Chapter 4 - THE SECRET INSIDE THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT
Serena read the words twice.
Then a third time.
Her daughter stood beside the coffee table, holding a pancake in one hand.
“Did I spell it right, Mommy?”
Serena forced herself to breathe.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Lily smiled proudly.
“I did it myself.”
Nico crouched beside her.
“Can I ask you something?”
Lily nodded.
“When did you see your daddy put something in Bunny?”
The child thought carefully.
“Before cake.”
“Tonight?”
She nodded.
“Daddy took Bunny to his office. I followed him.”
Serena closed her eyes.
Julian had taken Lily's rabbit.
Opened it.
Placed something inside.
Then returned it to a five-year-old child.
Her stomach twisted.
“Did Daddy see you?” she asked gently.
Lily shook her head.
“I hid by the big chair.”
“What happened next?”
“Miss Claire came.”
Nico glanced toward Serena.
Lily continued.
“She said, 'You can't use the bunny.'”
Serena felt the room grow colder.
“And Daddy?”
“He said grown-up words.”
“What words, honey?”
Lily shrugged.
“I don't remember.”
Serena kissed the top of her head.
“That's okay.”
The child looked at Nico.
“Can Bunny have his eye back?”
“Absolutely.”
Enzo appeared with a small sewing kit.
To everyone's surprise, Nico accepted it.
“You know how to sew?” Serena asked.
“Buttons.”
“Why?”
“My grandmother believed a man should know how to mend his own coat.”
Lily climbed onto the sofa beside him.
“Bunny has a coat?”
“Not yet.”
That earned another giggle.
Serena watched Nico carefully return the button eye to its proper place.
His hands were large.
Scarred across the knuckles.
Yet he worked with extraordinary patience.
For a few moments, Lily was simply a little girl watching someone repair her favorite toy.
Nothing else mattered.
Then Nico handed Bunny back.
“Good as new.”
Lily hugged him.
“Thank you, scary-eyes man.”
Enzo nearly choked on his coffee.
Nico glanced at him.
“You're enjoying this.”
“Immensely, boss.”
Lily fell asleep shortly afterward.
Serena tucked her into the enormous hotel bed, placing Bunny beneath her arm.
When she returned to the sitting room, Nico had arranged for a secure reader capable of examining the microfilm.
Enzo stood nearby with a laptop.
“You don't have to stay,” Serena said.
Nico looked up.
“Neither do you.”
“What?”
“You don't have to stay in a marriage where your husband treats you like an employee he's trying to fire.”
The words landed harder than Serena expected.
She sat down.
“I didn't recognize what was happening until it was almost over.”
Nico said nothing.
“At first, Julian was wonderful.”
Her gaze moved toward the window.
“He encouraged my career. He told everyone I was the smartest person he knew.”
“What changed?”
“After Lily was born, he started asking me to slow down.”
“That isn't necessarily unreasonable.”
“No. It wasn't.”
She looked at him.
“Then it became embarrassing him at business dinners. Questioning his judgment. Making people uncomfortable.”
Her fingers tightened around the bracelet.
“Eventually, I stopped attending meetings.”
“And he took over Whitmore Holdings?”
“Not immediately. First, he offered to handle the paperwork while I focused on Lily.”
Nico nodded.
“He made control sound like help.”
Serena looked at him sharply.
“Yes.”
There was no pity in his expression.
Only recognition.
It made her feel strangely less alone.
Enzo cleared his throat.
“The reader is ready.”
A grainy black-and-white image appeared on the laptop.
Columns.
Dates.
Transaction identifiers.
Serena leaned forward.
Then stopped breathing.
“These are internal ledger records.”
“From Callahan Group?” Nico asked.
“No.”
She moved closer.
“From Whitmore Holdings.”
Nico frowned.
“Your family's company.”
Serena nodded.
The images continued.
A series of payments passed through holding companies.
Some appeared legitimate.
Others didn't.
Serena pointed.
“Look at the beneficiary code.”
Nico leaned forward.
“Marrow Development.”
“That company dissolved six years ago.”
“Apparently someone brought it back.”
Enzo enlarged another image.
A transfer dated September eighteenth.
Forty-eight million dollars.
Recipient: Marrow Development.
Authorizing executive: Serena Callahan.
Serena stared.
“That's my name.”
Nico watched her carefully.
She shook her head.
“I never approved this.”
“I believe you.”
She looked at him.
“You shouldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because right now, the evidence says I did.”
Nico leaned back.
“Evidence says someone entered your name.”
Serena's eyes lifted.
“There is a difference.”
“Yes.”
She examined the image again.
Then noticed something.
“Wait.”
She enlarged a small line beneath the signature.
A six-digit employee authorization number.
Her expression changed.
“That isn't mine.”
Enzo leaned forward.
“Whose is it?”
Serena swallowed.
“Julian's.”
Nico studied the screen.
“That proves he authorized it?”
“No. It proves the transaction was submitted through his credentials.”
She hesitated.
“But someone else could have used them.”
Nico nodded.
“Someone like Claire?”
“Possibly.”
Serena zoomed further.
Then stopped.
“There should be a second authorization.”
“What kind?”
“For transfers above ten million, Whitmore Holdings requires a second approval from an independent trustee.”
“Who?”
Serena's voice became quiet.
“My father.”
Nico frowned.
“Is he still involved?”
“No. He retired five years ago.”
“Then who replaced him?”
Serena stared at the screen.
“No one.”
“Serena.”
She looked up.
“My father never resigned from the trust. He only retired from daily management.”
Nico considered that.
“So someone either obtained his approval or forged it.”
Serena nodded.
“And there's something else.”
She pointed to a tiny digital marker.
“The secondary approval was submitted from the Whitmore family office.”
“Where?”
“Lake Forest.”
“Who has access?”
“My father. Me. Julian.”
She paused.
“And Claire.”
Nico looked toward Enzo.
“Have someone discreetly check the property.”
Serena immediately objected.
“No.”
Both men looked at her.
“My father is eighty-two. If Julian suspects we're investigating him, he'll use Dad against me.”
Nico studied her.
“Then we do this your way.”
Serena blinked.
“You're actually going to listen?”
“I'm trying something new.”
She almost smiled.
Then Enzo enlarged the final microfilm frame.
A photograph appeared.
Not a bank statement.
Not a ledger.
A photograph.
It showed a silver bracelet resting beside an old-fashioned brass key.
Underneath were handwritten words.
Serena recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her father's.
She read aloud.
“Eleanor said the wrong man would come for the key.”
Her voice faltered.
Nico leaned forward.
Below the sentence was another line.
IF SERENA EVER DISAPPEARS FROM THE COMPANY, ASK NICO MARLOWE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS BROTHER.
Nico went completely still.
Enzo's face changed.
Serena looked between them.
“Your brother?”
Nico stared at the photograph.
May you like
His voice was almost inaudible.
“My brother died protecting that company.”
