Chapter 5
“Sophia was carrying a flash drive. My husband had put documents on it before he died. Evidence that certain people inside this family were stealing from the company and planning to alter his succession wishes.”
“Inside the family,” Mara whispered.
Rebecca nodded.
“The men who attacked Sophia were paid. The police never proved by whom. But my husband believed power had become poison in this house.”
Mara looked toward the lit windows of the mansion.
“Why bring me into this?”
Rebecca’s eyes softened.
“Because Daniel did not find you to decorate his life. He found you because my husband’s final letter described the kind of person who should guard this family’s legacy if blood failed us.”
Mara nearly laughed from shock.
“I sell breakfast.”
“Yes,” Rebecca said. “And you fed hungry people before anyone praised you for it.”
The next attack came as theft.
Late on a Thursday night, millions of dollars moved from Cole Harbor’s charitable fund into a newly opened account under Mara Bennett’s name. By morning, internal auditors had bank documents, electronic signatures, identification scans, and transfer records that looked perfect.
An emergency board meeting was called.
Mara entered to find every face hard.
Daniel placed a folder on the table.
“Mara, do you recognize this account?”
She studied it. “No.”
Vanessa stood. “Her name is on every document.”
“I’ve never seen these papers.”
“Convenient.”
Mara looked at the signature page. Something about it made her stomach tighten.
“That isn’t my signature.”
“It has already been verified,” Vanessa snapped.
Before anyone could respond, Daniel’s cybersecurity director entered with a laptop.
“We traced the authorization logins,” he said. “There is something the board should see.”
The screen lit up.
Security footage showed a hooded figure entering the finance office at 1:47 a.m. The figure wore gloves, a mask, and dark clothing.
Vanessa smiled. “That proves nothing.”
“Wait,” the director said.
He zoomed in.
For two seconds, the figure removed one glove to unlock a biometric scanner. A large diamond ring flashed in the camera light.
Every eye moved toward Vanessa’s hand.
She hid it under the table.
The director changed angles.
The figure’s face appeared.
It was not Vanessa.
It was Beatrice’s personal secretary, a woman who had served the Cole family for eighteen years.
The secretary collapsed into sobs.
“I didn’t steal anything,” she cried.
Daniel’s voice was cold. “Then why were you there?”
The secretary looked at Beatrice, then away.
Vanessa snapped, “She’s guilty. That’s obvious.”
Rebecca spoke from the end of the table.
“No. She’s terrified.”
The secretary broke.
“They threatened my son,” she sobbed. “They said if I didn’t plant the documents, he’d disappear.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “Who threatened you?”
The woman lifted a shaking hand.
Vanessa stopped breathing.
But the finger passed her.
It landed on Beatrice.
Beatrice rose. “This is absurd.”
Rebecca stood.
May you like
“Sit down.”
The room obeyed before Beatrice could.
