Chapter 5 - The Money in Lydia's Name.
Adrian stared at the transfer record until the numbers stopped looking real.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Northstar Events.
Lydia Hart.
Three weeks earlier.
It was exactly the kind of evidence Vanessa needed.
Not proof of the truth, but proof strong enough to make people stop asking questions.
"Verify the account," Adrian told Marcus.
"Already doing it."
Marcus opened a separate database through the secure compliance system.
"The last four digits do not match the payroll account we have for Lydia."
Adrian exhaled slowly.
"So it is not her normal account."
"No."
"Can someone open an account using her name?"
"Someone can try."
Marcus's expression remained serious.
"Whether they succeeded is a question for the bank and investigators, not us."
Adrian nodded.
He did not want guesses.
He wanted facts.
At 7:30 the next morning, an independent forensic accounting firm arrived at Vale House.
By then Marcus had found four more hidden cameras.
One had been placed in the pantry.
One faced the staff entrance.
One watched the hallway outside Adrian's office.
The fourth was hidden behind a decorative shelf in the employee break room.
That last camera made Adrian angrier than the others.
It had no possible security purpose.
It existed only to watch people who believed they were off duty.
At 8:05, Lydia called.
Adrian answered immediately.
"Are you all right?"
"No," she said honestly.
Her voice sounded exhausted.
"But I need to tell you something before someone else does."
Adrian leaned against the edge of his desk.
"Go ahead."
"My mother did move into a new apartment last month."
"Vanessa mentioned that."
Lydia went silent.
"Of course she did."
"How was the apartment paid for?"
"My mother sold her car and used savings for the deposit."
"Any large gift?"
"No."
Then Lydia hesitated.
"There was one strange thing."
"Tell me."
"The landlord said someone had already paid three months of rent in advance."
Adrian straightened.
"Who?"
"We thought it was my aunt."
"Was it?"
"I called her this morning."
Lydia's voice tightened.
"She said no."
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
"How much was paid?"
"About nine thousand dollars."
"Do you have the landlord's information?"
"Yes."
"Send it to Marcus."
"I already did."
That answer made Adrian respect her more.
She was frightened, but she was thinking clearly.
"There's something else," Lydia said.
"Yesterday, before dinner, Vanessa told me I should be grateful she had helped my family."
"Did she explain what she meant?"
"No."
"Why didn't you mention it last night?"
"Because I thought she meant giving me extra shifts."
Adrian looked through the glass doors of his office at the investigators moving through the hall.
"Lydia, do not speak with Vanessa or Grant."
"I won't."
"And if either contacts you, save everything."
"I understand."
Before hanging up, Lydia said something quietly.
"Mr. Vale?"
"Yes?"
"I didn't ask you to end your engagement."
Adrian frowned.
"I know."
"People are saying I caused it."
"You didn't."
He looked at the silver ring still sitting on his desk where Marcus had placed it in an evidence envelope after dinner.
"Vanessa caused it the moment she decided another person's dignity did not matter."
Lydia was quiet for several seconds.
"Thank you."
The call ended.
At 10:40, the forensic accountants asked Adrian to join them in the library.
Their lead investigator, Priya Shah, had arranged several documents across the table.
"The good news is that the Vale Family Education Fund itself has not lost two hundred eighty-six thousand dollars," she said.
Adrian frowned.
"That sounds like there is bad news."
"There is."
Priya pointed to the transfers.
"The fund paid Northstar for legitimate gala services over eighteen months."
"Northstar then sent portions of those payments into several unrelated accounts."
"Including the one using Lydia's name."
"Correct."
"So the charity paid real invoices?"
"Some were real."
Priya slid another page toward him.
"Some were inflated."
Adrian studied the figures.
A floral contract listed eighty thousand dollars.
The actual vendor had received thirty-four thousand.
The difference had gone to Northstar.
"Who approved these?"
Priya turned the page.
Vanessa Hale's electronic signature appeared at the bottom.
Adrian stared at it.
Vanessa had joined the foundation's gala committee as a volunteer after their engagement.
He had considered it generous.
Now it looked calculated.
"And Grant owns Northstar."
"Indirectly, yes."
Priya folded her hands.
"But there is another name on the authorization chain."
Adrian looked up.
"Whose?"
She rotated the document toward him.
Daniel Cross.
The chairman of Vale Holdings.
Adrian felt the room go still.
Daniel had been his mentor for fifteen years.
He had been the first person Adrian called after his father died.
He was also the man who had warned him the previous night to protect the foundation.
"Is this signature real?" Adrian asked.
Priya did not answer immediately.
"That is what we need to determine."
Adrian's phone rang before he could respond.
Daniel was calling.
Adrian looked at the signature again.
Then he answered.
"Daniel."
The chairman did not bother with a greeting.
"Do not trust anyone in that house until you know who altered the foundation records."
Adrian's eyes moved to Priya.
"Why are you telling me that now?"
May you like
Daniel took a breath.
"Because I just found out my signature is on documents I have never seen."
