Chapter 4: The Man in the Records Room
The third person was Beckett Lane, senior officer at the bank holding my trust.
“He approved the freeze this morning,” I said.
Conrad leaned closer to the screen.
“And eight months ago, he helped Julian enter a restricted room.”
Adrienne reached for her phone.
“Beckett cannot know we have this recording.”
My phone rang before she finished.
Julian’s name filled the screen.
I answered and put him on speaker.
“Where are you?” he demanded.
“Where you should have been—protecting the company.”
“You embarrassed me in front of Sienna and stranded us in Hawaii.”
“You brought Sienna on our honeymoon.”
“She came for work.”
“Then why did she tell you everything would be yours after the wedding?”
Silence pressed against the speaker.
Julian lowered his voice.
“You’re upset.
That doesn’t give you the right to freeze a trust we planned to manage together.”
“There was never a ‘we’ on that account.”
“There is now.
You signed the amendment.”
“No, Julian.
You forged my name.”
“That accusation will make you look unstable.”
Conrad’s jaw tightened.
Julian continued, “Your father worried about your judgment.
I have a letter proving it.”
“My father never trusted you.”
“He trusted me more than you think.”
The call ended.
A moment later, an email arrived from Julian’s attorney, demanding an emergency board meeting by video.
At four o’clock, Julian appeared on the conference-room screen.
Sienna sat beside him in the hotel suite.
Conrad opened the meeting.
“Explain the transfer.”
Julian lifted a folder.
“Clara authorized an acquisition through Mercer Strategic Consulting.
Her behavior today proves why she asked me to manage the process.”
I leaned toward the camera.
“Who owns Mercer Strategic Consulting?”
“It is privately held.”
“By whom?”
“That information is confidential.”
“You’re trying to move eighteen million dollars from my trust, Julian.
Nothing is confidential from me.”
Sienna placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Clara, you’ve been under terrible pressure since your father passed.
Julian was trying to protect you.”
“You wore white to my honeymoon and helped file a false signature.
Don’t speak to me about protection.”
Julian held up another paper.
“This is a medical assessment signed by Dr.
Graham Webb.
It states that Clara suffers episodes of confusion under emotional stress.”
Adrienne whispered, “Have you ever met that doctor?”
“Never.”
Two board members exchanged glances.
Conrad removed his glasses.
“Until we verify these competing claims, Clara’s voting authority must be temporarily suspended.”
Julian smiled.
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
“It is a forty-eight-hour administrative hold,” Conrad replied.
“Nothing more.”
“Forty-eight hours is enough to move the money.”
Julian leaned back in his chair.
“Then perhaps you should have thought before running away from your own honeymoon.”
My hand struck the table.
“I didn’t run from my honeymoon.
I walked away from a trap.”
The screen went black when Julian disconnected.
Adrienne reached for the medical assessment, but I turned it over first.
A digital verification code appeared at the bottom.
“I know this number,” I said.
Adrienne entered it into the state records database.
Dr.
Graham Webb’s license appeared, along with the date it had expired.
Conrad pointed at the screen.
“Three years ago.”
“That isn’t the worst part,” Adrienne said.
She opened the document history.
The medical assessment had been created on Julian’s laptop—but the author field carried another name.
Sienna Vale.
Then my phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.
May you like
Your husband kept copies of everything.
Meet me alone if you want to know why he married you.
