Chapter 1 - THE WRONG LEDGER
The coffee hit Rachel Mercer’s hand first.
Then the silver tray crashed onto the marble floor.
Twenty guests turned as porcelain shattered beneath the chandeliers of Gabriel Romano’s Baltimore estate.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Rachel.”
Camille Romano—Gabriel’s fiancée—stood above her in a white engagement gown, holding the empty cup.
“She ruins everything she touches.”
Rachel’s hand burned.
She said nothing.
At twenty-nine, she was supporting herself and helping pay her father’s rent. Losing a housemaid’s salary wasn’t an option.
“Clean it up,” Camille ordered.
Rachel bent down.
“Stop.”
Gabriel Romano’s voice silenced the room.
He had watched the entire thing.
“Why did you pour coffee on her?”
Camille laughed nervously.
“I didn’t. Rachel bumped me. She’s been nervous ever since she broke the lock downstairs.”
Rachel froze.
Gabriel looked at Camille.
“What lock?”
Nobody had mentioned one.
Camille quickly claimed Rachel had damaged the archive-room lock.
Rachel confirmed it.
Gabriel immediately knew she was lying.
Then he noticed blue ink staining Rachel’s fingertips.
Hours later, after sending Rachel away from the party with full pay, Gabriel discovered the truth.
The archive lock hadn’t been broken.
It had been replaced that afternoon—on Camille’s orders.
The original lock had blue security dye around its keyhole.
Rachel finally admitted she had opened the archive room after hearing Camille arguing with an unidentified man.
She had heard one sentence clearly.
“Once Gabriel signs on Saturday, the old accounts disappear.”
Rachel had also found a Harbor Grand hotel key card outside the room.
ROOM 814.
Written on the back:
11:30 P.M. — BRING THE SECOND LEDGER.
Gabriel sent security to the hotel.
They found a portable scanner and financial records showing more than six million dollars secretly paid to former employees, contractors, and families connected to Romano Construction.
Nearly every payment had been authorized by Gabriel’s older brother, Michael.
Michael then lied about being home while hotel surveillance showed him entering the Harbor Grand.
Rachel revealed one more thing.
Camille had told the unidentified man that Rachel had found “the wrong ledger.”
“The real one would destroy your family,” she had said.
Then Gabriel’s phone rang.
Camille.
Her frightened voice came through the speaker.
“Gabriel, Rachel stole something from me.”
“What?”
“A key card.”
Gabriel looked directly at Rachel.
Rachel stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then Camille added four words that changed everything.
May you like
“The one from 814.”
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