Chapter 4 - The Man Who Managed the Money
Thomas Bell had managed Whitfield Holdings for eleven years.
Nathan trusted him with acquisitions, emergency accounts, and family foundations.
Thomas entered the dressing suite carrying a tablet.
Vanessa signed several electronic transfers.
Richard watched.
Mrs. Hale counted cash.
The footage showed no confusion.
No misunderstanding.
It showed a team.
Nathan looked toward the ballroom.
Thomas was gone.
He had been seated near the west terrace ten minutes earlier.
Mr. Harris checked the locked doors.
One service exit had opened briefly before the lockdown completed.
Thomas had escaped through the catering corridor.
Nathan called his legal counsel.
“Freeze every account under Bell’s authority.”
Vanessa moved toward him.
“You cannot do that without destroying your own company.”
Nathan ended the call.
“That sentence tells me exactly how much damage you planned.”
The ballroom guests were moved into smaller rooms for witness statements.
No one complained anymore.
The engagement party had become a crime scene.
Claire sat with Lily in the east sitting room while the estate physician cleaned her palm.
Nathan brought the torn blanket.
He placed both pieces on the table.
“I will have it repaired.”
Lily touched the ripped edge.
“Will the flowers know they were broken?”
Nathan looked at Claire helplessly.
Claire swallowed.
“They might remember a little.”
“But they can still keep someone warm.”
Lily nodded as though considering an important scientific fact.
Nathan sat across from her.
“I should not have placed your birthday in the middle of an engagement party.”
Claire looked up.
“You were trying to be kind.”
“I was also proving something to Vanessa.”
“That kindness could exist in this house.”
Claire understood.
Lily’s party had become a test.
Vanessa had failed it more completely than Nathan expected.
Mr. Harris entered.
Thomas Bell’s financial access had been frozen.
But not before he transferred sixty-two million dollars into offshore accounts.
The transfers were authorized using Nathan’s digital signature.
Nathan had signed nothing.
A second report showed that Vanessa and Thomas had created a private company together.
Hale-Bell Strategic Partners.
The company had been purchasing Whitfield debt quietly.
If Nathan’s company suffered a sudden scandal, they could force a restructuring.
Vanessa had not only planned to marry him.
She had planned to own what remained after ruining him.
Then Claire remembered something.
Three nights earlier, she had heard Vanessa inside Nathan’s study.
Vanessa said:
“After the gala, the child and her mother disappear.”
May you like
Thomas answered:
“Only if the old footage is gone.”
