Chapter 7 - THE FIVE MILLION DOLLAR TRAP
The flash drive contained financial records.
Hundreds of them.
Shipping invoices.
Bank transfers.
Contract amendments.
Internal emails.
Arthur had organized everything with the meticulous care Chloe remembered from childhood.
Naomi arranged for qualified forensic accountants to review the files.
The results were disturbing.
Liam had used investment accounts to move money through shell companies.
Osprey Holdings was only the newest.
The stolen five million dollars had been routed through several entities before being directed toward an account that would become associated with Chloe if she signed the paperwork.
But there was more.
The accountants found a second set of transactions.
Older.
Larger.
Connected to Harborline.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
GABRIEL RUSSO.
Chloe stared.
“Was Gabriel involved?”
The accountant shook his head.
“The records suggest someone used his credentials after his death.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Someone forged transactions?”
“That's one possibility.”
The investigation uncovered evidence that Liam had been working with a senior executive named Nathaniel Cross.
Cross had controlled Harborline's finances for more than a decade.
He had also been one of the last people to see Gabriel alive.
Chloe looked at the photograph.
Cross stood beside Gabriel and Arthur at a company event.
Smiling.
Confident.
Respectable.
She felt sick.
Then came the discovery that changed everything.
Arthur's death certificate listed a heart attack.
But his medical records showed that he had recently complained of unusual symptoms.
He'd also received threatening messages.
One message read:
STOP LOOKING AT THE ACCOUNTS.
Another:
YOUR DAUGHTER WILL PAY FOR YOUR CURIOSITY.
Chloe stared until the words blurred.
Her father had known she was in danger.
He had tried to protect her.
And he'd died before he could explain.
That evening, Chloe called Dominic.
He answered immediately.
“Chloe?”
Her voice shook.
“I found something.”
He listened.
She explained the records.
The messages.
The connection to Cross.
When she finished, Dominic was silent.
Then he said:
“Gabriel told me Cross couldn't be trusted.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“Why didn't you listen?”
Dominic's voice broke.
“I wish I had.”
They agreed to share the evidence with investigators through their attorneys.
Not to seek revenge.
Not to hide it.
To let the truth be examined.
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For the first time, Chloe and Dominic were working toward the same goal without one controlling the other.
And that mattered.
