Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN BEFORE ELENA
By noon, Arthur had learned that Elena’s past was almost as carefully constructed as the documents on his desk.
Rebecca placed three photographs in front of him.
“These are all your wife.”
Arthur looked confused.
The first showed Elena at twenty-six.
The second at twenty-nine.
The third at thirty-two.
Different hair.
Different cities.
Different last names.
“Elena Hart,” Rebecca said. “Elena Foster. Elena Blake.”
Arthur looked up.
“Vance is her fourth name?”
“Fourth that I found.”
Maria stood behind him.
Rebecca continued.
“Marriage number one lasted eleven months. Husband was a dentist in Connecticut.”
“What happened?”
“Divorce. He declared bankruptcy eighteen months later.”
“Marriage two?”
“Real estate developer. Died in a boating accident.”
Arthur went still.
“Died?”
“Yes.”
“Investigation?”
“Accidental drowning.”
“And marriage three?”
“Investment manager in Boston. He was charged with wire fraud.”
“Was Elena involved?”
“Never charged.”
“What happened to him?”
“Prison.”
Arthur stared at the photographs.
“How did I not know this?”
“Because she legally changed her name more than once. Records were spread across several jurisdictions. She also lied on your prenuptial disclosure.”
Arthur stood abruptly.
“My investigators checked her.”
“Someone gave them a clean version.”
“Who?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your attorney’s firm.”
Daniel Mercer.
Arthur closed his eyes.
Four years of birthdays.
Vacations.
Christmas mornings.
The woman sleeping beside him.
All of it suddenly felt staged.
Maria watched him quietly.
“I met Elena nine months after Rachel died,” Arthur said.
Rebecca softened slightly.
“You were grieving.”
“She made Lucas laugh.”
Maria looked at him.
That mattered more than anything.
Rachel Vance had died from complications after a sudden illness when Lucas was three.
Arthur had disappeared inside himself for almost a year.
Then Elena arrived.
Elegant.
Patient.
Warm.
She never pushed Lucas.
Never demanded the title “Mom.”
She had seemed perfect.
Maybe perfection had been the first warning.
“Where did you meet her?” Rebecca asked.
“At a charity gala.”
“Who introduced you?”
Arthur thought.
His stomach dropped.
“Daniel.”
Rebecca leaned back.
There it was.
A line connecting everything.
Arthur grabbed his coat.
“Where are you going?”
“To Daniel’s office.”
“That would be stupid.”
“He betrayed me.”
“And if you storm into his office, he’ll erase whatever he hasn’t erased already.”
Arthur stopped.
Rebecca slid a page toward him.
“We need them comfortable.”
Maria looked at the page.
“What’s that?”
“A list of companies receiving money from Vance Meridian.”
Arthur frowned.
“These are vendors.”
“Three are shell companies.”
Arthur picked up the page.
“How much?”
“Over the last fourteen months? Roughly nine million.”
His head snapped up.
“From my company?”
Rebecca nodded.
“And I’m willing to bet Monday’s twenty-eight million was supposed to cover the hole before someone noticed.”
Arthur’s pulse quickened.
“So Elena and Daniel have already stolen nine million?”
“Possibly more.”
Maria whispered, “Why take money from Lucas?”
“Because trust assets are harder for company auditors to monitor,” Rebecca said. “Move twenty-eight million into the business, claim it’s an emergency family capital injection, then move portions out through vendors.”
Arthur stared at the numbers.
Rebecca continued.
“They’re not stealing once.”
“They’re laundering it,” Maria said.
Rebecca nodded.
“And they’ve been doing it for over a year.”
Arthur sank back into his chair.
Then Maria’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
“Hello?”
A man breathed quietly on the other end.
Then he spoke.
“You should have stayed a nanny, Maria.”
Her face drained of color.
Arthur stood.
“Who is this?”
The voice continued.
“Take the boy and leave the Vance house before six tonight.”
Maria’s hand began shaking.
“Why?”
“Because after six…”
A pause.
May you like
“…there may not be a Vance house left.”
The call disconnected.
