Chapter 6 - A Forensic Accountant Never Ignores the Numbers
Sabrina sat at Dad’s dining table with both hands wrapped around a glass of water she never drank.
Rachel joined us by video call.
Nobody spoke until Sabrina did.
“I’m not having an affair with Luca.”
I hadn’t expected that opening.
“Okay.”
“I know what it looks like.”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“The housing payments were for my apartment.”
“Why was your apartment being paid through Wendy’s company?”
“Because Luca needed somewhere private to keep records.”
Dad’s expression sharpened.
“What records?”
Sabrina looked toward me.
“Contracts.”
My stomach dropped.
She continued.
“I organize corporate events. Two years ago, Kessler hired me for a development launch. Luca handled vendors.”
“How did Wendy get involved?”
“She didn’t. Not really.”
That matched my theory.
“Romano Consulting belongs to Luca.”
“Operationally, yes.”
I leaned forward.
“Explain.”
Sabrina took a breath.
According to her, Luca had discovered a way to profit from vendor selection.
He would steer Kessler projects toward certain contractors.
Those contractors paid “consulting fees” to Romano Consulting.
Wendy’s name appeared on the company because Luca believed it insulated him from scrutiny.
“What did you do?” Rachel asked.
“I processed invoices.”
“For money?”
“Yes.”
Sabrina’s voice cracked.
“At first, I thought it was legitimate.”
“When did you realize?”
“About six months later.”
“Why stay?”
She looked ashamed.
“Because by then I’d signed documents.”
Dad said nothing.
Sabrina continued.
“I told Luca I wanted out.”
“And he paid your rent?”
“He said he was helping until I got another job.”
“Why witness my mortgage document?”
She closed her eyes.
“That’s what I came to apologize for.”
My throat tightened.
“He told me you had approved it but couldn’t sign because you were traveling.”
“I was pregnant.”
“I know.”
“You met me twice while I was pregnant.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
“You never asked.”
“I was afraid.”
I wanted to hate her.
Instead, I felt tired.
Fear had apparently built Luca an entire infrastructure.
Wendy feared losing control.
Sabrina feared losing work.
I feared losing my marriage.
And Luca had benefited from all of us staying quiet.
“What’s in the envelope?” I asked.
Sabrina slid it toward me.
A flash drive.
“Copies.”
“Of?”
“Invoices, texts, spreadsheets.”
Rachel interrupted.
“Do not plug that into anything.”
I almost smiled.
“Obviously.”
Sabrina looked confused.
Rachel explained.
“We’ll preserve chain of custody.”
That phrase changed the room.
This was no longer marital drama.
This was evidence.
“Why come now?” Dad asked.
Sabrina looked at me.
“Because I saw Wendy’s post.”
“What post?”
She showed me.
Wendy had written a long social media message about “grandparents being alienated by manipulative daughters-in-law.”
She didn’t name me.
She didn’t need to.
Comments poured in beneath it.
People called the unnamed daughter-in-law cruel.
Vindictive.
Gold-digging.
One person wrote:
Imagine keeping a baby from a loving grandmother just because you’re mad at your husband.
I stared.
Sabrina said quietly:
“I knew what really happened.”
“You knew Luca abandoned me?”
“He called me from the restaurant.”
My eyes lifted.
“When?”
“Around midnight.”
Hours after I had called him.
“What did he say?”
Sabrina hesitated.
“He said you were making childbirth ‘a whole production.’”
Something inside me went cold.
Sabrina’s voice broke.
“I told him to go to the hospital.”
I stared at her.
“He laughed.”
That hurt more than I expected.
Not because it was new.
Because it proved he had known.
He hadn’t misunderstood.
He hadn’t believed I was safe.
He had simply decided I didn’t matter enough.
Dad stood and walked away toward the window.
He couldn’t hide his anger anymore.
I looked at Sabrina.
“What did Luca say when you told him to go?”
She swallowed.
“He said, ‘She’ll forgive me. She always does.’”
Silence.
There are sentences that change you.
Not because they are dramatic.
Because they explain years.
She’ll forgive me.
She always does.
Yes.
I had.
When he missed our anniversary because Wendy needed help choosing furniture.
When he canceled our vacation because Wendy didn’t like being alone.
When he used our savings to help Wendy “temporarily.”
When he told me I was oversensitive.
I forgave him.
Again.
Again.
Again.
He hadn’t mistaken forgiveness for love.
He had mistaken it for permission.
I closed my eyes.
When I opened them, Rachel was speaking.
“Jessica, I need you to step away from the evidence gathering.”
“Why?”
“Kessler is starting an internal investigation.”
“So?”
“If Sabrina’s files corroborate this, regulators may become involved.”
Dad turned.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Luca’s employment issue could become a legal issue.”
Sabrina whispered:
“There’s more.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Wendy knew.”
“About the money?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“All of it.”
Sabrina’s face tightened.
“She wasn’t just lending her name.”
“What was she doing?”
“Recruiting vendors.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
Sabrina nodded.
“Wendy introduced Luca to business owners through her social circle. She’d tell them her son controlled contracts at Kessler.”
My stomach turned.
“And they paid?”
“Some.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel asked:
“Do you have proof?”
Sabrina nodded toward the flash drive.
“Yes.”
That night, after everyone left, Dad found me in Leo’s nursery.
I was rocking him.
“I feel stupid.”
Dad sat nearby.
“Why?”
“I’m a forensic accountant.”
“So?”
“I detect fraud for a living.”
“And you didn’t detect your husband.”
“Yes.”
Dad shook his head.
“You weren’t auditing him.”
“I should have seen something.”
“You trusted him.”
“That sounds worse.”
“No.”
Dad leaned forward.
“Trust is not stupidity, Jessi.”
I looked at him.
“Blind trust is.”
“Perhaps.”
He glanced at Leo.
“But if you raise that boy believing everyone who loves him deserves suspicion, Luca will have stolen something else.”
I looked down at my son.
Dad was right.
The goal wasn’t becoming harder.
It was becoming clearer.
My phone vibrated.
A message from Wendy.
We need to talk woman to woman. No lawyers. No Arthur. Tomorrow at noon.
Then another.
You don’t know the whole story.
And finally:
If Luca goes down, he won’t go alone.
I showed Dad.
He read it twice.
“What do you think that means?”
I stared at the screen.
“I think Wendy just made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
May you like
“She put a threat in writing.”
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