Chapter 9 - THE FOUR MILLION
My grandmother had left me money I rarely discussed.
Dominic knew about it because I had trusted him.
What I didn’t know was how carefully Victoria had studied the trust.
The original assets had grown over the years.
Real estate.
Investment accounts.
A minority interest in a medical technology company.
Dominic always called it “Claire’s little inheritance.”
It was worth nearly six million dollars.
They had already taken almost four.
Forgery.
Loans.
Shell companies.
Fake consulting agreements.
Chloe brought in financial-crimes investigators.
By evening, accounts connected to Bennett Strategic Holdings were under review.
But much of the money was gone.
Transferred again.
And again.
Some had moved overseas.
Some had paid company debts.
Some had paid people.
One recipient appeared repeatedly.
Samuel Ames.
My counselor.
Another was a private investigator.
Another was a law firm.
Then I saw a name I recognized.
MADISON REED.
My best friend.
I stared at the payment.
“No.”
Madison had been my college roommate.
My bridesmaid.
The person I called after my first miscarriage.
The woman who told me Dominic was “complicated but devoted.”
She had received twelve payments.
I called her.
She didn’t answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then she texted.
I CAN EXPLAIN.
Twenty minutes later, Madison entered the station crying.
She refused to look at me.
“I thought I was helping you.”
“By taking his money?”
“He said you were having breakdowns.”
“You knew he controlled my phone.”
“He said it was because you were disappearing.”
“I wasn’t disappearing.”
“I know that now.”
“How much?”
She closed her eyes.
“Thirty thousand.”
The number hurt less than the betrayal.
“What did you give them?”
“My messages with you.”
My throat closed.
“Everything?”
“Claire…”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
Every frightened late-night message.
Every suspicion.
Every plan to leave.
Dominic had known all of it.
Because my best friend sold it to him.
Chloe asked whether Madison ever met Victoria.
Madison nodded.
“Victoria was the one who paid me.”
The room went silent.
Then Madison said something else.
“She asked me about Erin too.”
My head snapped up.
“What about my sister?”
“She wanted to know if Erin would challenge a guardianship petition.”
I stood.
“Why?”
Madison looked terrified.
“Because the petition wasn’t supposed to happen after you became incapacitated.”
“What are you saying?”
Madison wiped her face.
“It was supposed to happen after they made you look dangerous.”
“To whom?”
“To yourself.”
My stomach turned.
Then she whispered.
“Claire, the burner wasn’t Phase Three.”
May you like
I stared at her.
“It was the beginning of it.”
