Chapter 9 - The Transfer That Failed.
Daniel slipped his phone into his pocket too quickly.
Jennifer had already seen the alert.
"What transfer was blocked?"
He stared at her.
"None of your business."
The words sounded absurd after everything on the table.
His father held out his hand.
"Show me the phone."
Daniel laughed once.
"I'm thirty-three years old."
"Then act like it."
The older man's voice remained quiet, but the room moved with it.
Daniel's coworkers were no longer pretending not to listen.
One of them, the company's controller, had gone completely still near the bar.
Jennifer noticed him exchange a glance with Daniel's father.
That made her uneasy.
She had no intention of turning a marriage scandal into an accusation about a business she did not understand.
But Daniel's reaction suggested the blocked transfer mattered.
Jennifer took out her own phone.
"I froze our joint household account this morning."
Daniel's face tightened.
"You what?"
"Only the account with my name on it."
She kept her tone careful.
"The bank confirmed no funds could leave without both signatures until we reviewed the disputed transactions."
Daniel stepped closer.
"You had no right to do that."
Jennifer almost smiled.
"My name is on the account."
Chloe looked between them.
"Was that the account you were going to use for the agreement?"
Daniel ignored her.
Jennifer opened a banking email.
A security notice had arrived seven minutes earlier.
Someone had attempted to transfer $38,000 from the joint account into the hidden account ending in 9031.
The request had failed because of the freeze.
Jennifer turned the screen toward Daniel.
"Thirty-eight thousand dollars."
Patricia stared at him.
"Tonight?"
Daniel dragged a hand through his hair.
"I was protecting my money."
Jennifer's expression went cold.
"Our money."
"Most of it came from my income."
His father spoke from behind him.
"And some of it came from Jennifer's inheritance."
Daniel turned.
The older man looked toward Jennifer.
"You used part of what your grandmother left you for the house, didn't you?"
Jennifer nodded.
Daniel's anger returned.
"Why is everyone acting like she's helpless?"
Jennifer met his eyes.
"I'm not helpless."
She picked up the blocked-transfer notice.
"That's why the transfer failed."
Several guests looked down to hide reactions.
Daniel's face tightened.
Then the controller near the bar approached Daniel's father.
"Richard, can I speak to you privately?"
Daniel immediately stepped between them.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
The controller stopped.
Daniel seemed to realize what he had done.
"I mean, this is a family event."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"What do you need to tell me, Mark?"
Mark looked uncomfortable.
"There was a reimbursement request tied to the Chicago trip."
Daniel shook his head.
"Mark."
The warning in his voice was unmistakable.
Mark continued anyway.
"It was flagged last month because the hotel receipt didn't match the conference location."
Daniel's father stared at his son.
Jennifer felt the next layer opening beneath their feet.
Mark reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.
"I thought it was a clerical error."
May you like
He looked at Daniel.
"Now I'm not so sure."
