Chapter 6 - THE AUDIT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The independent audit began on Monday morning.
By Wednesday afternoon, Amelia had received three threatening emails, two anonymous phone calls, and an offer from Thomas's attorneys to settle the entire divorce for a sum large enough to buy a comfortable house in any neighborhood in Queens.
She rejected it.
Not because she wanted revenge.
Because the settlement included a confidentiality clause that would prevent her from discussing the foundation's finances with investigators.
Thomas had once told her that money made difficult choices easier.
Now she understood that money could also make people stop asking questions.
Rebecca assembled a team of forensic accountants. Evelyn provided copies of her old correspondence. Sarah, after three days of silence, delivered a box of printed emails to Rebecca's office.
She did not come inside.
She left the box with the receptionist and departed before Amelia could reach the lobby.
Inside were communications between Sarah and Thomas dating back eighteen months.
The earliest messages were ordinary office exchanges.
Then the language changed.
Sarah asked about a payment to a consulting firm.
Thomas told her to stop asking questions.
Sarah asked whether the foundation's money had been returned.
Thomas replied that the matter had been handled.
A month later, Sarah wrote:
You promised me my mother would never be dragged into this.
Thomas answered:
Then stop looking for documents that don't concern you.
Amelia read the exchange twice.
“She's been afraid of him for a long time,” she said.
Rebecca nodded.
“Fear doesn't make her innocent. But it may make her a useful witness.”
The audit revealed that the missing $2.4 million had passed through four companies before being deposited into an account controlled by a private investment vehicle.
The vehicle had been used to purchase distressed commercial properties in New York and New Jersey.
Several properties were later sold at substantial profits.
The money had not vanished.
It had been transformed.
And one of the properties purchased through the scheme was a residential building that the foundation had originally intended to convert into transitional housing.
Amelia recognized the address.
Her mother had shown her photographs of the building when she was a teenager.
“She wanted to turn that place into apartments for women with children,” Amelia whispered.
Rebecca placed a hand on the table.
“We can pursue recovery of the funds. But we need to know who ultimately benefited.”
The accountants traced the money to a holding company with three beneficiaries.
Thomas McCauley.
Sarah Lin.
And an unidentified trust established overseas.
Amelia stared at the report.
“Sarah received money?”
Rebecca nodded.
“According to these records, yes.”
The revelation changed everything.
Amelia had begun to see Sarah as a frightened woman trapped by Thomas's power. Now she wondered whether Sarah had been afraid of losing the money rather than exposing the truth.
That evening, Sarah appeared at Grand Foods.
Amelia was on her break, seated in the small employee room with a container of pasta and a bottle of water.
Sarah stood in the doorway.
“I need five minutes.”
Amelia looked at the clock.
“You have three.”
Sarah sat opposite her.
“The money in that account wasn't mine.”
“Your name is on the paperwork.”
“Thomas put it there.”
“And you didn't know?”
“I knew he was using my name. I didn't know where the money came from.”
Amelia closed her food container.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No. I expect you to check the dates.”
Sarah pulled a folded document from her bag.
“Three days after I discovered the account, I tried to transfer everything back. Thomas blocked the transaction. Then he told me that if I went to the authorities, he'd release emails making it look as if I'd designed the whole scheme.”
“Did you?”
Sarah looked directly at her.
“I helped him move money between companies. I told myself it was legitimate because he said it was. I was ambitious, and I wanted to believe him. By the time I understood what was happening, I'd already signed documents I couldn't explain.”
It was the first honest thing Amelia had heard from her.
It did not erase what she'd done.
But it made the story more complicated.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because Thomas is planning to blame everything on me.”
Amelia's pulse quickened.
“How do you know?”
“I saw a draft statement prepared by his legal team. It says I acted without his knowledge, manipulated the accounts, and concealed the transactions from the board.”
“Can you prove it?”
Sarah nodded.
“I have the original emails. The ones that show he approved every transfer.”
“Then give them to the investigators.”
“I will.”
“Why haven't you already?”
Sarah's eyes filled.
“Because the overseas trust belongs to someone I never expected to be involved.”
Amelia leaned forward.
“Who?”
Sarah opened her mouth.
A sharp knock sounded at the employee-room door.
Marta stood outside, her face pale.
“Amelia, there's a man at the front desk asking for you. He says it's about your baby.”
Amelia stood too quickly and felt a wave of dizziness.
Sarah caught her elbow.
“Sit down.”
“Who is he?” Amelia asked Marta.
Marta swallowed.
“He says his name is Dr. Bennett. He says he treated your mother.”
Amelia went cold.
Her mother had been dead for five years.
May you like
And no doctor who had treated her mother had any reason to be asking about her unborn child.
Unless he knew something about the family that no one else had told her.
