Chapter 7 - VINCENT
Alexander turned to Sofia.
“How?”
She looked at Veronica.
“He comes here when you’re gone.”
Veronica snapped, “Sofia.”
Alexander lifted a hand.
“Don’t say her name.”
Sofia continued.
“I saw him in the kitchen once.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Veronica say?”
“She said he was her cousin.”
Rosa shook her head.
“He’s not.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You know him?”
“I saw them together.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before she fired me.”
Veronica laughed nervously.
“So now I’m having an affair?”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“Who is Vincent?”
Veronica said nothing.
Marcus searched the device metadata.
“Full name may be Vincent Hale.”
David frowned.
“Hale?”
Alexander stared at Veronica.
Her maiden name was Hale.
“Your brother?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Cousin?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Veronica took a slow breath.
“My former fiancé.”
The room went silent.
Alexander almost smiled.
“Former.”
“Yes.”
“And he has access to my security system?”
“He helped set it up.”
“You told me the installer did that.”
“He was the installer.”
Alexander looked at Marcus.
“Can you see when his device connected?”
Marcus scrolled.
“Yes.”
The list was long.
Dozens of dates.
Almost all matched Alexander’s business trips.
Alexander felt something cold spread through him.
“Open whatever you can recover.”
Veronica stepped forward.
“No.”
Nobody listened.
Marcus restored one short clip.
The image was grainy.
Kitchen.
Two months earlier.
Veronica stood beside the island.
A man entered.
Vincent.
Tall.
Dark jacket.
He kissed Veronica.
Sofia gasped.
Alexander did not react.
Not visibly.
Veronica looked away.
On screen, Vincent opened a bottle of wine.
“You sure he suspects nothing?”
Veronica laughed.
“Alexander suspects spreadsheets.”
Vincent smiled.
“And the kid?”
“She’s getting easier.”
Alexander’s fingers tightened.
Vincent said, “Still crying?”
“Constantly.”
“Send her to boarding school.”
“I’m working on it.”
Sofia looked at her father.
Alexander stared at the screen.
Then Veronica on the recording said something worse.
“Once the trust money is moved, I don’t care where she goes.”
Alexander stopped the clip.
His face was white.
David whispered, “We need law enforcement involved.”
Veronica raised her voice.
“That recording was private!”
Alexander turned toward her.
“Private?”
“You illegally accessed—”
“My home.”
“It was my conversation.”
“About stealing my daughter’s money.”
Veronica backed toward the stairs.
Alexander said, “Where are you going?”
“To pack.”
David stepped forward.
“You should not remove anything from the residence.”
“You don’t control me.”
“No,” David said. “But a judge might soon.”
Veronica’s eyes narrowed.
She grabbed her purse from the table.
“I’m leaving.”
Alexander didn’t stop her.
Instead, he said, “Your accounts are frozen.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“I froze our joint accounts while David was driving here.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I just did.”
She turned slowly.
For the first time, real panic showed.
“What about my personal account?”
David looked at the documents.
“If stolen trust funds went there, you may not want to touch that either.”
Veronica’s breathing changed.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Vincent.
Alexander saw the name.
So did everyone else.
Veronica declined the call.
It rang again.
Alexander held out his hand.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Answer it.”
She glared at him and hit speaker.
“What?”
Vincent’s voice came through immediately.
“Why the hell are the accounts locked?”
Everyone froze.
Veronica closed her eyes.
Vincent continued.
“Veronica?”
Alexander stepped closer to the phone.
“Hello, Vincent.”
Silence.
Then the line went dead.
Marcus looked at his laptop.
“His phone just disconnected from the home system.”
Alexander stared at the screen.
Marcus’s expression sharpened.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“One of the garage doors just opened.”
Everyone turned.
May you like
Sofia whispered:
“He’s here.”
