Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Ledger
Edward stared at the glowing screen of his phone. The message vanished three seconds after he read it, leaving no trace, no sender ID, nothing but a cold pit in his stomach.
Look at your own fiancée's bank accounts.
Victoria?
She had been his CFO back then, a brilliant rising star who had helped him pick up the pieces after Arthur’s sudden disappearance. They had bonded over the trauma of the company’s near-collapse. But could she have been involved in the embezzlement that ruined Arthur?
Edward sat back in his leather chair, the silence of the penthouse pressing in on him. He looked at the old ledger.
The signatures on the fifty-million-dollar transfer authorizations belonged to Arthur Pendelton. But ten years ago, forensic accountants had only analyzed digital copies because the physical ledger had allegedly been lost in an office fire. Edward had found this copy only three years ago, hidden in a storage unit he inherited from his father. He had never looked closely at it, wanting to put the past behind him.
But now, under the harsh light of his desk lamp, he studied the ink.
Arthur’s signature was there. But right next to it, faint, almost invisible unless held up to a UV light—which Edward’s desk lamp happened to have for checking counterfeit bills—was a secondary authorization stamp.
An authorization code that only two people in the company possessed: Edward himself, and Victoria Vance.
Edward’s heart hammered against his ribs. He hadn't authorized that transfer. Which meant Victoria had.
Before he could process this realization, a soft knock sounded on the study door.
Leo stood there, wearing a pair of oversized pajamas the nurse had found for him. He was clutching a small, worn drawing notebook.
"Can't sleep?" Edward asked, quickly closing the ledger and hiding it under a stack of folders.
Leo shook his head. He walked over to the desk, his bare feet making no sound on the thick Persian rug. "Lily’s sleeping. Her fever went down. The lady doctor said she’s going to be okay."
"That's good news, Leo," Edward smiled gently. "Why aren't you resting?"
Leo set the drawing notebook on the desk. "I wanted to show you something. I drew it before the bad lady took our apartment."
Edward opened the notebook. Inside were crude, childlike drawings. But as he turned the pages, the drawings became increasingly disturbing.
There was a drawing of a large, dark house. A drawing of a man with no face, labeled "Daddy." And then, a drawing of a woman with long yellow hair standing next to a burning car.
But it was the next page that made Edward’s blood run cold.
It was a drawing of three people. A tall man, a little boy, and a woman with red hair. The woman was labeled "Mommy."
"Leo," Edward said, his voice trembling slightly. "Who is the lady with the red hair?"
"That's my real mommy," Leo said quietly. "Her name was Sarah. She died in the hospital because she was very sick. She told me to always protect Lily."
"And the lady who came today? Samantha?"
"She’s not my mommy," Leo said fiercely, his eyes filling with tears. "She came after Daddy disappeared. She and the other lady... they used to lock us in the closet when they talked about money."
Edward caught the words. "The other lady? What other lady, Leo?"
Leo looked down, his small fingers twisting the hem of his pajama shirt. "The lady with the sharp face. The one who was here today. The one who was angry at you."
Edward felt the room spin. "Victoria?"
"She came to our old house," Leo whispered. "She and Samantha were shouting at Daddy. Daddy was crying. He said he wouldn't sign the papers. Then... then Daddy went away, and we never saw him again."
Every piece of the puzzle Edward had built his life on for the last ten years began to shatter. Arthur Pendelton hadn't stolen the money and run away. He had been set up. And Victoria—the woman Edward was supposed to marry in three weeks—was at the center of it.
Suddenly, the security alarm on Edward’s phone blared.
The screen showed the security feed from the penthouse lobby. The elevator doors opened.
But it wasn't Victoria. It was Samantha Pendelton, accompanied by four men in heavy dark coats. They weren't police officers. They carried tactical holsters under their jackets.
And they had a key card.
How did they get a key card to my private elevator? Edward thought in panic. Only he and Victoria had one.
"Leo, get under the desk. Now," Edward ordered, his voice sharp and commanding.
The boy didn't hesitate. He scrambled under the heavy mahogany desk, pulling his knees to his chest.
Edward reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a licensed compact pistol he kept for emergencies. He slid the safety off just as the study doors were violently kicked open.
Samantha stepped into the room, a cold, triumphant smile on her face. Behind her, two of the armed men pointed their weapons directly at Edward’s chest.
"I told you, Edward," Samantha purred, her voice dripping with venom. "You should have let the children go. Now, you’ve made this incredibly complicated."
"How did you get in here, Samantha?" Edward asked, keeping his hands visible but his gun concealed behind the stack of folders on his desk.
"Let's just say you have very disloyal friends," Samantha laughed.
From behind the armed men, Victoria stepped into the room. She was no longer wearing her business suit; she wore a dark leather jacket, her face cold and emotionless.
"I’m sorry, Edward," Victoria said, though her voice lacked any real regret. "But you were getting too close. You always were too smart for your own good. If you had just signed the Zurich merger today, we would have been out of the country with the remaining assets before you ever looked at that ledger."
"You framed Arthur," Edward said, his eyes locked on his fiancée. "You stole the fifty million. And when he found out, you made him disappear."
"Arthur was weak," Victoria said flatly. "He wanted to confess. He wanted to return the money. We couldn't let him do that. Samantha here was more than happy to help her husband 'retire' permanently in exchange for a cut of the estate."
"And the children?" Edward asked, his heart breaking for the little boy hiding just inches from his feet. "Why leave them to freeze?"
"Because they are the only ones who can unlock Arthur's offshore trust," Samantha snarled. "Arthur was smart enough to put the remaining twenty million in a trust that requires biometric verification from his biological children when they turn eighteen. But we can't wait that long. We found a doctor who can bypass the scan... but we need the boy and the girl alive. For now."
She looked around the room. "Where are they, Edward? Tell me, and maybe we’ll let you live long enough to watch your empire burn."
Edward looked at Victoria, then at Samantha. He knew he couldn't win a shootout against four armed mercenaries. But he also knew he wouldn't let them touch those children.
"They aren't here," Edward lied smoothly. "I had my security team move them to a safe house an hour ago. You're too late."
Samantha’s eyes narrowed. She turned to one of her men. "Search the penthouse. Find them."
May you like
As the man started toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms, Edward made his move. He grabbed his gun from behind the folders and aimed it directly at Victoria’s chest.
"Tell him to stop," Edward commanded. "Or the merger won't be the only thing that gets canceled tonight."
