Chapter 4 - The Ledger That Could Destroy an Empire
The bank opened at nine.
Damon and Vivian arrived at 8:58.
By 9:12, they were inside a private viewing room with a metal box between them.
Vivian inserted the key.
“Ready?” Damon asked.
“No.”
She opened it anyway.
Inside were three ledgers, photographs, several cassette tapes, and a sealed letter.
Vivian reached for the letter first.
It was addressed to her.
She read silently.
Damon waited.
Her eyes filled, but no tears fell.
“What does it say?”
Vivian handed him the letter.
Eleanor Marsh had discovered that millions had been stolen from Nathaniel Cross.
But Nathaniel had not been responsible.
Someone else had manipulated the accounts, framed the Moretti family, and deliberately pushed the two organizations toward war.
The name appeared near the bottom.
Richard Cross.
Damon stared at it.
“My uncle.”
Julian’s father.
Vivian opened the first ledger.
Dates.
Transfers.
Shell corporations.
Signatures.
Damon’s expression became colder with every page.
“My father trusted Richard.”
“That’s why it worked.”
Damon looked at Vivian.
“And your mother found out.”
“Yes.”
A knock came at the door.
Both froze.
“Mr. Cross?” a bank employee called. “There’s a gentleman asking for you.”
“Name?”
A pause.
“Julian Cross.”
Damon and Vivian looked at each other.
“How did he know?” Vivian whispered.
Damon closed the ledger.
“He shouldn’t.”
The answer came to both of them simultaneously.
Arthur.
Damon pulled out his phone.
No response.
Vivian quietly photographed several pages.
“Take the letter,” Damon said.
“What about everything else?”
“We leave it here.”
“Why?”
“Because if Julian wants it, I want to know how badly.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You’re using the evidence as bait.”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“By people who survived?”
His mouth almost curved.
“Occasionally.”
The door opened.
Julian entered.
His usual grin was gone.
“Interesting morning.”
Damon leaned against the table.
“How did you find us?”
“I have friends.”
“You have Arthur.”
Julian said nothing.
Vivian watched him carefully.
“You knew about my mother.”
His eyes moved to her.
“No.”
“You recognized her name last night.”
“I recognize hundreds of names.”
“You stopped drinking when Moretti said Eleanor.”
Julian’s face hardened.
Damon looked at his cousin.
“Answer her.”
Julian laughed.
“Look at you.”
“What?”
“Twenty-four hours ago she was your joke. Now you’re taking orders from her.”
Damon’s voice dropped.
“Answer her.”
Julian’s smile disappeared.
“My father mentioned Eleanor once.”
“What did he say?” Vivian asked.
“That she was a problem.”
Silence.
Vivian’s fingers curled.
Damon stepped between them.
Julian noticed.
“Protective already?”
“This isn’t about Vivian.”
“Oh, I think it is.”
Julian pointed toward the box.
“You open that, you tear apart everything our fathers built.”
Damon stared at him.
“If it was built on a lie, it deserves tearing apart.”
Julian’s face changed.
There it was.
Fear.
Vivian saw it first.
“You’re still using the accounts,” she said.
Julian looked at her.
“What?”
“The old network.”
She moved closer.
“That’s why you're afraid.”
Damon understood.
“Vivian?”
“The discrepancy from Cayman yesterday.”
Her mind was racing now.
“It wasn’t a rounding error.”
“You told me it was.”
“I thought it was.”
She looked at Julian.
“Someone was shaving tiny percentages from hundreds of transactions. Individually meaningless. Together…”
“How much?”
Vivian looked at Damon.
“Potentially millions.”
Julian headed for the door.
Damon spoke.
“Sit down.”
Julian stopped.
“You don’t order me around.”
“Today I do.”
Julian slowly turned.
“You’re choosing a secretary over blood?”
Vivian answered before Damon could.
“No.”
She closed the metal box.
“He’s choosing the truth over a thief.”
Julian stared at her.
Then he smiled.
It wasn’t friendly.
“You really should have stayed invisible, Miss Marsh.”
Damon stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Julian looked at him.
“You invited her into this.”
Then he left.
Vivian waited until the door closed.
“That sounded like a threat.”
“It was.”
“What now?”
Damon looked at the box.
“Now we find out exactly how much he stole.”
Vivian picked up the ledger.
“No.”
Damon frowned.
She met his eyes.
May you like
“Now I find out.”
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