Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 132

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Are you aware of this?
The next morning, Winter arrived at the office, but something felt off. The atmosphere was noticeably tenser than usual.

Back when no one knew who she truly was, it had been easier to move through the halls unnoticed. She could do her work without drawing attention, without whispers trailing behind her. But now that her relationship with Kalix was out in the open, everything had changed. People were more guarded, their smiles more forced, their words carefully chosen.

It was as if the entire office was holding its breath around her.

Taking her seat at her desk, Winter glanced over at Mia, who was unusually silent—her eyes fixed on the screen, fingers moving stiffly. There was no cheerful greeting, no warm smile like always. Just a quiet tension that hadn’t been there before.

“Mia,” Winter called softly.

Mia’s head snapped up immediately. “Yes, ma’am?” she replied, almost too fast, her posture straightening like she was waiting for orders.

Winter blinked, taken aback by the overly formal response. Mia looked visibly tense, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of the keyboard as she tried to hold a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Winter sighed in defeat. So this was it.

“Mia, relax. You don’t have to think so highly of me,” she said, trying to ease the girl’s nerves.

But Mia shook her head firmly. “I don’t think that’s possible, ma’am. You’re no longer just my friend. You’re the lady boss now.”

Winter stared at her for a beat, internally groaning.

Has she been watching too many dramas? Why is she suddenly acting like I turned into royalty overnight?

“Mia…” Her voice took on a sterner tone, which made the girl visibly flinch. That wasn’t what Winter wanted, so she softened. “Listen. Just because I’m Kalix’s wife doesn’t mean I’ve stopped being your friend.”

Mia looked hesitant, her lips parting and then closing again, unsure of what to say.

When she stayed silent, Winter let out another sigh and leaned back in her chair.

“Mia, I’m still me. Just Winter. And honestly, apart from you and Felix, I don’t have anyone I’m close to here.”

Mia blinked, clearly surprised by her honesty.

Winter continued, her voice quieter. “And trust me, no matter what my relationship with Kalix is, I’m still going to be your friend. So please, don’t treat me differently. I already have a headache from everyone tiptoeing around me like I might snap at them.”

There was a pause.

“So… does that mean I can still call you Winter?” Mia asked, her voice small, almost hopeful.

“Of course,” Winter said with a soft smile. “Nothing has changed between us. You’re still the only friend I’ve made at work.”

Mia’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard, tears welling in her eyes. The sincerity in Winter’s words overwhelmed her, and she found herself smiling—really smiling—for the first time that morning.

But just as quickly as the smile bloomed on Mia’s face, it faltered.

Her gaze drifted to the side, and her voice turned quieter. “But… it’s not the same with Felix.”

Winter’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Mia hesitated, then nodded toward the far corner of the office. “He’s heartbroken, Winter. Look—he won’t even look at us.”

Winter followed her line of sight and spotted Felix at his desk, but the second he saw them, his eyes darted back to the screen, pretending to not watch them.

“He is clearly heartbroken,” Mia muttered, feeling pity for Felix; however, little did she know that wasn’t the case.

Winter noticed how he avoided meeting her gaze, but she didn’t let it slide. She made a mental note to confront him later.

As Winter settled into her work, she realized that Dianna hardly ever left her office. The woman seemed to be a ghost in the building—present but never seen.

After what Stanley had told her, Winter grew more convinced that Dianna, her so-called stepmother, and Agnes were up to something. But aside from them being spotted together at the club, there was no solid lead to confirm her suspicions.

She knew the news of the marriage had left Dianna visibly distraught, but what struck Winter as odd was the woman’s complete silence. Dianna hadn’t confronted her, hadn’t said a word—not even a passive-aggressive comment. That alone fueled Winter’s doubts even further.

Someone who had been obsessively fixated on Kalix wouldn’t just walk away without a reaction. Her silence was unnatural. Too calculated.

“By the way, Mia, have you seen Dianna anywhere?” Winter asked casually, trying to keep her tone light.

Mia looked up from her computer, frowning slightly. “I haven’t seen her since your marriage announcement. I think she’s taking time to recover from the news. I mean, we all know how much she adored the boss.”

She said it lightheartedly, but Winter caught the underlying truth.

Like most people in the office, Mia had assumed there was something between Dianna and Kalix. Many believed he returned her feelings—or at least didn’t mind the attention. But everything changed when he married Winter instead.

Winter nodded thoughtfully, her mind already racing. Mia’s response confirmed what she needed—it was time to check Dianna’s office herself.

She knew Dianna had refused to install cameras in her office after that disastrous incident—when she had falsely accused Winter of pushing her. The backlash had been severe, and Dianna, clinging to her pride, had refused to repair the surveillance system afterward.

That refusal had worked in Winter’s favor. With no cameras to watch her every move, she found a way to slip into the office unnoticed.

Winter was convinced there had to be something—some clue, some proof—hidden in there. She combed through every shelf, every drawer, scanning documents and files, flipping through folders with quick but careful hands.

Then, something caught her eye.

A plain, unmarked file tucked away on the top shelf, almost as if someone had intentionally hidden it. Winter reached up, grabbed it, and opened it.

The contents made her breath hitch.

There were several transactions done through the company’s funds, yet there was no record of them in the portfolio or anywhere in the official company database. The fact that these hidden records were tucked away in a file inside Dianna’s office completely caught Winter off guard.

“Has she been manipulating the records for the Hillstone site?” Winter muttered, her brows furrowing as she flipped through the suspicious documents. Everything about this felt off.

But instead of lingering too long and risking being caught, she quickly pulled out her phone and snapped pictures of every crucial page.

Within moments, she slipped out of the office unnoticed, her heart thudding in her chest. Once she reached a secluded spot, she exhaled deeply and opened her phone.

She selected the images and sent them directly to Kalix, hoping he’d respond quickly.

Dianna had been tampering with the company’s funds behind the scenes—but what shocked Winter more was how she hadn’t sensed it at all until now. Not a single red flag. No slip-ups.

How long had this been going on?

And more importantly… who else was involved?

***

Back in Kalix’s study, the air grew heavy as Sean revealed a detail that shifted everything.

Byron Greyson had once been an investor in one of Kalix’s father’s dream projects.

There were no existing records of the project—no files, no public announcements, nothing to trace its existence or the reason Byron had pulled out just before the accident. But this revelation cracked open a door Kalix didn’t know existed.

It raised too many questions. And not enough answers.

“There’s no way we missed this before,” Kalix muttered, pacing slowly.

Sean nodded, pulling up old files and data they had previously gone through. “I thought the same, but when I rechecked everything, this detail popped up in an archived communication chain—buried so deep I almost didn’t see it.”

Kalix stilled, eyes narrowing. “You’re saying it was intentionally hidden?”

Sean hesitated. “Possibly. But there’s more.”

He turned the screen to Kalix. “It’s said that Byron wasn’t the only one interested in investing. There was a third party, someone whose identity wasn’t disclosed in any of the paperwork. No name. No trace. Just vague mentions of another investor.”

Kalix’s jaw clenched, his dark eyes fixed on Sean. “If Byron knew my father… why didn’t he ever mention it?”

Sean didn’t answer immediately.

Kalix’s voice dropped, quiet but sharp. “Is that why he approached me? Because he regrets failing my father?”

The question hung in the air like smoke.

Sean met his gaze. “You’re not wrong to doubt him. If there’s more to this, we’ll find it.”

Kalix sat down slowly, his mind spinning. Byron had always walked the line between mentor and manipulator. But now the lines were blurring too fast, and too much was at stake.

If there was another player involved—someone who vanished from the records—then this wasn’t just about betrayal.

It was about secrets buried deep enough to kill for.

Kalix was still processing everything when his phone buzzed, breaking the tense silence in the room. A message popped up in his notifications.

His expression softened the moment he saw Winter’s name.

But as soon as he opened the text, the shift in his demeanor was instant.

Attached were several images—snapshots of transaction records made through the company’s funds. The entries were unfamiliar, and worse, there was no trace of them in the official portfolio or accounting system.

A single message accompanied the pictures:

“Are you aware of this?”

Kalix’s jaw tightened as his eyes scanned the files. Dianna, as the head of the finance department, had always earned his trust. He rarely questioned her decisions when it came to budgeting and accounts.

But now, the records laid out before him told a different story.

Clear manipulation.

His brows drew together in a deep frown, suspicion settling hard in his chest as he quickly typed a reply.

“No, but where did you get it from?”

The response came almost instantly.

“From Dianna’s office.”