Chapter 3 - Forty-Eight Million Reasons
Olivia did not touch the pen.
“Even if I signed, the biometric system would reject it.”
Vanessa looked amused.
“You really think Samuel Price explained the entire process to you?”
“He created the authorization protocol.”
“He created the version you were allowed to see.”
Olivia looked at the document again.
“What does that mean?”
“The Bennett Trust was established in 1987.”
Vanessa walked slowly around the room as she spoke.
“It was designed during a time when digital signatures, biometric scanners and encrypted devices did not exist.”
“The documents were updated.”
“The interface was updated.”
Vanessa smiled.
“The foundation was not.”
Olivia remained silent.
“There is a legacy clause,” Vanessa continued. “A manual override created by Daniel’s grandfather.”
“Why?”
“In case the trustees became incapacitated during a national emergency.”
Olivia felt the first hint of understanding.
“You need a code.”
“Two codes.”
“Daniel’s and mine.”
“I already have Daniel’s.”
Olivia shook her head.
“No.”
Vanessa opened her phone and displayed a sequence of numbers.
Daniel’s private trust code.
Olivia stared at it.
“How did you get that?”
“Daniel trusts too easily.”
“He would never give it to you.”
“He didn’t.”
Vanessa’s smile widened.
Olivia remembered the irregular withdrawal requests.
Someone had used Daniel’s credentials from inside the mansion.
“You cloned his device too.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Vanessa placed the silver pen beside the authorization form.
“Give me your code.”
“No.”
“Then sign the transfer.”
“No.”
“Forty-eight million dollars will disappear whether you help me or not.”
“Then why are you here?”
Vanessa’s smile faded.
“Because without your authorization, the transfer triggers an audit.”
“So the system isn’t as weak as you claimed.”
“It is weak enough.”
“Not weak enough for you.”
Vanessa stared at her for several seconds.
Olivia realized she had found the first crack in the plan.
Vanessa did not possess complete control.
She was desperate.
“You have Daniel’s credentials,” Olivia said. “You disabled the security system and cloned my phone. Yet you still need me.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“You cannot move the money without my consent.”
“I can.”
“Then do it.”
The room became silent.
Olivia pushed the pen away.
“You came here because this entire plan fails unless I cooperate.”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“You’re very confident for someone who doesn’t understand what’s happening.”
“I understand enough.”
“No. You understand the story Daniel told you.”
Vanessa removed a photograph from the black folder.
She placed it on the table.
Daniel stood outside a hotel in Geneva.
The photograph was dated seven months earlier.
He was embracing a woman.
Her face was hidden by his shoulder.
Olivia looked at the image.
“What is this?”
“The week Daniel claimed he was attending a banking conference.”
“He was.”
“Look closer.”
Olivia noticed the woman’s handbag.
She had seen it before.
Vanessa carried the same one.
“You want me to believe that’s you.”
“It was.”
Olivia refused to react.
“Photographs can be manipulated.”
Vanessa swiped through several more images on her phone.
Daniel and Vanessa entering the hotel.
Sharing a private elevator.
Sitting across from each other at a restaurant.
Daniel touching Vanessa’s hand.
The final image showed them outside a hotel room.
Olivia’s stomach tightened.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because Daniel has been lying to both of us.”
“You expect me to betray my husband because you showed me photographs?”
“I expect you to protect your children.”
Vanessa tapped the trust document.
“Once the money transfers, you take half.”
Olivia looked at her.
Vanessa continued.
“Twenty-four million dollars.”
“You keep the house.”
“You leave Daniel.”
“You never have to see either of us again.”
Olivia almost laughed.
“You are offering me money from my own trust.”
“I am offering you an escape.”
“From what?”
“From the moment Daniel decides you are no longer useful.”
Olivia pushed the photographs back toward her.
“You don’t know my husband.”
Vanessa’s expression became almost sympathetic.
“Neither do you.”
A quiet beep came from the security panel.
The system had completed its update.
A small red light illuminated above the hallway camera.
Olivia glanced toward it.
Vanessa noticed.
“The camera is offline.”
“Then why is the light on?”
“It resets automatically.”
Olivia studied Vanessa’s face.
For the first time, she saw uncertainty.
Vanessa walked to the panel and entered a code.
The red light remained on.
She tried again.
Nothing happened.
Olivia slowly moved toward the kitchen counter, where a second phone rested near the fruit bowl.
Vanessa turned.
“Don’t.”
Olivia grabbed it.
Vanessa crossed the room in seconds and struck the phone from her hand.
It crashed against the wall.
Olivia staggered back.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“I warned you.”
“You attacked a pregnant woman.”
“I touched your hand.”
“You hit me.”
“Sign the document.”
“No.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Sign it.”
Olivia raised her voice.
“Get out of my house!”
Vanessa slapped her.
The blow snapped Olivia’s head sideways.
For a moment, neither woman moved.
Vanessa seemed surprised by what she had done.
Olivia slowly touched her cheek.
“You just made the worst mistake of your life.”
“No.”
Vanessa picked up the silver pen.
“My worst mistake was believing Daniel would eventually choose the right woman.”
She shoved the pen into Olivia’s hand.
Olivia dropped it.
Vanessa’s control disappeared.
She grabbed Olivia’s wrist.
“Give me the code!”
“Never.”
Vanessa twisted her arm.
Olivia cried out.
“Forty-eight million dollars,” Vanessa hissed. “That is all standing between me and the life you stole.”
“I stole nothing from you.”
“You stole his name.”
“You stole his home.”
“You stole his children.”
Olivia looked into her eyes.
“And he still would never choose you.”
Vanessa struck her again.
Harder.
Olivia lost her balance and fell against the coffee table.
Pain shot across her lower back.
One of the babies kicked violently.
She tried to stand.
Vanessa grabbed her hair.
Olivia screamed.
May you like
The hallway camera’s red light continued blinking.
Neither woman noticed the tiny green light that appeared inside the smoke detector above them.
