Chapter 7 - The Hidden Ledger
Adrian sped back to the estate, his tires screeching on the wet driveway.
Marcus met him at the front door.
“She’s still in the house. She went back up to her room ten minutes ago.”
“Did she get into the safe?” Adrian asked, striding toward his study.
“I checked the digital logs. The safe registered a failed attempt, but no entry.”
Adrian entered his study and immediately went to the painting behind his desk.
He swung it open to reveal the safe.
He typed in his code and pulled the heavy metal door open.
Inside, stacks of cash, encrypted hard drives, and his personal journals were exactly where he left them.
“She didn't get in,” Adrian confirmed.
“But she knows where it is now,” Marcus said.
“Grace interrupted her,” Adrian noted, thinking of the maid's bravery.
“Veronica threatened her. Told her to pack up and leave.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched.
“She threatened Grace and Lily?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“That is her final mistake.”
Adrian walked over to his desk and pulled out a burner phone.
He dialed a number he hadn't used in three years.
“Dominic,” Adrian said when the line connected.
“Adrian Moretti,” a gruff voice replied. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I need a favor. I need you to run a deep background check on a Veronica Sterling.”
“Your fiancée? Trouble in paradise?”
“I want her real bloodline. Check the Marzano family tree. Look for illegitimate daughters, cousins, anything.”
“Give me an hour.”
Adrian hung up and tossed the phone onto the desk.
“We need to accelerate the timeline,” Adrian told Marcus.
“If she’s trying to crack the safe, she’s getting desperate. The Marzanos are probably breathing down her neck for the financial ledgers.”
“We can just arrest her. Hand her over to the police for the poisoning attempt.”
“No,” Adrian said firmly.
“If we involve the police, the Marzanos will just send someone else. I need to sever the snake's head.”
“So, what’s the play?”
“We give her exactly what she wants.”
Adrian pulled a spare hard drive from his drawer.
“We are going to load this with fake ledgers. A beautiful, heavily encrypted lie.”
“And let her steal it?”
“We’re going to let her steal it, and we are going to let her hand it over to her family.”
Adrian smiled, a predatory gleam in his eyes.
“When the Marzanos try to use that data, it will trigger a massive digital trap that will wipe their entire banking network.”
May you like
Marcus grinned. “I’ll get the IT team on it.”
“Do it fast. We serve it to her on a silver platter at dinner tomorrow.”
