THE SHADOW OF BELLARDI / Chapter 4 / 10

Chapter 4 - The AuditVictoria froze, her mouth agape. "What did you say?"

"I said no," I repeated, stepping closer to the trio. "As of 8:00 AM today, I have officially resigned as Chairwoman of the Blake Heritage Trust. Furthermore, as sole owner of my father’s personal IP, I have revoked the foundation’s right to use the Blake family name."

Nathan’s face turned ghostly pale. "Clara... you can't do that! Without the Blake name, our credit rating drops to zero!"

"That’s the point, Nathan," I said smoothly. "Dominic's forensic accounting team spent the night reviewing the foundation's books. They found thirty-two separate instances of wire fraud committed by you and Victoria over the last eighteen months."

I opened the leather folder Dominic had brought to the table and pulled out a stack of notarized documents.

"Four million dollars transferred to Victoria’s personal accounts in the Cayman Islands," I read aloud. "Two million to pay off Emily’s boutique debts in Paris. And six million to cover Nathan’s illegal loans with the Jersey syndicate."

Victoria stumbled back, clutching her chest. "That... those were family administrative expenses!"

"That was grand larceny," Dominic spoke up, his low voice instantly cutting through the room like a guillotine. He stood up slowly, buttoning his jacket. "And since those funds belonged to a federally registered charitable trust, the State Attorney General’s office was notified twenty minutes ago."

Sirens suddenly began wailing on the street sixty stories below the penthouse windows.

Nathan looked out the glass, his eyes wide with wild, unadulterated terror. Two black sedans bearing official federal seals had pulled up to the curb outside the building entrance.

"Clara, please!" Emily whimpered, dropping to her knees and reaching out to clutch the hem of my silk robe. "We're sisters! You can't let them arrest Mom! You can't let them ruin my life!"

I looked down at Emily—the girl I had protected, funded, and loved for twenty-three years, the girl who had kissed my fiancé behind my back while smiling in my face.