Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF A PROMISE
The hospital called at 10:15 that night.
Mila's surgeon had reviewed the latest scans and confirmed that the operation could go ahead on January 6, provided the hospital received the payment guarantee by morning. Damon instructed his accountant to send the guarantee directly.
Megan sat in the small staff sitting room, holding the phone with both hands.
“Thank you,” she whispered when the hospital coordinator confirmed receipt.
She ended the call and began to cry.
Mila was asleep on the sofa with her red shoes still on. Megan gently removed them and tucked a blanket around her.
Damon stood in the doorway.
“Is everything arranged?”
Megan nodded. “They have the guarantee. I don't know how to thank you.”
“You don't have to.”
“I do. You don't know us.”
“I know your daughter needs help.”
Megan looked down. “People usually want something in return.”
Damon was quiet for a moment. “Then let me be clear. The hospital payment is not a loan. You will not owe me money, work, loyalty, or anything else.”
She searched his face for a hidden condition.
He continued, “If you decide to leave this house after tonight, your wages and references will be paid in full.”
“I'm not leaving because of you,” she said. “I just need to know Mila is safe.”
“She will be.”
Damon left her with a number for the hospital's patient advocate and a card for his lawyer. Megan tucked both into her apron.
Meanwhile, Daniel had found a second recording. It showed Vanessa entering the staff corridor earlier that evening. She had spoken to a man in a dark overcoat near the service entrance. The man handed her a slim document case.
The camera did not capture their conversation, but Daniel recognized the man.
“It's Peter Cross,” he told Damon. “Vanessa's cousin. He used to handle the trust's bookkeeping.”
Damon's face hardened. Peter had been dismissed six months earlier after an internal audit found missing invoices. Vanessa had argued that he was being scapegoated.
“Find him.”
“He's already left the estate.”
“Then find where he went.”
Daniel hesitated. “There's another issue. The bank's preliminary report says the scheduled transfer tomorrow is for the remaining trust balance. The destination account belongs to a company registered overseas.”
Damon looked toward the sitting room, where Megan was smoothing the blanket over her daughter.
“How much remains?”
“Just under six hundred thousand.”
“Freeze it.”
“Already requested. The bank needs your in-person authorization.”
Damon picked up his coat.
Vanessa appeared at the end of the corridor, no longer wearing her reception smile.
“You're choosing a maid over me.”
Damon turned. “I'm choosing the truth.”
“You've been looking for a reason to end this engagement.”
“Did you take the envelope?”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Did you?”
She looked away.
Damon understood that the answer was yes.
He removed the engagement ring from his pocket. He had taken it off after the reception began to unravel.
“It's over, Vanessa.”
Her eyes filled, but her voice remained cold. “You will regret humiliating me.”
“Perhaps. But I won't regret stopping you.”
May you like
He handed the ring to Daniel.
Then he walked out to meet the bank's fraud team.
