Chapter 3 - The Final Accounting of Garrett Vance
The betrayal didn't break me; the grief had already scorched away any part of my heart that could feel a normal human sting.
I walked over to the sofa, picked up the designer handbag, and inverted it over the glass coffee table without a single ounce of hesitation.
Among the gold compacts and luxury lipsticks, a small, encrypted corporate drive tumbled onto the glass, carrying the official seal of Vance Global Investments.
Garrett hadn't just been spending his night in a luxury hotel room while our five-year-old son drew his final, agonizing breaths.
He had spent the last three months working with Vanessa to systematically siphon off the offshore trust funds my father had secured for Ethan's medical care.
They believed that if Ethan didn't survive the winter, the trust assets would automatically revert to the primary corporate accounts—accounts Garrett controlled as the nominal CEO.
"They thought the sixty percent survival rate meant they could rewrite the legacy before the funeral," I whispered into the quiet suite.
I plugged the encrypted drive into my secure tablet, my fingers flying across the security protocols, bypassing Garrett's baseline firewalls within four minutes.
The ledger was explicit: over two million dollars had been routed through a series of shell companies registered in Delaware, all leading back to a private account carrying Vanessa's maiden name.
The phone in my hand began to vibrate violently, Garrett's name flashing across the screen over and over again.
I answered it, my voice dropping into a register that made the luxury suite feel like an interrogation room. "Yes, Garrett?"
"Clara! Where are you?" he panicked, the background noise indicating he was still standing in the hospital lobby. "The nurses said you left with Ethan's belongings. You can't just vanish right now! The media is going to ask questions about the corporate charity foundation!"
"The charity foundation is currently being audited by the federal district attorney, Garrett," I said smoothly, looking out at the city lights.
"And as for where I am... I'm looking at your silver tie resting on the floor of the penthouse suite."
May you like
The line went completely dead, the silence on the other end confirming that the fear he had felt in the hospital room had just become an absolute reality.
---
