Chapter 3 - The PhotographSerena did not return to the mansion after the police left.
She took Hailey to a pediatric urgent-care clinic, then to Evelyn Hart’s house.
Evelyn had been Serena’s attorney for eight years and her closest friend since college.
When Serena called and said only, “Nathan was arrested,” Evelyn had answered, “Come here.”
She asked no questions until Hailey was asleep upstairs.
Then she sat across from Serena at the kitchen table and stared at the swelling on her face.
“He hit you.”
“Yes.”
“And Hailey was in the trunk?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s fingers tightened around her coffee mug.
“Tell me everything.”
Serena did.
The forged signature.
The tablet.
The four-point-two-million-dollar figure.
Wexler Ridge.
By the time Serena finished, Evelyn had stopped drinking her coffee.
“When did you last authorize Nathan to negotiate that transaction?”
“Six weeks ago. Negotiate only. Then I rejected the purchase.”
“In writing?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Serena rubbed both hands over her face.
“I don’t understand what he was doing.”
Evelyn opened her laptop.
“Then we find out.”
She logged into the secure document portal Vale Residential Group used for executive contracts.
Serena still had administrative credentials.
Nathan had insisted the system was unnecessarily complicated.
Tonight Serena was grateful for every password.
They searched for Wexler Ridge.
Nothing appeared.
“That’s strange,” Serena said.
“If he was hiding the deal, he wouldn’t put it in the normal transaction folder.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Does Hailey’s tablet back up photographs?”
Serena froze.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
A minute later Serena was logged into the family cloud account.
Thousands of photographs appeared.
Birthdays.
School projects.
Vacations.
Hailey holding a frog beside the mansion pond.
Serena typed today’s date.
There were nine photographs.
The first six showed Hailey’s bedroom.
A stuffed rabbit.
A drawing.
Her sneakers.
The seventh image changed everything.
The photograph was slightly crooked, taken from behind the partially open door of Nathan’s office.
Nathan sat at his desk.
A document was in front of him.
One hand held a black pen.
The other steadied the page.
Even from several feet away, Serena recognized the signature.
Her signature.
Except she had not written it.
Evelyn enlarged the image.
Below the signature line was a transaction figure.
$4,200,000.
Above it:
WEXLER RIDGE ACQUISITION CONSENT.
Serena felt cold.
“He forged my name.”
Evelyn zoomed further.
“Wait.”
Near Nathan’s elbow sat another sheet.
Only the corner was visible.
But a company name could be read.
MARROW RIDGE HOLDINGS LLC.
Evelyn typed it into a corporate database.
“Delaware entity.”
“Who owns it?”
“That won’t be public.”
Serena stared at Nathan’s photograph.
She remembered every conversation about Wexler Ridge.
Nathan praising the location.
Nathan insisting development permits would increase the land’s value.
Nathan becoming angry when Serena requested a second environmental report.
“You never trust me,” he had said.
“I’m doing my job,” Serena had answered.
“No. You’re treating me like an employee.”
He had slept in the guest room that night.
At the time, Serena had felt guilty.
Now she felt sick.
Her phone rang.
Detective Ruiz.
“We found the tablet,” Ruiz said.
“Where?”
“In Mr. Vale’s office.”
“He took it from Hailey.”
“We’ll need to establish that through the investigation. But yes, it was inside a locked desk drawer.”
Serena looked at Evelyn.
Ruiz continued.
“We’ve also located several torn documents in a wastebasket. They appear financial in nature.”
“Wexler Ridge?”
“One has that name.”
Evelyn motioned for Serena to put the call on speaker.
Ruiz heard the change.
“Who is with you?”
“My attorney, Evelyn Hart.”
“Good. Mrs. Hart, I’ll coordinate directly with you concerning digital evidence. Mrs. Vale, there’s something else.”
Serena gripped the phone.
“What?”
“Your husband has retained counsel. He’s invoking his right to remain silent.”
“I expected that.”
“He’s being booked on charges connected to the assault and Hailey’s confinement. Financial crimes are a separate investigation.”
“Will he get out?”
“There will be a bond hearing.”
Serena closed her eyes.
“He cannot come near Hailey.”
“We’re requesting protective conditions.”
“Requesting?”
Ruiz’s tone remained calm.
“I don’t want to promise you an outcome a judge controls.”
Serena appreciated the honesty.
After the call ended, Evelyn immediately began drafting paperwork for an emergency protective order.
Serena kept looking at the photograph.
“What if Wexler Ridge closes tomorrow?”
“It won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we’re calling your bank, your board chair, and outside corporate counsel tonight.”
Evelyn checked the time.
“Who controls outgoing wires above one million?”
“Nathan prepares them. Treasury releases them. I’m supposed to approve anything related to acquisitions.”
“Supposed to?”
Serena looked at her.
Nathan had spent two years restructuring the company’s internal controls.
He had argued that Serena’s approval requirements slowed business.
She had compromised.
Some transfers could be released using dual officer authorization.
Nathan was one officer.
The controller was the other.
“Claire Benton,” Serena whispered.
“Who?”
“Our controller.”
“Does she know you rejected Wexler Ridge?”
“Yes.”
“Then if this wire was moving, she either didn’t know Nathan forged you…”
Evelyn stopped.
“Or she did.”
Serena called Claire.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Evelyn searched the company banking portal.
A pending transaction appeared.
WEXLER RIDGE ESCROW.
$4,200,000.
Release time:
10:00 A.M. tomorrow.
Serena stared at the screen.
Nathan had been less than sixteen hours away from taking four-point-two million dollars out of her company.
Evelyn immediately initiated the emergency fraud hold.
The transaction status changed.
PENDING REVIEW.
Serena exhaled.
Then Daniel Cho, the company’s outside forensic accountant, returned Evelyn’s call.
Evelyn explained the situation.
Daniel asked Serena to grant temporary access to bank records.
She did.
Ten minutes later, he called back.
His voice was different.
“Serena, Wexler Ridge is not your first problem.”
“What does that mean?”
“I searched payments associated with Marrow Ridge Holdings.”
“And?”
“It has received money from Vale Residential before.”
Serena sat straighter.
“How much?”
“Not four-point-two million.”
Daniel paused.
“One-point-eight-three million dollars.”
Serena’s mouth went dry.
“When?”
“Over the last fourteen months.”
She stared at the photograph of her husband forging her name.
“What did we buy?”
May you like
Daniel answered quietly.
“I’m not sure you bought anything.”
Related Stories
