Chapter 2 - THE PEOPLE IN THE SUVs
The first SUV door opened only after Austin moved me away from the pool.
Vanessa immediately backed toward the villa.
“Stay where you are,” Austin said.
She laughed, but the sound came out thin.
“You don’t order me around.”
Austin didn’t raise his voice.
“I just did.”
The woman who stepped from the first SUV was in her late fifties, silver-haired, composed, carrying a slim leather case.
I recognized her from exactly two encounters with the Wentworth family.
Margaret Vale.
Independent protector of the Wentworth Family Trust.
The second person was Daniel Ross, a forensic accountant whose firm handled internal investigations for wealthy estates.
Suddenly Vanessa’s terror made sense.
Part of it, anyway.
Margaret looked from my soaked maternity dress to Austin’s dripping suit, then to Vanessa.
“What happened?”
“She slipped,” Vanessa said instantly.
Margaret’s eyes moved toward the camera beneath the balcony.
“Did she?”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
Austin handed his phone to Margaret.
“The pool system mirrors footage to my private server.”
Vanessa spun toward him.
“You never told me that.”
“That’s because you never asked.”
Daniel opened his tablet.
“We need everybody to remain available.”
“For what?” I asked.
Margaret looked at me carefully.
“For an audit.”
Vanessa snapped, “This is ridiculous.”
Margaret ignored her.
“The trust’s automated compliance system identified a transaction pattern forty-eight hours ago. Austin authorized us to perform an independent review.”
I turned toward my husband.
“You knew?”
His face tightened.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know what.”
Vanessa seized the opening.
“There. You see? He hides things from his own wife.”
Austin took one step toward her.
“Don’t use Irene against me after you just put her in the pool.”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
“You can’t prove that.”
Daniel’s tablet chimed.
He looked at Margaret.
Then at the camera.
“The upload completed.”
Vanessa went very still.
The pool footage existed.
Not on the camera.
Not on Austin’s phone.
On an independent server Vanessa couldn’t reach.
Margaret asked me whether I needed an ambulance. I told her I needed my doctor and wanted the footage preserved before anyone touched another device.
That was the first decision I made after the shove.
Not Austin.
Me.
Daniel sent the file into an evidence-preservation archive while Austin called my obstetrician.
Vanessa started toward the house.
Margaret blocked her path.
“We also need your devices.”
Vanessa stared at her.
“You have no authority to take my phone.”
“Correct,” Margaret said calmly. “But the trustees do have authority to suspend your access to trust systems if you refuse cooperation.”
Vanessa’s face changed again.
“Suspended from what?”
Daniel rotated his tablet.
A transaction summary filled the screen.
Eleven transfers.
Seven companies.
One authorization code.
Vanessa’s authorization code.
And beside the total sat a number that made my stomach tighten harder than the pool had.
May you like
$8,740,000.
📖 The footage could prove Vanessa pushed me, but the audit revealed that someone had already moved millions before anyone ever touched me beside that pool. 👇
