Chapter 5
Veronica stood so quickly her chair scraped the floor.
“No.”
Roman did not move.
“You didn't know your sister worked for my attorney?”
“She never told me.”
Helena smiled faintly.
Veronica saw it.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You knew.”
Helena’s smile disappeared.
Roman looked between them.
“Apparently everyone knew something.”
Veronica’s hands began trembling.
She pressed them flat against the table to hide it.
Roman noticed anyway.
Rachel Vale had worked for Daniel Mercer for nine months.
She had access to estate drafts, trust language, signature templates and emergency succession documents.
She vanished three days after Roman left for Sicily.
Her final login occurred the same night the fake death notice was created.
Roman looked at Veronica.
“Call her.”
“I don't know where she is.”
“Call.”
Veronica took out her phone.
Her breathing shortened as it rang.
Once.
Twice.
Voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Roman looked toward his security chief.
“Find her.”
Helena interrupted.
“Rachel has nothing to do with this.”
Roman turned slowly.
“You're very certain.”
His mother realized too late.
Veronica stared at her.
“How do you know?”
Helena’s lips pressed together.
Roman stepped closer.
“Mother.”
That single word changed her posture.
For the first time, her hands began to shake.
Barely.
But Roman saw it.
Helena finally said:
“Rachel came to me.”
“When?”
“Before Sicily.”
“Why?”
“She had concerns about Veronica.”
Veronica’s eyes widened.
“What concerns?”
Helena did not answer.
Roman’s gaze moved between them.
The fiancée.
Her sister.
His mother.
A trust.
A fake death notice.
Sophie being removed.
The betrayal no longer had one center.
Helena finally looked at Veronica.
“Rachel said you were using Roman.”
Veronica’s face drained.
“That’s a lie.”
“She had documents.”
“What documents?”
Helena leaned back.
Her confidence returned.
“She showed me your debt.”
Roman looked at Veronica.
Silence.
Her lips parted.
No words came.
Roman’s voice became softer.
“How much?”
Veronica’s eyes filled.
“Roman—”
“How much?”
She closed her eyes.
When she opened them:
“Two million.”
Adrian laughed under his breath.
Veronica snapped toward him.
Roman did not.
He simply stared at the woman he planned to marry.
May you like
Two million dollars of hidden debt.
And she had never told him.
