Chapter 5 - eighty-two million dollars)
Adrian opened the HELIX folder first.
The documents inside were meticulous.
Bank records.
Invoices.
Board authorizations.
Vendor agreements.
Internal messages.
Helix Bridge Consulting had received more than eighty-two million dollars from DeLuca Holdings over thirty months.
At first glance, everything appeared legitimate.
Helix provided risk analysis, port security consulting, and international compliance reviews.
Then Mara showed me the addresses.
"Three offices are mail drops."
She opened another file.
"The London branch doesn't exist."
Another.
"The Singapore director died four years before the company was incorporated."
My stomach twisted.
"Where did the money go?"
Mara pulled up a flowchart Victor had created.
Payments moved from DeLuca Holdings to Helix.
From Helix into seven subsidiaries.
Then into investment accounts, real estate purchases, cryptocurrency wallets, and private trusts.
At the center were two names.
Dominic DeLuca.
Jessica Mercer.
I stared at the screen.
Jessica had received nearly eleven million dollars.
Dominic had controlled more than fifty million.
The remainder had been distributed among cooperating executives and intermediaries.
"Why would Dominic steal from a company he expected to inherit?"
Adrian answered.
"Because he wasn't certain he would inherit it."
Mara leaned back.
"Victor had been discussing restructuring voting control for almost two years."
"Did Dominic know?"
"He suspected."
Adrian opened another document.
The first page contained my signature.
My stomach dropped.
"What is that?"
"A consulting authorization."
"I've never seen it."
"It approved the first Helix payment."
"That's not my signature."
"It is digitally identical to signatures you used on several marital trust documents."
I understood.
"They copied it."
Mara nodded.
Victor's evidence showed that an administrator in Dominic's office had attached my electronic signature to multiple documents.
They created a consulting entity using an old address associated with me.
They routed several Helix payments through it.
If regulators discovered the fraud after Victor's death, the documents would point toward me.
The penniless wife.
The outsider.
The woman with no job.
The woman Dominic could describe as unstable after years of grief.
I remembered every time he had suggested I stop working.
Every account he had insisted on managing.
Every paper he had placed in front of me with a casual instruction to sign.
My entire marriage rearranged itself.
"He was building a case against me."
Adrian's expression was grim.
"Yes."
I stood and walked to the window.
Outside, hundreds of people remained inside the cathedral.
Dominic was somewhere beyond the door.
Jessica too.
"How long did Victor know?"
Mara answered.
"About seven months."
I turned.
"Seven months?"
"He needed proof."
"He could have warned me."
Adrian spoke softly.
"He believed Dominic would destroy evidence if he realized Victor knew."
"Then he could have told me to leave."
Daniel finally spoke.
"He tried."
I looked at him.
"When?"
"Several times."
I remembered Victor asking whether I trusted Dominic.
I remembered the folder.
The key.
The strange warnings.
I sat down again.
"What happens now?"
Adrian opened the ESTATE folder.
Inside was a letter.
Elena,
If you are reading this, Dominic has probably behaved exactly as badly as I expected.
For that, I am sorry.
You have every reason to hate me for involving you this way.
You may hate me later.
For now, stay alive, stay angry, and do not let my son make you doubt what you see.
The USB is not enough.
It proves theft.
It does not prove intent.
Dominic will say Jessica acted alone.
Jessica will say Dominic controlled her.
Both will say I was sick, confused, manipulated, or vindictive.
You need the blue room.
Take the key I gave you.
Do not go alone.
Daniel knows the procedure.
And Elena, do not open the Rebecca file until you have seen what is inside that room.
Trust me once more.
Victor
I looked at Daniel.
"What procedure?"
"We leave through the clergy exit."
"Where are we going?"
"The old DeLuca estate."
Someone struck the sacristy door hard enough to shake it.
Dominic shouted.
"Elena, don't do this."
I walked toward the door.
Adrian caught my arm.
"What are you doing?"
"Talking to my husband."
Daniel looked prepared to stop me.
I shook my head.
"Open it."
The door opened three inches with Daniel blocking the gap.
Dominic stood outside.
Jessica was behind him.
Her jaw was swelling.
Dominic's face was red.
"Come home with me."
I almost laughed.
"You brought your mistress to your father's funeral."
"Jessica has nothing to do with our marriage."
Jessica stared at him.
I noticed.
So did she.
Interesting.
Dominic lowered his voice.
"My father was sick. He became paranoid."
"Eighty-two million dollars."
His expression did not move.
"What?"
"That's how much Helix received."
Jessica took a step backward.
Dominic's eyes flicked toward her.
Only once.
But I saw it.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Good."
I smiled.
"Then you won't mind if Adrian sends everything to the board and federal investigators."
Dominic's face finally changed.
"Elena."
I closed the door.
Behind me, Mara whispered, "That was either very brave or very stupid."
"Probably both."
Daniel's phone vibrated.
He read the message.
Then his expression hardened.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"Someone just entered the old estate."
"Who?"
"The security system identified Dominic's personal access code."
I looked toward the door.
Dominic was still outside.
May you like
Which meant someone else had his code.
Jessica was gone.
