Chapter 2 - Forty-Two Million Dollars
The man in the gray suit introduced himself as Special Agent Daniel Ross.
The word federal moved through the ballroom faster than Sloane’s confession had.
Preston immediately demanded a private room.
Ross refused.
“I’m not here to arrest anyone,” he said.
Preston exhaled.
“For now.”
The relief disappeared.
Vivian felt Elise take her hand.
“You okay?” her sister whispered.
“No.”
It was the only honest answer Vivian had given all night.
She had imagined discovering Preston's betrayal a hundred different ways.
She had imagined confrontation.
Divorce papers.
A quiet departure.
What she had never imagined was standing beneath chandeliers while six hundred strangers watched the collapse of her marriage become evidence in a corporate investigation.
Sloane placed her champagne glass on a table.
Her hand was trembling.
“Federal investigation into what?”
Ross looked at Charles.
Charles nodded.
Ross answered.
“Hale Meridian has been under preliminary review because of unusual movements from three subsidiary accounts.”
Preston laughed.
“There are thousands of transfers between our subsidiaries.”
Ross smiled politely.
“Most of them don't end inside companies controlled by the CEO's girlfriend.”
The ballroom whispered again.
Preston’s face reddened.
“She was a consultant.”
Sloane stared at him.
“Girlfriend?”
Preston ignored her.
Ross continued.
“We don't need to discuss this here.”
Preston nodded quickly.
“Good.”
“But since Ms. Avery has chosen to discuss her relationship publicly, several facts may now require immediate preservation.”
“Preservation?”
“Phones. Laptops. Financial records.”
Sloane looked at her purse.
Ross noticed.
“Do not delete anything.”
She removed her hand.
Vivian watched Sloane carefully.
This was not the woman from two minutes earlier.
The victorious mistress had vanished.
In her place stood someone realizing she might have been used as a financial doorway.
Preston moved close to Ross.
“You came here without a warrant.”
“Yes.”
“Then you have no authority to seize anything.”
“Correct.”
Preston smiled.
Ross added, “Which is why I haven't.”
The smile vanished.
Charles closed the folder.
“Vivian.”
She looked at him.
“We should leave.”
Preston stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
He lowered his voice.
“Vivian. Please. Not like this.”
“Like what?”
“In public.”
She stared at him.
“You're asking me to protect your dignity?”
“I’m asking you to protect our family.”
“Our family?”
His eyes flicked toward the cameras.
That was when Vivian understood.
Preston did not mean their marriage.
He meant the Hale name.
The company.
The investors.
His position.
She removed her wedding ring.
Preston watched her slide it from her finger.
For the first time that evening, genuine pain crossed his face.
“Don't.”
Vivian held the ring between two fingers.
“I spent fourteen years believing this meant we chose each other.”
“We did.”
“No. I chose you.”
She placed the ring on the table.
“You chose whatever benefited you.”
Then she walked away.
Charles followed.
Margaret followed.
Nathan and Elise stayed close behind.
No one stopped them.
The ballroom doors opened again.
Cold night air touched Vivian’s face.
Dozens of reporters had already gathered outside.
News traveled quickly when six hundred wealthy people carried smartphones.
Flashes burst.
Questions flew.
“Mrs. Hale!”
“Did you know about the affair?”
“Is Hale Meridian under federal investigation?”
“Was your family aware of the transfers?”
Charles's security team moved forward.
Vivian kept walking.
Then a woman shouted, “Vivian!”
The voice was different.
Not a reporter.
Vivian turned.
A young woman stood behind the barricade wearing a catering uniform.
She looked terrified.
She held a folded envelope.
“I need to give you this.”
Security blocked her.
“Who are you?” Nathan asked.
“My name is Megan.”
“What is that?”
She looked toward the ballroom.
Then back at Vivian.
“Something your husband left behind.”
Vivian stopped.
Security searched the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Preston.
Sloane.
And a third man Vivian did not recognize.
They were standing outside a private bank in Zurich.
A date had been printed in the corner.
Four months earlier.
Vivian stared at it.
Charles leaned closer.
“Who took this?”
Megan swallowed.
“My brother.”
“Why?”
“He worked for Mr. Hale.”
Preston appeared in the ballroom doorway.
Megan saw him.
Her face drained.
“We need to go.”
Vivian grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
Megan pulled free.
“I can’t.”
“You came here for a reason.”
She looked at Vivian.
“My brother disappeared three weeks ago.”
Charles stiffened.
“Disappeared?”
“He said he found something in Hale Meridian's accounts.”
Preston stepped outside.
“Megan.”
She froze.
Preston's voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Nathan moved between them.
“What happened to her brother?”
Preston ignored him.
“Megan, whatever story you're telling these people—”
“He called me the night before he vanished,” she said.
Preston stopped.
“He said if anything happened to him, I should find Mrs. Hale.”
Vivian's heart hammered.
“Why me?”
Megan pulled another item from her pocket.
A black key card.
A number had been scratched across the surface.
Charles stared at it.
“What does that open?”
Megan shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Preston did.
Vivian saw it instantly.
His eyes moved to the card.
His body became still.
“Preston?” Vivian said.
He backed away.
Ross had followed them outside.
He saw Preston's reaction.
“What is 2147?”
Preston said nothing.
Ross repeated the question.
Megan whispered, “My brother said one more thing.”
Vivian turned.
“What?”
“He said the forty-two million wasn't missing.”
Charles frowned.
“Then where is it?”
Megan looked at Preston.
“It was payment.”
Nobody spoke.
“For what?” Vivian asked.
Megan opened her mouth.
Then a black sedan accelerated away from the curb across the street.
Megan saw it.
Her entire face changed.
“That car.”
Nathan turned.
“What about it?”
Megan backed away.
“That’s the same car that followed my brother.”
The sedan disappeared around the corner.
Ross reached for his phone.
Vivian looked down at the key card.
A room number.
A vault.
A storage unit.
Something.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
DON’T OPEN 2147.
Vivian looked up.
May you like
Across the street, someone was watching her from a dark second-floor window.
Then the light went out.
