Chapter 6 - THE HUSBAND WHO COULD NOT GIVE ORDERS|
By midnight, Alexander had called Victoria twenty-three times.
By one in the morning, he had sent fourteen messages.
The first were angry.
The later ones were almost unrecognizable.
Answer your phone.
Victoria, we need to talk.
Tell me where you are.
Then, finally:
Please.
Victoria read that last message twice.
For ten years, she had waited for Alexander to understand that she was a person, not an accessory to his empire.
Now that she was gone, he was discovering the difference.
She placed the phone on the table.
Nathan watched her.
“You don't have to respond.”
“I know.”
“Then don't.”
She looked at him.
“I'm not trying to make him suffer. I'm trying to prevent him from reaching me before we're protected.”
“Good. Because those are two very different objectives.”
The following morning, Nathan filed the appropriate notices concerning the disputed documents and arranged for the financial institutions to review the suspicious authorizations. Victoria also instructed her personal bank to strengthen access controls and remove any representatives she had not personally approved.
Nothing happened instantly.
There were procedures, verification calls, and documents requiring signatures.
But for the first time, she was making decisions about her own life.
At the Moretti residence, Alexander was doing the opposite.
He paced through his study while his security chief listed locations that had already been checked.
“Her car is still here,” the man reported. “Her usual driver says she left with a small suitcase.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“He said Mrs. Moretti instructed him to keep the trip private.”
Alexander slammed his hand against the desk.
“She's my wife.”
The security chief remained silent.
Alexander realized how ridiculous the words sounded.
He had spent three years hiding another woman while expecting his wife to remain available whenever he wanted her.
Now he could not even find her.
Sophia arrived shortly before noon.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Alexander, we need to talk.”
“Not now.”
“The documents from last night—”
“Not now!”
She stepped back.
“You said Victoria wouldn't fight you.”
Alexander turned.
“I said she would understand.”
“You said she didn't care about the business.”
“I was wrong.”
The admission seemed to frighten him more than the evidence.
Sophia sat down slowly.
“Are we in trouble?”
Alexander didn't answer.
She touched her stomach.
“What happens to the baby if something happens to you?”
He looked at her.
For one brief moment, he saw the fear behind her ambition.
Then his phone rang.
Richard Cole.
Alexander answered immediately.
“Tell me you can explain the transfers.”
Richard's voice was calm.
“I can explain some of them.”
“Some?”
“The accounts are more complicated than you understand.”
“I understand enough to know my wife has the records.”
A pause followed.
Then Richard said, “You should be more concerned about what she hasn't found.”
Alexander stopped pacing.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you need to stop letting personal problems interfere with business.”
“Richard, what did you do?”
“I protected the company.”
“You used Victoria's name.”
“I used the documents available to me.”
Alexander's face drained of color.
“Did I authorize this?”
Richard did not answer directly.
“You signed a great many things over the years.”
Alexander ended the call.
Sophia watched him.
“What happened?”
He looked at her, but the woman who had once seemed like an escape from his responsibilities suddenly appeared to be another responsibility he could not control.
“Get out of my house.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Alexander—”
“Go!”
Sophia left in tears.
For several seconds, Alexander stood alone in the study.
Then he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and removed an old leather notebook.
Inside were handwritten records from the early years of his business.
He turned page after page until he found a reference to Northbridge Holdings.
Beside the company name was a note in his own handwriting.
R.C. — emergency authorization. Do not use without approval.
Alexander stared at the words.
He did not remember writing them.
He did not remember approving the company.
May you like
But the handwriting was unmistakably his.
And when he checked the date, he discovered that the authorization had been recorded two months before Victoria signed their first joint financial document.
