Chapter 4 - The Shadow of Project Widow
The pages of the ledger were filled with neat,
handwritten entries,
spanning back nearly a decade.
There were dates,
inventory numbers for high-end art pieces,
and detailed appraisals from some of the world's most elite galleries.
But it was the financial transfers that caught Weston's eye,
massive sums of money moving from Castellan family trusts into shell companies.
The names were innocuous—
"Blue Harbour Holdings,"
"Nevada Trust 404,"
and "Delaware Stone Group."
Beside the entries for the three paintings found in the floor were the initials 'O.V.'
Odalys Vane.
Shipping labels clipped to the back of the ledger matched the photographs Priya had taken on her phone.
The evidence was undeniable;
his fiancée had been liquidating his family's legacy behind his back.
But then Weston reached the final page,
the ink still looking fresh against the cream-colored paper.
A heading at the top of the page sent a shiver through the room:
PROJECT WIDOW — FINAL DISBURSEMENT.
The amount was staggering:
two million dollars.
Underneath the heading were four names,
written in a bold,
decisive hand.
Weston Castellan.
Silas Castellan Jr.
Wren Castellan.
And Marcus Osei.
Priya stopped breathing,
the pain in her hand suddenly forgotten as she stared at the last name on the list.
"Marcus,"
she whispered,
her heart hammering against her ribs.
"That’s my brother."
Weston looked up from the book,
his gaze sharp and filled with a new,
darker suspicion.
"Your brother?
The one you said disappeared three years ago?"
Priya nodded,
her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the name.
"He was a driver for your father,
Weston."
"He vanished the night Silas died in the car accident."
"Everyone said he had stolen the car and crashed it out of greed."
Wren stepped forward,
her face pale and haunted,
looking at the ledger as if it were a ghost.
"Marcus didn't steal that car,"
she said softly,
her voice trembling.
"He was trying to save Silas."
Odalys lunged for the book,
her fingers clawing at the leather cover,
but Weston held it out of her reach.
"Tell me what Project Widow is,
Odalys,"
he commanded,
his voice vibrating with a power that shook the very foundations of the hall.
"Tell me why my father paid two million dollars to a missing man's family."
Odalys didn't answer;
she simply slumped to the floor,
her silk dress pooling around her like a shadow.
May you like
The wedding rehearsal was dead,
and the funeral for the truth had just begun.
