Chapter 6 - Eleven Million Dollars
“I didn’t authorize that.”
Daniel nodded.
“I know.”
My father looked toward the exit.
Adrian noticed.
“So does he.”
Dad stopped moving.
I stared at him.
“You transferred eleven million dollars tonight?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then why are you trying to leave?”
“I’m not.”
Connor stepped away from him.
“Aidan.”
“Shut up.”
Connor’s expression shifted.
Something inside him finally snapped.
“No.”
Dad turned.
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
For the first time, Connor didn’t sound like an employee.
He sounded like a man who had been scared for too long.
“You told me the offshore account was for vendor payments.”
Fiona stared at her husband.
“What offshore account?”
Connor looked at her.
“I didn’t know.”
“You’re the CFO.”
“I knew money was moving. I didn’t know he was using Mabel’s identity.”
My father lunged.
“You ungrateful little bastard.”
Two of Adrian’s security men intercepted him.
They didn’t hit him.
They simply blocked him.
That seemed to humiliate him more.
He pointed over their shoulders.
“You’d have nothing without me, Connor!”
Connor laughed.
“Neither would the prosecutors.”
The ballroom went silent again.
My father’s face changed.
“You think I’m afraid of you?”
“No.”
Connor looked toward me.
“But you should probably be afraid of her.”
I should have enjoyed that.
I didn’t.
Because eleven million dollars had just moved under my name.
Even if the transfer was reversed, the paper trail could follow me for years.
I looked at Daniel.
“Can we stop it?”
“Compliance is holding it.”
“Because of Adrian?”
“Because the authorization pattern didn’t match historical activity.”
I almost laughed.
My father had forged my identity badly enough to trigger an algorithm.
Daniel continued.
“But we have another problem.”
“What?”
“The sending account is linked to MBC Consulting.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
“MBC received approximately twenty-seven million dollars over four years.”
My mother sat down.
Fiona whispered, “Twenty-seven million?”
Connor closed his eyes.
Dad said nothing.
I looked at him.
“What did you use it for?”
He smiled coldly.
“You’re the financial investigator. Figure it out.”
Adrian took a step toward him.
“Careful.”
“No,” I said.
I moved around Adrian.
This was mine.
“Where did the money come from?”
Dad looked at me.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Subcontractor rebates. Consulting fees. Property adjustments.”
“Kickbacks.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Connor spoke quietly.
“There were invoices.”
I turned.
“What invoices?”
“Companies billing Harbor Point for work that didn’t exist.”
Dad shouted, “Connor!”
He kept talking.
“Environmental remediation. Traffic consulting. Engineering review.”
My mind moved quickly.
“Who owned the vendors?”
Connor looked at Dad.
“I never knew.”
I did.
Or at least I knew where to look.
“Daniel, send me the entity records.”
My phone buzzed seconds later.
I opened the files.
Three companies.
Three addresses.
Two registered agents.
One familiar surname.
My blood went cold.
“No.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“What?”
I showed him.
One of the companies was registered to a trust.
Trust beneficiary:
Fiona Callahan.
My sister staggered backward.
“No.”
Dad finally looked afraid.
Fiona shook her head violently.
“No. I don’t own anything.”
My mother covered her mouth.
Connor grabbed Fiona’s shoulders.
“Did you sign papers?”
“I don’t know!”
“When?”
“I don’t know!”
My father shouted, “Everybody stop!”
Fiona looked at him.
And for the first time in her life, my perfect sister saw our father the way I had always seen him.
Not as a hero.
Not as a provider.
As a man who used love like a contract.
“Dad,” she whispered.
He said nothing.
Her voice broke.
May you like
“What did you put in my name?”
Before he could answer, police lights flashed through the ballroom windows.
