Chapter 2 - The Account She Never Saw.
Naomi Reed's office occupied the twenty-third floor of a building Grant had once called painfully ordinary.
That description came back to Evelyn as she sat beneath fluorescent lights with an ice pack pressed against her cheek.
Naomi studied the swelling without pity and without looking away.
"Did he hit you before today?"
"No."
Evelyn heard how automatic the answer sounded.
"Did he threaten you?"
Evelyn thought about every locked door, every password Grant refused to share, and every time he called her paranoid for asking where money had gone.
"Not in words that sounded like threats at the time."
Naomi slid a printed bank statement across the desk.
The transfer had been initiated at 11:14 that morning.
Eighteen million dollars had moved from Hartwell Capital's reserve account into a company Evelyn had never heard of.
Meridian House Holdings LLC.
The authorization page carried two electronic signatures.
Grant Hart.
Evelyn Hart.
"I never signed this."
"I know."
Naomi rotated a laptop toward her.
The digital certificate attached to Evelyn's signature had been generated from a device registered to the Hart residence.
According to the timestamp, someone had signed as Evelyn while she was sitting in a dentist's office across town.
"He knew I was out."
"That is what it looks like."
Evelyn felt a colder pain than the one in her face.
Grant had not improvised after being caught in the jewelry store.
He had been preparing before she ever walked through the door.
Naomi explained that they could seek an emergency order preventing further transfers, but the court would want evidence of immediate risk.
The assault helped establish volatility.
The forged signature changed everything.
"If that money disappears into layered companies tonight, finding it could take months."
Evelyn stood too quickly.
"Then we stop it tonight."
Naomi shook her head.
"You stop going anywhere alone tonight."
Evelyn's phone lit up with Grant's name.
She rejected the call.
It rang again.
Then came a text.
WE NEED TO TALK BEFORE YOU MAKE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE.
Evelyn almost laughed.
Naomi did not.
"Save everything."
A second text arrived.
THE COMPANY ISN'T HALF YOURS JUST BECAUSE YOU MARRIED ME.
A third followed.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO DESTROY.
Evelyn looked at Naomi.
"He thinks I'm after his company."
Naomi leaned back.
"What do you think the company is worth?"
"Grant always said around thirty million."
Naomi opened another document.
"Last quarter, a private lender valued the operating group at ninety-two million."
Evelyn stopped breathing for a second.
Grant had understated the value by more than sixty million dollars.
Naomi watched her absorb it.
"Your husband has been lying to you about the marriage and the business."
Evelyn's hands began to tremble.
"What do we do first?"
"We protect evidence."
Naomi handed her a small sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a brass key.
Evelyn recognized it instantly.
It belonged to the safe in Grant's home office.
"Where did you get that?"
"You gave it to me this morning with the documents from your desk."
Evelyn stared at the key.
"No."
Naomi frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The key I gave you was silver."
Silence settled over the office.
Naomi lifted the bag toward the light.
A tiny number was stamped into the brass.
417.
Evelyn had seen that number before.
It was printed on a bank envelope she once found in Grant's coat and was told to forget.
Naomi's expression changed.
"This isn't the key to his office safe."
Evelyn slowly stood.
"It's a safe-deposit key."
Before Naomi could respond, Evelyn's phone vibrated again.
May you like
This time the message came from an unknown number.
DON'T OPEN BOX 417.
