Chapter 11 - The Flight to Zurich
Diane had told everyone she was in Palm Beach that week. Vanessa had posted photographs from a spa in Connecticut. Their boarding passes showed they had both flown to Zurich on the same Tuesday.
Traveling together wasn't a crime. Lying about it, in the middle of an inquiry into missing company money, was another reason to keep looking.
A Swiss compliance officer confirmed that Wardbridge's equipment deposit had been directed to an intermediary now under internal review. She wouldn't share confidential account details without a formal request. Ruth thanked her and started the paperwork.
That afternoon, I found Everett waiting outside the coffee shop near my apartment. No photographers. No mother. No Vanessa. Just a man with circles under his eyes.
“You knew about the money?” I asked.
“I knew Diane was handling a special financing arrangement. Vanessa said it would bring in buyers.”
“You signed approvals without reading them?”
“I trusted them.”
I almost laughed. “You trusted them because they told you what you wanted to hear.”
He stared at the sidewalk. “At the gala, I thought if everyone saw you as unstable, a divorce would be easy.”
I felt something inside me go quiet.
“You helped set it up.”
He didn't deny it.
“Vanessa said you'd make a scene anyway.”
I stepped back. “Ten years, Everett. You could have asked me for the truth about anything.”
He reached for my sleeve. I moved away.
“Go through my attorney,” I said.
May you like
That night, Ruth obtained a copy of an earlier Wardbridge financing amendment. It granted approval power over certain foreign payments to an outside signatory.
His name was Malcolm Kessler—the man I had hired to protect my investment.
