Chapter 6 - What Malcolm KnewMalcolm went to Sienna’s temporary apartment that evening.
She refused to let him inside.
They spoke in the building’s private lobby while Nolan slept upstairs with a nanny Sienna had trusted since his infancy.
Malcolm looked exhausted.
“I know about Heritage.”
Sienna did not react.
“What do you know?”
“Five million went there.”
“Yes.”
“My father won’t tell me who owns it.”
Sienna studied him.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because I think something’s wrong.”
She almost laughed.
“Something became wrong for you when the bank noticed.”
“That’s not fair.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Sienna, I made mistakes.”
“You forged my electronic consent.”
His face went still.
There it was.
No denial.
Sienna felt a strange calm settle over her.
“How many times?”
“Once.”
“Wrong.”
His eyes flickered.
“Twice?”
“Three suspicious uses.”
“I didn’t do three.”
“Which ones did you do?”
Malcolm rubbed both hands across his face.
“The reserve extension.”
“And?”
“The Hawthorne acknowledgment.”
Sienna felt her stomach twist.
“So you tried to subordinate my company’s ownership interest in the house.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
“We needed collateral flexibility.”
“You mean money.”
“We needed liquidity.”
“Without telling me.”
“You would have said no.”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly why—”
He stopped.
Sienna stared.
“Finish that sentence.”
Malcolm looked away.
“You would have said no.”
“So you decided my consent was optional.”
“I was trying to protect the company.”
“Your company.”
“Our future.”
“Nolan’s future?”
Malcolm went silent.
Sienna stepped closer.
“Did you know your father hated him?”
“No.”
“Malcolm.”
“I knew Dad struggled with the situation.”
“What situation?”
“That Nolan wasn’t…”
He stopped.
“Blood?”
Malcolm closed his eyes.
Sienna continued.
“That’s the word you’re looking for.”
“I don’t feel that way.”
“You protected a man who does.”
“I made a terrible mistake this morning.”
“You made a revealing one.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
“I love Nolan.”
“Then why didn’t you ask whether he was hurt?”
No answer.
“Why didn’t you pick him up?”
Nothing.
“Why didn’t you even look at him before you hit me?”
Malcolm’s eyes became wet.
For one second, Sienna saw the man she thought she had married.
Then he said, “I panicked.”
And she saw the man he really was.
“What is Heritage Consulting?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who owns it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you authorize the transfer?”
“No.”
“Did you know about it?”
He hesitated.
Sienna noticed.
“When?”
“I saw the transaction later.”
“How much later?”
“A month.”
“And you said nothing.”
“My father told me it was legitimate.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Sienna looked toward the elevator.
“That seems to be your answer to everything.”
She turned.
Malcolm caught her arm.
Immediately, she jerked away.
He released her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t touch me.”
He stepped back.
“Sienna, if you keep the freeze in place, the company could breach its covenants.”
“You should have thought about that before using my signature.”
“Hundreds of people didn’t use your signature.”
She paused.
That argument mattered.
Employees were not Walter.
Employees were not Malcolm.
“I know.”
“Then restore the commitments.”
“No.”
“At least the payroll facility.”
“There is no payroll facility from Mercer.”
“Indirectly there is.”
“Then restructure.”
“In a week?”
“Sell something.”
Malcolm laughed bitterly.
“You think it’s that simple?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I think stealing my consent was simple.”
That ended the conversation.
Later that night, Rebecca called.
“We identified Heritage Consulting.”
Sienna sat upright.
“And?”
“It isn’t owned by Walter.”
“Who owns it?”
“Technically, a trust.”
“What trust?”
“The beneficiary records aren’t public, but we obtained them through the lender’s due-diligence package.”
Sienna waited.
Rebecca sounded unsettled.
“The trust beneficiary is Malcolm.”
Sienna said nothing.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“The five million went to my husband?”
“Into a structure established for him.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Who established it?”
“Walter.”
Sienna thought about Malcolm standing in the lobby.
I don’t know who owns Heritage.
Either he had lied again—
or his father had been moving money into Malcolm’s name without telling him.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca’s voice became quieter.
“There were distributions.”
“To Malcolm?”
“Three.”
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand dollars total.”
Sienna’s pulse quickened.
“To what account?”
Rebecca paused.
“A personal account held solely in Malcolm’s name.”
That answered it.
He knew.
Sienna stood and walked to the window.
Below her, the city lights spread across the darkness.
“How far back?”
“The first payment was fourteen months ago.”
Fourteen months.
Malcolm had known for more than a year.
Sienna remembered a trip to Colorado.
A new watch Malcolm claimed Walter had given him.
A sudden insistence that their finances should remain “independent for tax planning.”
Rebecca interrupted her thoughts.
“There’s something written on the payment memos.”
“What?”
“First one says ‘Project Legacy.’”
Sienna frowned.
“And the others?”
“Same phrase.”
“Legacy of what?”
“We don’t know.”
May you like
Then Rebecca added one more thing.
“The most recent payment was made three days before Walter put his hand on Nolan’s head.”
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