Chapter 2 - FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLARS
The glass shattered across the marble floor.
Vanessa did not move.
Ethan turned toward her so quickly that Mary noticed.
That reaction told her everything.
He knew Vanessa knew about the money.
Daniel noticed it too.
“Interesting.”
Ethan recovered first.
“There is no missing money.”
Mary stepped into the hallway.
“Then the audit should be easy.”
“You had no right to order an audit.”
“I own fifty-eight percent of Bennett Holdings.”
“You gave me operational control.”
“Operational control is not ownership.”
Ethan followed her into the hallway.
Guests from nearby suites were beginning to look through partially opened doors.
His voice dropped.
“Do not humiliate me here.”
Mary stopped.
For years, Ethan had used that sentence whenever she challenged him.
Not now.
“You humiliated yourself.”
Daniel handed Ethan the envelope.
“Security will accompany you while you collect your personal belongings from the corporate office tomorrow.”
Ethan tore the envelope open.
Mary entered the elevator.
Vanessa suddenly called after her.
“Mary.”
The desperation in her voice made Mary turn.
Vanessa stood barefoot among the broken glass.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
Mary studied her.
“I didn’t say you did.”
Vanessa’s expression tightened.
That was mistake number one.
Mary stepped into the elevator.
Daniel joined her.
The doors began to close.
Ethan pushed his hand between them.
The doors reopened.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
Mary looked into the face of the man she had planned to marry.
Six years ago, Ethan had been ambitious, funny, hungry, and seemingly kind.
He had entered Bennett Holdings as a regional finance manager.
Mary had fallen in love with the way he spoke about rebuilding struggling companies.
Her father had distrusted him immediately.
Mary had defended Ethan.
She had fought with her family for him.
She had promoted him.
She had placed him on the board.
She had nearly given him everything.
Now she wondered how much of that man had ever been real.
“I understand perfectly.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“If you open those financial records, people are going to get hurt.”
Daniel’s eyes sharpened.
Mary remained still.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
Ethan swallowed.
“It’s a warning.”
The elevator doors closed.
Inside, Daniel turned toward Mary.
“You heard that.”
“Yes.”
“We should involve law enforcement.”
“Not yet.”
Daniel frowned.
“Mary.”
“If Ethan thinks I’m scared, he’ll start destroying evidence.”
“He may already be doing that.”
Mary looked at the elevator numbers descending.
“That’s why Olivia locked him out of the servers thirty minutes ago.”
For the first time that night, Daniel smiled.
“You planned more than I realized.”
Mary looked down at her bare finger.
“I started planning the moment I learned Vanessa wasn’t the only secret.”
The elevator opened into the private lobby.
Mary’s chief financial officer, Olivia Chen, was waiting beside the security desk.
She looked pale.
“Mary.”
“What happened?”
Olivia held up a tablet.
“Someone attempted to transfer another six million dollars twelve minutes ago.”
Daniel cursed under his breath.
Mary stared at the screen.
The destination account was located in the Cayman Islands.
The authorization code belonged to Ethan.
But something beneath it was worse.
A second approval signature appeared on the transfer.
Mary knew that name.
She had known it her entire life.
Thomas Bennett.
Her uncle.
Her father’s younger brother.
Mary felt the world tilt.
“Are you sure this is authentic?”
Olivia nodded.
May you like
Mary looked back toward the elevator.
The affair had just become the least important part of the night.
