“I know it looks terrible,” she said, her voice trembling like glass. “But your mother asked me to check the household accounts. I used to work in finance before I came here. She believed I could help her see things she can no longer see. When I noticed discrepancies, I panicked. I followed the trail and it led here. The safe was already open.”
Maxwell shook his head. The idea was absurd. “My mother would never send you into my office. She respects boundaries. You should have respected them too.”
A new voice answered, quiet yet commanding. “I did send her.”
Both Maxwell and Tessa turned. Maribel Grayson, regal despite her cane and age, stepped into the office. She looked smaller than she once had, but her eyes remained sharp. They held sorrow, and something colder beneath it.
Maxwell’s anger wavered. “Mother, why. Why did you involve her instead of coming to me.”
“Because every time I told you something was amiss, you refused to hear it,” she replied. “You insisted that loyalty was armor. You wanted to believe the people in your company were incapable of betrayal. I needed someone who would look without bias.”
Tessa swallowed and pointed at the documents. “Large sums are missing. Transfers that do not match expenses. Authorizations you never gave. Someone is siphoning funds through shell operations linked to the charity division. Whoever is responsible knows the systems intimately. They know how to imitate your signature.”
Maxwell stared at the papers as if they might vanish if he blinked. “Who is it,” he asked, voice cracking. “Who has done this.”
Maribel hesitated. The silence stretched, heavy with grief. “Cassian Morello.”
Leave a Comment