Chapter 13 - THE MONEY IN HER MOTHER'S NAME
Emily stared at the transaction until the numbers blurred.
"My mother didn't take this money."
"It's an alias account."
"In her name."
"Yes."
Grant had planned to frame Evelyn too.
If Emily died, the fake will made Grant rich.
If Emily survived and fought him, he could point to a hidden account in her mother's name and claim the family had been stealing together.
"He built an escape route for every possibility," Emily said.
Velez nodded.
"Except you surviving and finding the ledger."
Grant sent a photo of Evelyn tied to a chair.
A clock sat beside her.
The message read:
BRING THE LEDGER. COME ALONE. ONE HOUR.
Then came a second message: NO POLICE OR YOUR MOTHER DIES FIRST.
Emily's hands shook.
First.
Emily read the word twice.
"He's planning to kill me too."
"Which is why you are not going alone," Velez said.
Sloane called again.
This time Daniel traced the call while Emily answered.
"You found it, didn't you?" Sloane asked.
"The ledger?"
"The bracelet."
"You knew."
"You knew the card was inside."
"My father told me the bracelet mattered."
"Your father sent you after it."
"Yes."
"So even the affair was planned."
Sloane's voice broke.
"Not at first."
"What does that mean?"
"My father introduced me to Grant because he wanted information about Hart Design."
"And then?"
"Then Grant and I became exactly as awful as you think."
Emily appreciated the lack of excuse.
"Where is your father?"
"Northline's private office."
"Name."
Sloane hesitated.
"Victor Vale."
Daniel looked up sharply.
Emily felt the betrayal spread backward through years of memory.
Sloane whispered, "Victor didn't just finance your father."
"What did he do?"
"He created the debt on purpose."
"How?"
"By sabotaging Hart Design's biggest project fourteen years ago."
Emily's pulse quickened.
"Why?"
Sloane said, "Because he wanted your father desperate enough to sign away the company."
May you like
Sloane was heading toward Grant.
And she was carrying a gun registered to her father.
