Chapter 3 - The Secret AccountI woke in a Manhattan hospital.
The first face I saw was Dr. Evelyn Hart.
She looked exhausted.
But relieved.
“You're alive.”
I tried to speak.
My throat hurt.
“Thaddius?”
Her expression changed.
“He hasn't returned.”
“Europe?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
She looked at the clock.
“Three days since you were found.”
Three days.
I had no memory of them.
“What happened?”
“You suffered severe dehydration and organ complications.”
I stared at her.
“Could I have died?”
She didn't answer immediately.
“Yes.”
My eyes filled with tears.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I realized how close he had come.
Then the hospital room door opened.
Daniel Cross entered.
He was older than I remembered.
Gray hair.
Straight posture.
The same cold eyes.
He carried a black folder.
“Mrs. Vale.”
“Daniel.”
He sat beside me.
“I have everything.”
He opened the folder.
Inside were bank records.
Corporate documents.
Travel records.
And photographs.
“Thaddius didn't leave spontaneously.”
“What did he do?”
“He liquidated several personal accounts.”
My hands trembled.
“Why?”
“He needed cash immediately.”
“How much?”
“Eleven point eight million dollars.”
I stared at him.
“Where did he get that money?”
Daniel looked at me.
“From your company.”
I closed my eyes.
“There's more.”
He placed another document on the bed.
“Your husband also filed paperwork indicating you were medically incapacitated and unable to manage the company.”
“He had no authority.”
“He did.”
I stared at the signature.
It looked like mine.
But it wasn't.
“Forgery.”
Daniel nodded.
“He has been preparing for months.”
My heart pounded.
“Months?”
“Yes.”
Then he said something that changed everything.
“We found the offshore account.”
I looked at him.
“What offshore account?”
“An account opened six months ago.”
“Whose name?”
“Thaddius Vale.”
“And where did the money come from?”
“Your company.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-seven million.”
I stared at the number.
Twenty-seven million dollars.
He had been stealing from me while sleeping beside me.
But there was something even more disturbing.
Daniel pulled out another file.
“Mrs. Vale, we traced communication between your husband and a corporate attorney.”
I read the messages.
They discussed my illness.
My prognosis.
My medication.
My insurance.
And my death.
One message made my stomach turn.
Thaddius had written:
“She won't make it through the summer.”
The attorney replied:
“Once she dies, the transfer becomes much easier.”
I looked at Daniel.
“I want them arrested.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because we need everything.”
He pointed at the folder.
“Right now, we have enough to destroy him.”
I swallowed.
“But if we wait…”
“We can destroy everyone involved.”
For the first time, I smiled.
It wasn't a happy smile.
It was the smile I used to wear in boardrooms.
The smile that meant someone had made a very expensive mistake.
“Then let them think I'm still weak.”
Daniel nodded.
“That was my plan.”
I turned toward the window.
New York glittered below me.
I had almost died because I trusted my husband.
May you like
Now I would survive because I trusted no one.
And Thaddius had no idea his dead wife was about to become his worst nightmare.
Related Stories
