Chapter 3 - THE MONEY HE THOUGHT I’D NEVER FIND
The first transfer was for $78,000.
The second was $120,000.
Then $200,000.
Then smaller amounts.
Thirty thousand here.
Forty-five thousand there.
All routed through consulting firms I had never heard of.
I stared at the bank records.
“What are these companies?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“We’re still tracing them.”
“No.”
I pointed at one name.
“Briar Holdings.”
“What about it?”
“Daniel’s brother uses ‘Briar’ for everything.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Explain.”
“When we first met, Richard had a boat called Briar Rose.”
I looked at another transfer.
“And Margaret’s summer house is on Briar Lane.”
Rebecca’s expression tightened.
“You think these are family-controlled entities?”
“I think my husband has been funneling money to his family.”
My voice sounded strange.
Detached.
Maybe because anger this large becomes too heavy to feel all at once.
Rebecca turned another page.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
Daniel had never done anything halfway when betrayal was involved.
“Last year, he transferred almost $900,000 into a company called HWT Management.”
“Hawthorne Wealth Trust?”
“That was my guess.”
I laughed once.
“He doesn’t have a wealth trust.”
“Apparently he wanted one.”
I stood and walked toward the hospital window.
Noah was watching cartoons in bed.
His oxygen monitor beeped softly.
Three years old.
Three years old, and his grandmother had almost killed him because she wanted to prove I was dramatic.
And his father had spent the same period stealing from the company I had built.
“I feel stupid,” I whispered.
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“Don’t.”
“I signed things.”
“You signed documents Daniel presented as standard operating approvals.”
“I trusted him.”
“That’s what marriage is supposed to allow.”
I turned.
“Not anymore.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Then we move fast.”
By noon, we froze every account Daniel could access.
By one, the corporate board had emergency notice.
By two, my CFO, Marcus Grant, called me.
“Claire, where are you?”
“At the hospital.”
“Is Noah okay?”
“He will be.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Thank God.”
Then his tone changed.
“I need to tell you something before tomorrow’s board call.”
“What?”
“I’ve suspected Daniel was moving money.”
I closed my eyes.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I sent you three reports.”
I frowned.
“What reports?”
“The internal audit flags.”
“I never saw them.”
Silence.
Then Marcus said, “Daniel told me you had reviewed them personally.”
My stomach dropped.
“He told everyone you had signed off.”
Of course he had.
“Send me everything.”
“Already doing it.”
A new email landed on my laptop.
I opened it.
Three internal reports.
Each with my electronic signature.
Except I had never signed them.
I stared at the screen.
“Marcus.”
“Yeah?”
“These signatures are fake.”
He went quiet.
Then he swore.
The hospital room suddenly felt too small.
Daniel hadn’t just stolen money.
He had forged my approval.
Rebecca walked over.
“What?”
I turned the laptop toward her.
Her face hardened immediately.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“This just became criminal.”
My phone rang.
Margaret.
I let it go to voicemail.
Then another call.
Richard.
Then Evelyn.
Then Daniel.
Finally, an unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Something made me answer.
“Hello?”
A woman’s voice whispered, “Mrs. Hawthorne?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Emily Carter.”
I had never heard the name.
“I used to work for your husband.”
My grip tightened.
“What do you want?”
“I saw the news about your son.”
“There is no news.”
“Not yet.”
My heart began pounding.
“What do you mean?”
She breathed shakily.
“Daniel asked me two years ago to delete files from your company servers.”
Rebecca looked at me sharply.
“What files?”
Emily was silent.
Then she said, “Records that proved he was paying his family.”
I sat down.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because I thought he was just hiding money.”
Her voice cracked.
“But after what happened to your little boy…”
She inhaled.
“I think you need to know what Daniel said about Noah before he was born.”
Every hair on my arms rose.
May you like
“What did he say?”
Emily whispered, “He said if you ever left him, your son would be the easiest way to control you.”
