Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS NEVER ENGAGED
The safety deposit box contained two ledgers, a sealed envelope, and a small velvet pouch.
Inside the pouch was Margaret Ashford’s wedding ring.
The first ledger documented the transfers that had ruined Thomas Ward. The second contained a list of people who had received payments to remain silent.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Vivienne Laurent.
Adrian stared at it.
“She was involved?”
Mara turned the page. “Not necessarily in the original fraud. These payments began six years ago.”
The sealed envelope contained a letter from Victor Ashford to Charles. It described a plan to move the company’s most profitable division into a private holding firm before the board discovered the missing funds.
The final paragraph mentioned Vivienne.
She had been promised a place in the new company if she secured Adrian’s engagement and helped keep him distracted from the audit.
Adrian read it twice.
“She was never trying to marry me.”
“She was trying to control your signature,” Mara said.
He called Daniel.
“Bring Vivienne in. Quietly.”
But Daniel’s answer came after a pause.
“Sir, she’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Her apartment is empty. Her driver says she left with Charles an hour ago.”
Adrian looked at Mara.
The documents were not enough. They needed the original account records and the people who had moved the money.
“Where would Charles go?” Mara asked.
“Somewhere he thinks he can still control.”
Adrian’s phone rang. The caller ID showed the Ashford Foundation.
He answered.
A woman’s voice spoke quickly. “Mr. Ashford, I’m sorry to disturb you. The foundation’s executive director has just received instructions to destroy the old scholarship files.”
Mara stood. “The foundation?”
Her father’s name was on the first list of people whose families had lost support after his conviction. Thomas Ward had been a scholarship recipient as a child. He had later created a fund for employees’ children.
“Charles is trying to erase the people connected to the old accounts,” she said.
Adrian turned to Daniel. “Get the foundation’s files secured. Call the independent auditors. No one touches a document.”
Then he looked at Mara.
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
They reached the foundation just as two men were carrying boxes toward a service elevator. Daniel’s security team stopped them. One man tried to run. The other dropped a folder.
Inside were records showing that scholarship payments had been redirected to a private account controlled by Charles.
Mara scanned the names.
Some belonged to children whose parents had died working for Ashford International. Others belonged to families whose pensions had disappeared during the same period.
“My father tried to protect these people,” she whispered.
Adrian stood beside her.
“Then we’ll finish what he started.”
A noise came from the elevator.
Vivienne stepped out.
She looked at Mara, then at the folder in Adrian’s hand.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” she said.
Adrian’s voice was cold. “I understand perfectly.”
Vivienne’s gaze moved to Mara. “You think you’ve won? You’re a maid with a dead father and a few old papers.”
Mara held up the list.
May you like
“I’m the daughter of the man your family framed. And I know every name on this page.”
For the first time, Vivienne had no answer.
