Chapter 3 - SOMEONE HAD BEEN USING MY NAME
The FBI arrived before dessert was cleared.
Not because Charles called them.
Not because Carter confessed.
Because I already had.
Three days earlier, after my attorneys discovered irregular authentication logs connected to my trust, I had contacted federal investigators through outside counsel.
I had expected fraud.
I had not expected two hundred and sixty-three million dollars.
Carter watched agents enter the ballroom.
“You brought the FBI to our company gala?”
“Our gala?” I asked. “Interesting choice of words.”
He looked away.
An agent approached me.
“Mrs. Harrington?”
“Yes.”
“Special Agent Daniel Reeves.”
We had spoken twice by phone.
Never in person.
“We need access to the company’s financial servers immediately.”
Charles nodded weakly.
“You’ll have everything.”
Carter moved toward him.
“Dad, you can’t just let them tear through the company.”
Charles spun around.
“I can do whatever is necessary to save what is left.”
Vivien crossed her arms.
“This is ridiculous. I haven’t done anything illegal.”
Agent Reeves looked at her.
“Then I’m sure you’ll have no objection to remaining available for questioning.”
Her confidence vanished.
Carter stepped toward me.
“Serena, stop this.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“No, Carter. That’s the difference between you and me. You think powerful people can stop consequences by making a phone call.”
I looked around the ballroom.
“I made mine before you knew there were consequences coming.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You wanted this spectacle.”
“I wanted the truth.”
Agent Reeves approached Charles.
“We also need access to the private archive.”
Charles went rigid.
“What private archive?”
Evelyn answered before he could.
“Sublevel Two.”
Nathaniel Cole cursed under his breath.
I noticed.
“So everyone knows about this archive except me?”
Charles looked exhausted.
“It contains legacy agreements, family documents, historical transactions.”
“Then why is an FBI agent interested in it?”
Reeves answered.
“Because several digital signatures connected to the fraudulent transfers were generated from a terminal located there.”
I looked at Charles.
“Who has access?”
He hesitated.
“Four people.”
“Names.”
“Myself. Carter. Nathaniel.”
He stopped.
“And?”
Charles’s eyes moved toward someone behind me.
I turned.
An elderly man stood beside the ballroom entrance.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Immaculate tuxedo.
I recognized him immediately.
Richard Vance.
Vivien’s father.
A man I had been told was nothing more than a retired investment banker.
Vivien looked terrified.
“Dad?”
Richard ignored her.
He walked slowly toward us.
Charles whispered, “And Richard.”
Carter stared between them.
“Why would Vivien’s father have access to our private archives?”
Nobody answered.
Richard stopped beside me.
For several seconds, he simply studied my face.
Then he smiled sadly.
“You look like Eleanor.”
My grandmother.
I felt something cold move down my spine.
“You knew her?”
“Knew her?”
Richard gave a quiet laugh.
“Your grandmother and I built the original rescue agreement together.”
Charles stepped forward.
“That’s enough.”
Richard ignored him.
“I warned Eleanor never to trust the Harrington family.”
The ballroom seemed to shrink around us.
I looked at Charles.
“What is he talking about?”
Richard reached inside his jacket.
Security immediately moved forward.
He slowly removed an old envelope.
Yellowed.
Sealed.
My name was written across the front.
Not Serena Harrington.
Serena Sterling.
My maiden name.
“I was instructed to give this to you if the Harringtons ever violated the marriage covenant.”
Carter stared at him.
“What marriage covenant?”
Richard placed the envelope in my hand.
Charles whispered, “Richard, don’t.”
But I broke the seal.
Inside was a handwritten letter from my grandmother.
May you like
The first sentence made my knees nearly give out.
Serena, if you are reading this, then Charles Harrington has broken the promise he made me before you married his son.
