Chapter 10 - The Missing Three Million
The account was in Nevada.
Three million dollars had passed through it.
Not all belonged to Whitmore Development, but enough did to trigger another wave of subpoenas and forensic review.
Daniel had prepared an escape fund.
The money trail showed transfers beginning before Lily was conceived.
This wasn't a momentary lapse.
It was a system.
Evan was involved.
Margaret was involved.
Vanessa had facilitated some transfers.
But Daniel sat at the center.
When confronted through formal proceedings, he stopped cooperating.
Then one morning, he failed to appear for a required meeting.
His attorney claimed illness.
That afternoon, I received an alert.
Someone had attempted to access one of my father's old investment accounts.
The attempt failed.
The credentials used belonged to Daniel.
Elena immediately contacted the appropriate parties.
Daniel was becoming desperate.
And desperate people make mistakes.
By evening, authorities were asking questions.
By midnight, Daniel finally called me.
“Tell them to stop.”
“I don't control investigators.”
“You started this.”
“You started it years ago.”
“You're going to destroy Lily's father.”
“No. Lily's father made choices.”
Then he said something I never expected.
“I loved you.”
Past tense.
Maybe once, I had loved him too.
But love without respect eventually becomes memory.
May you like
“You should have remembered that in the hospital,” I said.
I ended the call.
