Chapter 5 - The War Room
The study smelled of aged leather and pipe tobacco—the remnants of my father, Arthur Caldwell.
I locked the heavy door behind me, moved the oil painting of the harbor aside, and punched the six-digit code into the biometric wall safe.
Julian thought he was clever. He thought slipping a general power of attorney into a stack of medical release forms at St. Jude’s Hospital gave him the keys to the kingdom.
He didn't know about Clause 14.
Arthur Caldwell never trusted the Vance family. Not from the day Julian walked into my life with his charming smile and empty bank accounts. My father had structured the Caldwell family trust under an irrevocable spendthrift provision governed by Delaware corporate law.
Any transfer of shares executed under a secondary power of attorney required a notarized countersignature from the primary beneficiary’s legal counsel—or the transfer triggered an automatic forensic audit of all joint assets.
I pulled out a sleek black hard drive and connected it to my encrypted laptop.
Within seconds, the audit dashboard lit up.
Julian hadn't just transferred shares. Over the past six months, he had siphoned four point two million dollars from Caldwell Logistics' operational accounts into an offshore entity named *Aura Holdings*.
I traced the registration of Aura Holdings.
It wasn't registered to Julian.
It was registered to Mia Alvarez.
My breath hitched. Mia wasn't just a coerced housekeeper. Her name was on the corporate shell company holding my stolen inheritance.
A soft knock came at the study window.
I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat. The study was on the second floor, but it opened onto an exterior stone balcony overlooking the rose gardens.
A shadow stood outside in the dark.
I crept to the glass French doors, gripping a heavy brass letter opener.
I pulled the curtain back.
May you like
It was Natalie.
***
