Chapter 5 - THE MONEY THAT DISAPPEARED
For several seconds, I couldn’t hear anything except the refrigerator humming.
My money.
I stared at Derek.
He stared back.
Eight years earlier, after my company collapsed, a reserve account containing $78,000 had disappeared during the chaos.
Investigators assumed it had been swallowed by operating losses.
I believed them.
I had been pregnant, exhausted, ashamed, and desperate to put the entire disaster behind me.
Six months later, Derek launched his business.
He told me the startup money came from an investor.
An old friend from college.
I never met that friend.
I had never asked.
That realization hurt almost as much as the theft itself.
“You took it,” I whispered.
Derek shook his head.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You told me yourself.”
“Shut up.”
“You bragged about it.”
Daniel moved between them.
“Vanessa, choose your next words carefully.”
She folded her arms.
“I’m not protecting him anymore.”
Derek stared at her.
“You think you’re innocent?”
Her smile vanished.
Daniel seized the opening.
“What did Derek tell you?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“He said your old company was already failing. He found a way to move money before everyone noticed.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Marcus pulled out a chair.
I didn’t sit.
“What way?”
“He had access to your computer.”
I remembered waiting in the car.
Twenty minutes.
I remembered him returning with my laptop.
I remembered him kissing my forehead and telling me everything would be okay.
Sophie squeezed my hand.
I forced myself to stay upright.
Vanessa continued.
“He said he changed vendor payment instructions. Small amounts at first. Then bigger transfers.”
Daniel’s face had gone cold.
“Where did the funds go?”
“A company he created.”
“What company?”
“I don’t remember.”
Ethan opened his laptop again.
“Try.”
Vanessa looked at Derek.
His eyes were warning her.
She looked away.
“North something.”
My heart stopped.
North Ridge Solutions.
I knew the name.
It had been one of the phantom vendors investigators questioned.
No one ever identified who owned it.
“North Ridge?” I asked.
Vanessa snapped her fingers.
“Yes.”
Derek shouted, “She’s lying!”
Sophie jumped.
That was enough.
Noah grabbed Derek by the shoulder and turned him away from us.
“Lower your voice.”
“Take your hands off me!”
“Then stop terrifying your kid.”
“My kid?”
Derek laughed bitterly.
“You all keep acting like Claire is some saint.”
I stepped forward.
“This isn’t about me being a saint.”
“No?”
“No. It’s about an adult woman framing an eight-year-old child while her father threatened to throw her out of her home.”
Derek’s mouth tightened.
“And now,” I continued, “it may also be about you stealing money from me eight years ago.”
Marcus glanced at Daniel.
Daniel gave the smallest nod.
Something was happening between them.
I noticed.
“So that’s what you brought,” I said.
Daniel looked at me.
“Not exactly.”
He reached into his briefcase and removed one final envelope.
“This is what we discussed last month.”
Derek’s face changed.
The arrogance disappeared completely.
I hadn’t seen the envelope before.
“What is it?” I asked.
Daniel placed it in front of me.
“Three weeks ago, you asked us to help you prepare in case you decided to leave.”
I nodded.
“We found more than infidelity.”
He pushed the envelope closer.
“Claire, Derek has been moving marital assets.”
I opened it.
Inside were photographs of bank statements, property records, and wire confirmations.
My eyes scanned the pages.
Then stopped on one transfer.
$1,200,000.
Sent four months ago.
The recipient was an offshore account.
The beneficiary name made no sense.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who is Elena Ward?”
Nobody answered.
Except Vanessa.
She whispered, “Oh, no.”
I turned toward her.
“You know her?”
Vanessa’s face had become white.
She stared at Derek.
Then at me.
“Claire…”
Her voice shook.
“Elena isn’t his business partner.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“She’s his wife.”
