Chapter 12
Maya stared at the transfer documents.
Her breathing became shallow.
“I've never seen these.”
Alex believed her immediately.
That did not make the documents disappear.
Grant leaned back.
“Interesting.”
Evelyn looked at him with disgust.
“You forged her too.”
Grant smiled.
“Prove it.”
There was the old confidence.
Not because he had truth.
Because he had uncertainty.
The contracts listed Maya as contingent owner of Northstar-related vendor rights through a holding company created eighteen months earlier.
Signature:
Maya Vance.
Not hers.
But convincing.
Alex’s attorney warned them.
“If investigators see this before the forensic analysis, it creates questions.”
Grant laughed.
“Questions are enough.”
He had understood something his father understood before him.
You did not need a perfect lie.
Only enough doubt to delay the truth.
Maya looked at Alex.
His eyes remained on her.
She searched his face.
“Do you believe me?”
The room went silent.
Alex did not answer immediately.
Not because he doubted her.
Because he understood what the wrong kind of answer could sound like.
He stood.
Walked toward her.
Stopped at a respectful distance.
“I believe you.”
Maya’s shoulders dropped slightly.
“But we're still going to prove it.”
She studied him.
Then nodded.
That mattered more.
No blind protection.
No family exception.
Proof.
Forensics examined the signature.
It came from an electronic document Maya had signed legitimately for Rosie’s preschool charity eighteen months earlier.
Grant’s office had access to the file.
The signature had been lifted.
The holding company application originated from an IP address assigned to Grant’s private office.
Grant’s smile disappeared.
Then investigators found something else.
Evelyn’s electronic approval appeared on two of the transfers.
She stared at them.
“I didn't authorize that.”
Grant looked at her.
“You approved hundreds of things.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
The same excuse she had used about Daniel.
About Raymond.
About Maya.
Now turned against her.
She whispered:
“You used my signature too.”
Grant did not deny it.
Evelyn finally understood the symmetry.
She had spent years allowing family loyalty to replace verification.
Grant simply learned to hide inside that habit.
Then Alex’s finance director produced one more account.
A reserve fund Evelyn had created years earlier to repay the money Raymond stole.
It was nearly empty.
Grant had drained it.
Evelyn’s hand rose to her mouth.
May you like
The money she once believed had repaired Daniel’s loss had never stayed repaired.
Grant had stolen the restitution too.
