Chapter 2
Garrett looked at the blue ledger and exhaled slowly.
Then something unexpected happened.
His fear faded.
He smiled.
Not broadly.
Just enough.
Alessia saw it.
“You think you found something.”
Miriam’s fingers tightened around Lily’s cardigan.
Alessia handed her daughter to Rosa, Lily’s longtime caregiver.
“Take her upstairs.”
Lily immediately reached back toward Miriam.
“Grandma comes too.”
Miriam managed a small smile.
“In a minute.”
Lily did not like the answer.
Alessia saw it.
Neither did she.
Rosa carried the child away.
Only after the elevator doors closed did Alessia look at Garrett again.
“What is this?”
He adjusted his cuff.
“Ask your mother.”
Alessia’s eyes moved toward Miriam.
Her mother looked suddenly older.
“Mom.”
Miriam swallowed.
“I found it.”
“Where?”
“In Garrett’s study.”
Garrett laughed.
“You broke into my office.”
“I had a key.”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“Which you weren't supposed to have.”
Alessia turned toward her.
Evelyn immediately lifted her chin.
Old arrogance.
Old class confidence.
“You want to know why Garrett was angry?”
she asked.
“Your mother has spent months going through our private papers.”
Miriam’s cheeks reddened.
Alessia looked between them.
“Why?”
Miriam rubbed her injured wrist.
“Because families started calling me.”
“What families?”
“The widows.”
Alessia frowned.
Carbone Relief maintained formal support programs for the families of deceased associates and long-term employees.
Housing.
Medical assistance.
Education.
Emergency bills.
Miriam had helped run the informal version before Alessia professionalized it.
“They said emergency money was being delayed.”
Alessia’s gaze sharpened.
“I haven't received those complaints.”
“That was the problem.”
Miriam’s eyes moved toward Garrett.
“They weren't reaching you.”
Garrett shook his head.
“Because they were being handled.”
“By you?”
Alessia asked.
“Yes.”
He answered without hesitation.
She opened the ledger again.
“These payments aren't in the foundation accounts.”
“No.”
“Then where did the money come from?”
Garrett held her stare.
“A private fund.”
“What private fund?”
Silence.
Evelyn answered.
“One your mother knows very well.”
Miriam’s face changed.
Alessia noticed.
Garrett’s confidence grew.
“You want to punish me?”
His voice became softer.
“Go ahead.”
He pointed toward the ledger.
“But before you decide I'm the thief, ask Miriam who created that account.”
Alessia looked at her mother.
Miriam’s breathing stopped.
“Mom?”
Miriam said nothing.
Garrett smiled.
The power in the room shifted.
Then he delivered the first blow.
“The first name in that book isn't mine.”
Alessia lowered her eyes.
Page one.
Four years earlier.
A handwritten authorization.
May you like
MIRIAM CARBONE.
Her mother had signed the ledger before Garrett ever touched it.
