Chapter 3 - THE ACCOUNT THAT DIDN'T EXIST
Audrey returned to the penthouse after midnight.
Victoria was waiting in the drawing room.
Still wearing crimson silk.
Still furious.
"Well," she said, "aren't you the little celebrity?"
Audrey walked past.
Victoria followed.
"One million dollars. Honestly, Audrey, you should be grateful."
Audrey stopped.
"Grateful?"
Victoria smiled.
"Mateo Santoro practically rescued you."
"He made a donation."
"He chose you."
Audrey turned.
"No, Victoria. He gave me a choice."
Her sister's expression hardened.
"Don't start imagining he actually wants you."
Audrey stared.
Victoria continued.
"Men like Mateo collect unusual things. Maybe he thought you were amusing."
Audrey felt the familiar sting.
But something had changed.
She was tired.
Too tired to pretend those words didn't hurt.
"Good night, Victoria."
She entered the study and locked the door.
Then opened the Gallagher financial records.
Mateo's warning echoed in her mind.
Not all of them.
She began reviewing the accounts.
For three hours, she searched.
At 3:17 a.m., she found it.
A holding company.
NORTHSTAR HARBOR DEVELOPMENT LLC.
Audrey had never seen the name before.
Yet it had received forty-two million dollars in transfers from Gallagher subsidiaries over eighteen months.
Her fingers went cold.
She opened the transaction history.
The transfers had been authorized using a digital certificate assigned to her.
Audrey stared.
Impossible.
She had never approved them.
She checked the authentication logs.
Her credentials had been used from an external device.
On nights when she had been at home.
On one date when she'd been hospitalized with pneumonia.
Someone had copied her authorization credentials.
Someone had moved millions.
And someone had made it look as though Audrey Gallagher was responsible.
She sat perfectly still.
Then her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
STOP LOOKING AT NORTHSTAR.
Audrey's breath caught.
A second message followed.
YOUR FATHER WON'T SAVE YOU THIS TIME.
She looked toward the locked study door.
Then at Mateo's card.
For the first time, she understood why he had approached her.
May you like
He hadn't simply noticed a humiliated woman.
He had recognized a woman being prepared to take the blame for a crime.
