Chapter 5

The car pulled up to the Valen Manor by the sea.

It wasn't the kind of jaw-dropping, extravagant place like the Moretti Estate.

The Valen Manor was more like a black stone house perched on the seaside cliffs.

The windows were tall, and old nautical charts and photos of the port hung on the walls.

There were hardly any servants around, but there were plenty of bodyguards. Everyone moved around like silent shadows.

I was led into the study. Three people were already waiting at the long table: Cedric's lawyer, a representative from Greyhaven Bank, and a gray-haired accountant.

The accountant stood up as soon as he saw me. "Ms. Wells." He didn't call me Mrs. Moretti but my maiden name.

I glanced at Cedric. He said calmly, "He's the accountant working for your mother before. I brought him here, hoping that's not crossing a line."

My throat tightened. "No, that's totally fine."

I handed the key to the bodyguard. Half an hour later, Nora's toy safe was brought into the study.

It was a small, powder-blue metal box with bunny stickers on it. Nora always stashed her candy in there, convinced no one could ever find her secret spot.

I unlocked it with the key. Inside, there were crayons, half a pack of strawberry candy, a few crumpled drawings, and a black waterproof pouch.

I took out the pouch and set it on the table. When I opened it, the Greyhaven Bank rep's face changed.

There wasn't only one ledger inside. There were three: the port's shipping records, the Moretti Family's transfer records of internal funds, and the freeze notice for the medical trust signed by Lucas.

The lawyer put on his glasses, flipping open the last document, and then his face fell. "The freeze date was the day before Nora was admitted to the hospital."

After knowing the freeze date, I closed my eyes.

I realized it was not because I "crossed the line" that Lucas did that. He'd already made up his mind before that.

That meant he'd already signed his name on the freeze notice before Sophie's birthday party, those twenty-seven desperate calls I made, and before Nora was hospitalized.

Thinking of this, I felt my fingers icy cold.

Cedric took the document from me, his eyes scanning the signature. "He'll claim he had no idea the freeze included Nora's medical trust."

I opened my eyes. "Of course he will. Then let's make it impossible for him to deny it."

The accountant flipped through the port ledger, his expression growing grimmer with every page.

"For the past year, the Moretti Family has been moving profits from three shipping lines into offshore accounts. Lucas authorized it, but the person actually making the transfers..." He paused. " It was Sophie Lambert."

The lawyer glanced up. "She's not part of the Moretti Family, so she shouldn't have the authority to move these funds."

"Unless someone gave her temporary authorization," I said.

The accountant turned to the next page and handed it to Cedric.

It was a letter of authorization. Lucas had signed it with Sophie as the co-signer. The date was three months ago.

Three months ago, Sophie moved into the beach house.

She said her ex-boyfriend was harassing her, so Lucas let her stay for a few days.

Those days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into three months.

Meanwhile, back at the Moretti Estate, I, along with Nora, was waiting for him to come home for dinner.

Cedric closed the ledger. "How do you want to handle this?"

I looked at the three ledgers on the table. "Freeze the three docking routes first."