Chapter 6 - THE MONEY
Alexander read the transfer twice.
Then he opened another.
$40,000.
Another.
$25,000.
In total, $210,000 had been moved from an account Alexander established after Elena’s death.
Money meant for Sofia’s education.
Her future.
Her protection.
“Explain.”
Veronica shrugged.
“House expenses.”
“That trust cannot be used for house expenses.”
“I’m her legal guardian when you’re traveling.”
“You are not authorized to withdraw from that account.”
“I had power of attorney.”
Alexander looked up sharply.
“No, you didn’t.”
She smiled.
“You signed more paperwork than you remember.”
David Klein arrived twenty minutes later with a digital forensic specialist named Marcus.
David had been Alexander’s attorney for fifteen years.
He took one look at Sofia’s uniform, the papers on the table, and Alexander’s face.
“What happened?”
Alexander answered simply.
“My wife has been abusing my daughter.”
Veronica laughed.
“Careful.”
David looked at her.
“He doesn’t need to be careful in his own living room.”
“And stealing from her.”
Now David stopped smiling.
They reviewed the documents.
Marcus copied the USB contents without changing the original files.
David examined the trust transfers.
“These signatures aren’t yours.”
Alexander stared at them.
“They look like mine.”
“They’re good.”
“Good enough?”
“Not under examination.”
Veronica stood.
“I’m done listening to this.”
David blocked her path with words, not his body.
“You may want to listen to this part.”
She turned.
“If funds were taken from a protected trust using forged authorization, that can become a criminal matter.”
Veronica’s eyes flashed.
“Oh, please.”
“And if digital records show coercive conduct toward a minor, that changes the situation further.”
“I never hit her.”
Sofia whispered, “You shoved me.”
Everyone looked at her.
Veronica snapped.
“With my foot. Once.”
David stared at Veronica.
“That is not the defense you think it is.”
Alexander rubbed his face.
All the business deals he had handled.
All the people he had analyzed.
All the lies he believed he could spot.
And he had missed everything happening under his own roof.
Sofia walked toward him.
“Dad?”
He immediately looked at her.
“Yeah?”
“Are you mad at me?”
His face collapsed.
“What?”
“For taking the USB.”
“No.”
“For telling Rosa.”
“No.”
“For making everything bad.”
Alexander went to her.
“You didn’t make anything bad.”
“But you two were happy before.”
Veronica laughed bitterly.
“There. Finally.”
Alexander turned.
“Don’t.”
“She knows.”
“Don’t speak to her.”
“She knows she ruined us.”
Alexander crossed the room so fast Veronica stepped backward.
“You ruined us.”
Veronica swallowed.
He pointed toward Sofia.
“She is a child. You are the adult who chose cruelty every single day.”
David quietly said, “Alexander.”
He turned.
Marcus was staring at his laptop.
“What?”
“I accessed the archived security logs.”
“Did you find recordings?”
Marcus nodded.
“A lot.”
“How much?”
“Months.”
Alexander’s stomach tightened.
Marcus looked disturbed.
“But that’s not the strange part.”
“What is?”
“Someone deleted most of the video every night.”
Veronica said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“But the cloud backup retained system metadata.”
He turned the screen.
“There was another device connected to the security account.”
Alexander stared.
“Another device?”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
Marcus clicked.
A device name appeared.
VINCENT_IPHONE.
Alexander frowned.
“Who the hell is Vincent?”
Rosa slowly sat down.
Veronica’s face lost every bit of color.
May you like
And Sofia whispered:
“I know who he is.”
