Chapter 5 - THE ACCOUNT WITH MY SISTER'S NAME
Vanessa's fingers closed around the silver bracelet.
"Don't look at me like that," she snapped. "I didn't forge anything."
I hadn't accused her yet.
But the way she answered told me she knew more than she wanted anyone to believe.
Owen carefully spread the resignation beside an old payroll authorization.
Both documents contained my signature.
Both had the same unusual curve in the letter C.
And both had the identical interruption in the ink halfway through the word Carter.
"Look closely," Owen told my father.
Richard leaned forward.
"The signatures match. That proves she signed."
"No," Owen answered. "It proves the same image was used twice."
He pointed toward the damaged portion of the lettering.
"A person signing twice wouldn't reproduce the exact same defect in precisely the same position."
Benjamin stepped closer.
"Could someone have copied the signature digitally?"
"That's what we're investigating," Owen replied.
My father snatched up the resignation.
"This is nonsense."
Then Rosa Alvarez spoke.
"The payroll forms were scanned when the company changed accounting systems."
My stomach tightened.
I remembered that transition.
Vanessa had been responsible for organizing the digital employee records.
"Vanessa," I asked, "who managed the scanning project?"
She looked furious.
"Lots of people had access."
"Who supervised it?"
"Me. So what?"
My father stepped between us.
"You're not turning this into an attack on your sister."
I almost laughed.
He had just accused me of stealing $680,000 in front of hundreds of strangers.
But asking Vanessa about a payroll form was apparently unacceptable.
"Three years," I said quietly. "You haven't once asked whether I was innocent."
Something passed across his face.
For one brief second, I thought I saw shame.
Then he looked away.
Owen pulled out a second set of records.
"There's another problem."
Rosa moved closer.
"Those are the maintenance disbursements."
Owen nodded.
"The housing fund released the money to North Vale Services, a contractor supposedly hired to repair Willow Court."
Benjamin frowned.
"I've never heard of that company."
"Neither had most of the tenants," Owen answered. "But North Vale submitted invoices claiming the work was finished."
I remembered inspecting the buildings afterward.
Water stains still covered the ceilings.
Several heating units had never been replaced.
The fire doors didn't close properly.
Yet the fund's books showed the repairs as completed.
"What happened to the money?" Benjamin asked.
Owen looked toward Martin Harwood.
"North Vale was registered through an address used by one of your father's development companies."
Martin's expression hardened.
"An address doesn't prove ownership."
"That's true," Owen said. "Which is why we traced the payments."
My father turned pale.
Martin stepped forward.
"You obtained private financial information without authorization?"
Rosa straightened.
"I was the fund's bookkeeper. I retained the records required for our accounting review, including the bank statements and payment confirmations."
Owen added, "The independent review used those retained records and information supplied through the fund's current accounting process."
Martin said nothing.
The guests who had laughed when I fell into the fountain were now listening with uncomfortable attention.
My mother moved closer to Richard.
"Please," she whispered, "don't let this become worse."
But I was beginning to understand that it had already become much worse than she knew.
Owen turned another page.
"The original $680,000 went to North Vale Services. Most of it remained within accounts connected to Harwood's development operation."
Martin folded his arms.
"You're making accusations you can't substantiate."
"Then you'll have no objection to an independent audit."
My father suddenly slammed his hand onto the table.
"Enough!"
Several guests jumped.
"I have spent forty years building this company. I won't have my reputation destroyed by a daughter who abandoned her responsibilities."
I stared at him.
"You fired me."
"Because you made yourself impossible to trust."
"Because I refused to approve repairs that weren't done."
He turned away.
That hurt more than the fountain.
Owen continued examining the payment records.
Then he stopped.
"Emily."
Something in his voice made my stomach drop.
"What?"
"There's a separate transfer from North Vale."
He turned the document toward me.
The amount was $42,000.
The receiving account belonged to an individual rather than a contractor.
I read the name.
Once.
Then again.
Vanessa Carter.
My sister's face went white.
Benjamin looked at the statement.
"Vanessa?"
She backed away.
"I can explain."
My father grabbed the page.
But Benjamin caught his wrist.
"Don't."
Vanessa began shaking her head.
"It wasn't what you think."
I looked at the sister who had laughed while I stood soaking wet in the fountain.
The sister wearing my grandfather's bracelet.
The sister who had watched me lose my career.
"Then tell me what it was."
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
May you like
She looked at our father.
"Daddy," she whispered, "you promised that account would never come up."
