Chapter 3 - Forty-Seven Million Missing
Cassidy stared at the tablet.
The transfer had been divided among eleven shell companies.
Each transaction was small enough to avoid the most aggressive internal alarms.
Together, they totaled forty-seven million dollars.
The transfers had started five months earlier.
Exactly two weeks after Cassidy filed for divorce.
Gabriel lowered his voice.
“We’ve locked the remaining pathways.”
Cassidy scrolled through the transaction history.
“Who approved the secondary validation?”
“We’re tracing it.”
Brendan suddenly laughed.
Everyone looked at him.
“This is insane.”
His confidence had partially returned.
“You’re accusing us of stealing forty-seven million dollars because somebody used your signature?”
Cassidy looked up.
“I haven’t accused you of anything.”
“Your security team froze my accounts.”
“Because your name appears on three receiving entities.”
Brendan’s face stiffened.
Vanessa stepped away from him.
“What?”
Brendan pointed at Cassidy.
“She’s lying.”
Gabriel turned the tablet toward him.
Mercer Strategic Consulting.
B.M. Capital Advisory.
Brighton Development Reserve.
All three had received money.
Brendan’s initials appeared beside two.
Evelyn’s family office appeared beside the third.
Vanessa stared at Brendan.
“You told me Mercer Strategic was funded by your real estate profits.”
“It was.”
Cassidy looked toward the paperwork on the entrance table.
“Bring me the document.”
Gabriel retrieved it.
Cassidy began reading.
The first page looked ordinary.
Insurance authorization.
Medical emergency provisions.
Parental consent.
Then she reached page seven.
Her blood seemed to stop moving.
The document contained language concerning the Hale Family Continuity Trust.
Cassidy read it twice.
Then a third time.
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Well?”
Cassidy looked directly at Brendan.
“Do you know what this says?”
“It protects our daughter.”
“No.”
Her voice became quieter.
“It transfers temporary custodial authority if I become medically incapacitated before or during delivery.”
Brendan shrugged.
“That’s normal.”
“It gives that authority to your mother.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Cassidy turned another page.
“And it grants the temporary custodian authority to act for the child’s financial interests.”
Vanessa looked confused.
“So?”
Cassidy’s eyes remained on Brendan.
“So my daughter is the contingent beneficiary of a trust worth approximately one point three billion dollars.”
Nobody moved.
Even Vanessa stopped breathing for a moment.
Brendan’s eyes gave him away.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Cassidy saw it.
Gabriel saw it too.
“You knew,” Cassidy whispered.
Brendan’s jaw tightened.
“I knew there was some trust.”
“You told me five minutes ago you didn’t believe I owned Alder Crown.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
Cassidy turned toward Gabriel.
“Secure every document inside this house relating to me, the pregnancy, Alder Crown, or the Hale trusts.”
Evelyn stepped between them.
“You have no warrant.”
Gabriel nodded.
“She’s correct.”
He looked at Cassidy.
“We can preserve electronically controlled company records, but entering private areas requires consent or law enforcement.”
Cassidy understood.
“Then call our outside counsel.”
Gabriel’s expression became grim.
“They’re already coming.”
He hesitated.
“There’s another problem.”
“What?”
“The document number on that form is real.”
Cassidy felt the baby move inside her.
“That file was created on our internal system.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Someone inside Alder Crown gave them access.”
Cassidy slowly turned toward the mansion.
Behind one upstairs window, a curtain moved.
May you like
Someone had been watching.
And that person was not supposed to be there.
