Chapter 5 - THE DEAD WOMAN’S WARNING
Marcus caught Sabina before she reached the computer.
“Let me go!”
Two officers restrained her.
Chadworth didn’t even look away from the screen.
Elizabeth was speaking.
His Elizabeth.
Dead for four years.
Alive again for ninety seconds inside an old video file.
“I don’t know how much time I have,” she said. “I may be wrong about some of this. I hope I am.”
Chadworth’s hands began shaking.
Elizabeth looked exhausted.
Her cancer had been aggressive.
At least, that was what every doctor had told them.
“I discovered unauthorized transfers from the Prescott Family Foundation. Small amounts at first. Then larger.”
A document appeared beside her on screen.
Accounts.
Shell companies.
Initials.
E.C.
S.V.
Chadworth looked at Elliot.
Elliot said nothing.
Elizabeth continued.
“Elliot told me it was routine restructuring. I didn’t believe him.”
Chadworth’s throat tightened.
“I asked Sabina because she was helping with foundation events at the time.”
Sabina had known Elizabeth.
That fact suddenly felt disgusting.
They hadn’t been close.
But Sabina had attended charity dinners.
Hospital events.
Even Elizabeth’s memorial.
“I made the mistake of telling her what I found.”
Elizabeth paused.
Her eyes filled.
“Two days later, someone entered my private email.”
Chadworth leaned closer.
“I changed the password. The next morning, my medication organizer had been disturbed.”
Rosamund whispered, “Oh my God.”
Elizabeth continued.
“I cannot prove anyone harmed me. I need that understood. My illness is real. But I no longer trust Elliot or Sabina.”
Chadworth felt his knees weaken.
He grabbed the back of a chair.
“I’m putting copies of everything on this drive. If something happens to me, Chad needs to know.”
Elizabeth looked directly into the camera.
“And Chad…”
Her expression softened.
He nearly broke.
“You love those girls more than anything. But you hide inside work when you’re scared.”
Chadworth looked down.
“You did it when my diagnosis came. You worked more because you didn’t know how to watch me get sick.”
Tears burned his eyes.
“If I’m gone, don’t do that to them.”
Gemma reached for his hand.
He held it.
On the screen, Elizabeth gave a sad smile.
“They don’t need another mansion. They need their dad.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Chadworth walked toward Elliot.
Marcus stepped close.
“Sir.”
Chadworth stopped inches from his attorney.
“My wife came to you.”
Elliot looked exhausted now.
“She misunderstood financial restructuring.”
“You told me she became paranoid because of medication.”
“She was dying.”
Chadworth punched him.
One clean hit.
Elliot went down.
Marcus caught Chadworth before he could do it again.
“Sir!”
Chadworth pulled free.
“I trusted you.”
Blood ran from Elliot’s lip.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Elliot sat against the table.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“The foundation money wasn’t for me.”
“Who was it for?”
Elliot looked at Sabina.
Sabina shouted, “Don’t.”
That told Chadworth everything.
He looked back at Elliot.
“Talk.”
Elliot wiped his mouth.
“Sabina had debt.”
“How much?”
“Almost eleven million.”
Chadworth laughed in disbelief.
“From what?”
“Her father.”
Sabina’s face twisted.
“Stop.”
Elliot continued.
“Her family businesses collapsed. Lawsuits. Private loans. She needed access to capital.”
“So she stole from my foundation?”
“Initially.”
“Initially?”
Elliot looked at the girls.
Then away.
“There was a larger plan.”
Chadworth stepped closer.
“What plan?”
Elliot hesitated.
Then Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face changed.
“What?”
He put the call on speaker.
A security officer at the gate spoke.
“We found the driver from the black SUV.”
“Found?”
“He was unconscious in the trunk.”
Everyone looked toward Sabina.
Marcus asked, “Is he alive?”
“Yes. Barely.”
“What happened?”
“We don’t know yet. But there’s another problem.”
“What?”
“The man driving the SUV wasn’t the registered owner.”
Marcus frowned.
“Who was?”
The officer gave the name.
Chadworth felt the room tilt.
May you like
The SUV belonged to Dr. Stephen Vale.
The oncologist who had treated Elizabeth during the final six months of her life.
