Chapter 3 - The True Theft
I walked off the stage and moved quickly toward the private backstage holding room.
Adrian followed me.
Nathaniel was right behind him, his face twisted in panic.
As soon as the heavy velvet curtains closed behind us, cutting off the noise of the gala, I turned to Adrian.
“What Cayman accounts?” I demanded.
Adrian pulled a folded document from his tuxedo pocket.
He handed it to me.
“Your grandmother told me a long time ago that if I ever saw you wearing the red dress, it meant you were finally ready to burn the house down.”
I opened the document.
It was a bank ledger.
Millions of dollars had been quietly funneled out of the Hayes Foundation over the past fourteen months.
Transferred into offshore shell companies.
I looked at the signature authorizing the transfers.
Nathaniel Hayes.
But he couldn’t have done it alone. The foundation required a dual-authentication audit from our primary financial firm.
I looked at the name of the auditor listed on the bottom of the page.
Sienna Vale.
My blood ran cold.
Sienna wasn’t just a pretty twenty-five-year-old mistress.
She was an employee at the accounting firm.
Nathaniel hadn’t brought her to the gala to replace me. He had brought her because they were celebrating.
They had finalized the last transfer this afternoon.
“You gave her my dress,” I whispered, staring at Nathaniel. “You gave her my earrings. And you were paying her with my grandmother’s money.”
Nathaniel held up his hands.
“Vivienne, listen to me. It was a bridge loan. The real estate market crashed. I was going to put it back.”
“You stole from a charity for women and children,” I said, my voice dangerously quiet.
“I was protecting our lifestyle!”
“No,” Adrian interrupted. “You were protecting your ego.”
Adrian looked at me.
“The keycard in the black envelope,” Adrian said. “It wasn't for the dress vault.”
May you like
I reached into my clutch and pulled out the smooth, black plastic card my grandmother had left me.
“It’s for the master server in the hotel’s executive suite,” Adrian explained. “Eleanor set up a shadow ledger before she died. She knew Nathaniel was weak. She just needed you to see it for yourself.”
