pointed to the Chinese version.
“His title is different.”
“What?”
“In English, he's listed as an adviser.”
She turned the page.
“In Chinese, he's described as an authorized representative.”
Mr. Liang's attorney checked.
He nodded.
Adrian suddenly looked frightened.
For the first time that night, Naomi understood something.
Adrian had not created this problem.
He might have been part of it.
But perhaps he did not know the entire story.
The question was:
Who had changed the contract?
And why?
Naomi could have walked away.
She could have taken the promised hundred thousand dollars and left.
But she remembered her grandmother's words.
Languages were not simply words.
They were bridges.
And sometimes, bridges revealed who was trying to cross without permission.
Daniel Mercer arrived twenty minutes later.
He entered the restaurant with the confidence of a man accustomed to being welcomed.
Then he saw the documents.
His confidence disappeared.
Adrian stood.
“Daniel.”
Mercer looked around.
“What happened?”
Adrian pointed toward Naomi.
“She found a discrepancy.”
Mercer's eyes moved to her.
For a second, something flashed across his face.
Fear.
Naomi noticed.
So did Mr. Liang.
Mercer approached the table.
“What discrepancy?”
Adrian handed him the contracts.
Mercer read.
His hands became still.
Naomi watched him carefully.
“You recognize the clause?”
Mercer looked at her.
“No.”
She smiled.
“Then why did you stop breathing?”
Nobody laughed.
Mercer looked at Adrian.
“Who is she?”
Adrian answered bitterly.
“A waitress.”
Naomi corrected him.
“My name is Naomi.”
Mercer stared.
Then he said something in Mandarin.
Naomi answered.
His face went white.
Adrian looked between them.
“What did he say?”
Naomi remained silent.
Mr. Liang answered.
“He asked her where she learned the language.”
“And?”
“She answered that she learned from her grandmother.”
Mercer looked relieved.
Too relieved.
Naomi noticed.
Then she said something else in Mandarin.
Mercer's expression changed again.
Mr. Liang translated.
“She told him she knows what the authorization clause means.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“What authorization clause?”
Naomi turned toward him.
“The clause that gives Daniel Mercer authority to negotiate amendments on behalf of your company.”
Adrian looked at Mercer.
“Is that true?”
Mercer said nothing.
Adrian's voice became louder.
“Daniel.”
“I can explain.”