Chapter 109 - The Unbroken Ledger
I kept my pistol aimed at the center contractor’s chest, my thumb resting on the hammer. "Tell your men to stand down, Chloe. Federal marshals are twenty minutes away. Detective Miller has Arthur's entire server backup."
Chloe didn't even flinch. She simply tilted her head, amused. "Miller? The detective who just accepted a three-million-dollar wire transfer from our offshore shell in the Cayman Islands ten minutes ago? He isn't bringing marshals, David. He’s bringing a clean-up crew to secure the grounds after I report a tragic family murder-suicide."
My stomach plummeted. The corruption wasn't just confined to the family tree; it was woven into every institution they had touched.
"Why?" I asked, keeping my eyes fixed on Chloe. "Arthur is gone. Beatrice will spend the rest of her life in an isolation cell. Why keep chasing this?"
"Because of her," Chloe said, pointing a manicured finger at Clara. "And because of Emma. You were always so proud, David. So disgusted by the family money. You walked away from your trust fund like an arrogant fool because you wanted an 'honest life.' But Clara was smarter. Clara knew what that money could buy."
I turned my head slightly, looking at Clara. She looked down at the floor, unable to meet my eyes.
"Clara?" The cold realization began to sink in, freezing the blood in my veins. "What is she talking about?"
"She wasn't kidnapped, David," Chloe laughed, stepping closer until the barrel of her contractor’s rifle was leveled at my forehead. "Clara sold you out nine years ago. She agreed to fake her death in exchange for five percent of the trust’s annual yield and a private life free from the family's scrutiny. But Beatrice cut her off last year when the cash flows started drying up. That’s why Clara called me."
"It wasn't like that!" Clara cried out, her face contorting with desperate guilt. "David, they were going to ruin my family! Beatrice told me if I stayed with you, she'd destroy everything my father had built! I took the payout to protect them!"
"You abandoned Emma," I snarled, the betrayal cutting deeper than any bullet Arthur had ever fired. "You let her grow up without a mother so you could sit out here on Beatrice’s charity!"
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"And now she needs Emma to sign," Chloe interrupted smoothly, checking her diamond-encrusted watch. "Under the original terms of the Silver Gate trust, if the primary mother is proven alive, the child can sign over power of attorney at age nine. And wouldn't you know it? Emma turned nine last week."
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