Chapter 6 - The Ledger That Could Destroy Them
Khloe stepped toward the screen.
"Elliot."
Elliot couldn't hear her.
Adrian could.
"Good morning, Khloe."
She stared at him.
Twenty-nine years of imagining a dead father collapsed into one living stranger.
"You abandoned us."
Adrian's expression barely changed.
"Your mother took you."
"Good."
Victor glanced at her.
Adrian smiled faintly.
"You have Sarah's temper."
"And apparently her judgment."
The smile disappeared.
"Bring me the ledger."
Khloe held it against her chest.
"No."
Adrian looked toward Elena.
Victor stepped forward.
"Touch her and the ledger disappears."
Adrian studied him.
"Vittorio's son."
"You remember me."
"I remember a frightened boy standing at his father's funeral."
Victor's face became stone.
Adrian continued.
"Your father was sentimental. It killed him."
Richard Vale whispered, "Adrian, stop."
For the first time Adrian noticed his brother.
"Richard."
"End this."
"You've been saying that for thirty years."
Richard stepped toward the screen.
"I should have stopped you then."
"Yes."
Adrian smiled.
"But you were always weak."
The screen went black.
The doors unlocked.
Victor immediately turned to Javier.
"Trace?"
"Already working."
Richard spoke.
"I know where he is."
Everyone looked at him.
"The old Beaumont annex."
"Closed ten years ago," Javier said.
Richard nodded.
"Not underground."
Khloe looked at Victor.
"He wants us there."
"Obviously."
"So we don't go."
Victor almost smiled.
"You're learning."
They needed leverage.
The ledger provided it.
But Khloe noticed something none of them had.
"The sale."
Richard looked at her.
"What about it?"
"Adrian moved it forward because he needs the transaction completed."
"Yes."
"Then stop it."
Richard shook his head.
"I can't."
"You're on the investment board."
"I'm one vote."
Khloe opened the ledger.
"How many people on that board are named in here?"
Richard went silent.
"Six," Victor said after scanning the pages.
Khloe nodded.
"Then we don't threaten them. We give the evidence to their lawyers."
Victor understood.
Lawyers had duties their clients couldn't simply wish away.
Within forty minutes, the closing collapsed.
One firm withdrew.
Then another.
The bank froze the transaction pending review.
Adrian called.
Victor answered.
"You made a mistake."
"No," Victor said. "You did."
"You think paperwork protects you?"
"I think men like you built your lives around paperwork. Seems appropriate."
Adrian hung up.
Five minutes later Elliot called Khloe directly.
She answered.
"Khloe?"
"Elliot."
His voice was frantic.
"I'm sorry."
"Where are you?"
"I can't say."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Elena?"
"Alive."
Victor signaled for Javier to trace.
Elliot whispered, "Don't bring the ledger."
"We weren't planning to."
"Good."
A noise sounded behind him.
Elliot rushed.
"Khloe, there's something else. Your mother didn't just steal evidence."
"What?"
"She changed it."
"Changed what?"
"The ownership structure."
Khloe frowned.
"I don't understand."
"The network's assets. Adrian built everything through a trust."
Victor leaned closer.
Elliot continued.
"Sarah found the trust documents."
"What did she do?"
"She changed the beneficiary."
"To whom?"
Silence.
Then Elliot said:
"You."
Khloe stared at the phone.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Adrian wasn't merely hunting evidence.
Khloe legally controlled something.
Potentially everything.
"How?" she asked.
"Adrian signed it."
"Why would he do that?"
"He didn't know what he was signing. Sarah buried it among hundreds of restructuring documents."
Despite everything, Victor almost admired her mother.
"What does that mean?"
"It means Adrian can't complete the Beaumont consolidation without your signature."
Khloe understood.
The gala.
The surveillance.
The pursuit.
He hadn't wanted her dead.
He needed her alive.
Victor understood too.
"That's why nobody attacked her directly."
Javier nodded.
"They were pushing her."
"Toward what?" Khloe asked.
Victor looked at the original gala invitation.
"Toward me."
Silence.
Someone had wanted Khloe and Victor together.
But Adrian hadn't.
So who?
Elliot's voice returned.
"Khloe, listen carefully. Adrian isn't the only person involved."
"Who?"
"The person who sent you to Victor."
Khloe looked at the note.
Find the man who never drinks.
"You wrote it."
"No."
Her blood chilled.
"What?"
"I put the invitation in your desk."
"But the note?"
"I never wrote one."
Victor took the card from her purse.
The handwriting.
They had assumed it belonged to Elliot.
Nobody had verified it.
"Then who sent me to Victor?"
Elliot inhaled sharply.
"I think it was your mother."
Khloe almost laughed.
"My mother is dead."
"I know."
"Then that's impossible."
"Sarah prepared instructions years ago. Letters. Contingencies. She knew Adrian might return."
"Where are they?"
"Elena has them."
The call disconnected.
Victor looked at Khloe.
Her mother had been planning this before her death.
They went to the annex.
Not because Adrian ordered them to.
Because Javier's trace placed Elliot there and police contacts were already moving discreetly into position.
Victor refused to carry the original ledger.
Instead, it went into a secure evidence package destined for federal investigators and multiple attorneys simultaneously.
No single person could destroy it now.
At the annex entrance, Khloe touched Victor's arm.
"If something happens—"
"No."
"You don't know what I was going to say."
"Something pessimistic."
She almost smiled.
"I was going to say thank you."
Victor looked at her.
"For what?"
"The ballroom."
"You dragged me into it."
"And you could have walked away."
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Khloe noticed.
"Why?"
Victor held her gaze.
"I don't know yet."
They entered.
Police remained outside until they had confirmation of Elena and Elliot's location.
Inside, the building was nearly empty.
They found Elliot first.
Unrestrained.
Waiting.
Khloe stopped.
Something was wrong.
"Elliot?"
He looked devastated.
"I'm sorry."
Victor stepped in front of Khloe.
Javier moved to the side.
"Where's Elena?"
Elliot pointed toward a door.
"Victor."
"Yes?"
"I didn't have a choice."
Victor's gaze hardened.
"Everyone has a choice."
The door opened.
Elena stepped out.
She wasn't restrained either.
Khloe stared at them.
Then Adrian appeared.
He looked almost amused.
Victor understood.
This wasn't a hostage situation.
Not anymore.
Elliot and Elena had come voluntarily.
Khloe whispered, "Why?"
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"Because Adrian offered us the one thing your mother never could."
"What?"
"The truth about who betrayed Victor's father."
Victor went completely still.
Adrian placed a folder on the table.
"Would you like to know who killed Vittorio Rossi?"
Victor didn't move.
Adrian opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
May you like
Victor looked down.
And saw Javier.
