Chapter 13 - The Legacy Audit
Three weeks later, a sleek, unmarked government sedan pulled into the driveway, bringing a visitor much more welcome than my mother.
Major General Elizabeth Vance stepped out of the vehicle, carrying a heavy leather briefcase under one arm. She walked up the front steps, greeted little Tristan with a quick tickle of his chin, and sat down at the kitchen island where I was reviewing the quarterly ledger of the Tristan Vance Foundation.
"How are you holding up?" Elizabeth asked, pouring herself a cup of black coffee.
"I'm fine," I smiled, sliding a set of papers across the counter. "My mother stopped by last month. She tried to apologize."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of her coffee. "And?"
"And I told her the door remains closed." Good. Elizabeth nodded approvingly. "People who mistake kindness for weakness deserve the silence they earn." She tapped the leather briefcase. "Speaking of foundations, the Department of Defense just completed the final fiscal audit of Tristan’s classified operational accounts."
I froze, my pen hovering over the paper. "Classified?"
"Tristan wasn't just an intelligence officer, Charlotte," Elizabeth said, her voice dropping into a serious, protective tone. "Before he was reported missing, he uncovered a multi-million-dollar defense contracting embezzlement ring operating within our own supply chain. The mission he was on wasn't a routine patrol—it was a high-risk sting operation."
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My breath caught in my throat. "He knew it was dangerous?"
"He knew it was a one-way ticket," Elizabeth murmured, looking me straight in the eye. "And he made sure that every single hidden asset recovered from that sting was legally funneled directly into an irrevocable trust bearing your name and our son's."
