Chapter 9 - His Name on Every Page
Detective Bell played only the portion Ethan needed to hear.
Olivia sounded tired.
“I checked the deliveries.
The clinics never received the equipment.”
Sabrina laughed softly.
“You checked the deliveries.”
“You used Ethan’s foundation.”
“You really think your husband reads every document he signs?”
A chair scraped.
Then Olivia spoke again.
“Victor arranged the vendors.
You handled the accounts.
I have the transfers.”
Sabrina’s voice lost its sweetness.
“Give me the copies.”
“No.”
“You have a little girl, Olivia.
Be careful how much trouble you bring home.”
Ethan stood so abruptly that his chair tipped backward.
Bell stopped the recording.
“Sit down.”
“She threatened my wife.”
“I heard it.”
“You knew this last night?”
“We received the card twenty minutes ago.”
Grace watched Ethan fight for control.
Anger was easier for him than guilt.
It gave him something to do with his hands.
Bell spread several printed pages across the table.
The foundation had paid false vendors for eighteen months.
Those vendors sent money into accounts linked to Victor Vale’s consulting company.
Sabrina’s father.
Ethan’s friend.
A man who had stood beside him at Olivia’s funeral.
Ethan stared at the totals.
“How much?”
“From the files on this card, just under twelve million.”
His signature appeared on approval sheets.
Some were genuine.
Some were copies placed on documents he had never seen.
That distinction might matter in court.
It did very little for the clinics that had waited for supplies.
“My legal team can—”
Bell raised a hand.
“You need independent counsel.
Anyone who handled these transactions may be a witness.”
Ethan looked at Grace.
“You believed her.”
“Yes.”
“Before you had all this.”
“I believed she was scared.
That was enough to keep asking.”
His phone buzzed.
Victor Vale.
Ethan let it ring.
A message followed.
We need to discuss Sabrina before you destroy both our families.
Another appeared.
There is a transfer scheduled for this morning.
You know which one.
Ethan did know.
Twenty-eight million dollars.
A property partnership he had agreed to fund after the gala.
Victor had insisted the timing was important.
Bell read the message over Ethan’s shoulder.
“Call your bank.”
Ethan was already dialing.
Then a third message arrived.
May you like
Lily has had enough loss.
Don’t make today worse.
