CHAPTER 7 — "Everyone Blamed My Mother-in-Law… Until the Security Footage Revealed Someone Far More Dangerous."
The words hit the room like a bomb.
"The emergency trust fund is gone."
Fifty million dollars.
Vanished.
Victor immediately connected his laptop to the large television in the mansion's library.
"If someone transferred the money," he said, "they had to use one of the executive authorization systems."
The company's attorneys, detectives, and board members gathered around the screen.
Daniel stood beside me, his hand tightly wrapped around mine.
Margaret sat silently in the corner.
For once, she wasn't yelling.
She simply stared at the floor.
Victor opened the security recordings from the executive office.
"Here," he said.
"The transfer happened exactly thirty-six minutes ago."
The footage began playing.
At first, the office appeared empty.
Then...
A figure entered wearing a dark coat and gloves.
The person's face was hidden beneath a baseball cap.
"They knew exactly where the authorization device was," one detective observed.
The stranger walked confidently to the safe.
Entered a security code.
Removed an encrypted banking key.
And completed the transfer in less than three minutes.
"They've done this before," Victor muttered.
The room fell silent.
Just as the stranger turned to leave...
The cap slipped slightly.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
Victor froze the frame.
Everyone leaned closer.
Daniel frowned.
"I know that face..."
The detective enlarged the image.
A woman near the back gasped.
"That's impossible."
It wasn't Margaret.
It wasn't any member of the Harrington family.
It was...
Claire Benson.
The company's longtime Chief Financial Officer.
She had worked beside Margaret for nearly twenty years.
She was trusted by every director.
She had personally congratulated me at the wedding only hours earlier.
Daniel looked stunned.
"She hugged us after the ceremony."
Victor's expression darkened.
"She also had full access to every financial system."
The detective immediately reached for his phone.
"Find her."
Another officer rushed into the room moments later.
"Sir..."
He was out of breath.
"We're too late."
"What happened?"
"The airport just confirmed that Claire boarded a private jet forty minutes ago."
"Destination?"
The officer swallowed hard.
"There wasn't one."
Everyone stared at him.
"The flight plan was filed under diplomatic clearance."
She hadn't just disappeared.
Someone powerful had helped her vanish.
And just as the room struggled to process that revelation...
Victor received another encrypted message.
He read it once.
Then twice.
His face turned pale.
"There is... another problem."
He slowly looked at me.
"The fifty million wasn't the real target."
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"They were using it as a distraction."
Every heartbeat in the room seemed to stop.
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