Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Disappeared
Rebecca’s phone was disconnected by morning.
Her apartment was empty.
Her office had been cleared.
Not hurriedly.
Professionally.
Someone had planned her disappearance.
At 7:30, Sophia woke beside me.
“Are we going home?”
“Not yet.”
“Because of Daddy?”
I hated that she understood enough to ask.
“Daddy and I have some things to work out.”
She looked toward Chloe.
“Grandma doesn’t like us.”
I sat beside her.
“What Grandma did was wrong.”
“Because she wanted boys?”
“Yes.”
“Would Daddy like us if we were boys?”
There are questions adults can answer carefully.
That wasn’t one.
I hugged her instead.
At nine, I entered Vance & Horizon’s Washington office through the underground garage.
Evelyn was waiting.
So was our head of security.
Rebecca’s audit trail was catastrophic.
She had accessed financing documents, ownership schedules, private valuations and my digital signature archive.
But something didn’t fit.
Rebecca had never transferred money to herself.
No suspicious purchases.
No hidden luxury.
No obvious payoff.
“What did she gain?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Maybe nothing.”
Then we discovered an encrypted folder.
Password hint:
SOPHIA0808.
My daughter’s name and birthday.
I felt sick.
We opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Andrew meeting Malcolm Reeves.
Andrew meeting foreign lenders.
Andrew entering Rebecca’s apartment.
Then photographs of Patricia.
Not at family gatherings.
At banks.
Law offices.
A private wealth-management firm.
Rebecca had been documenting them.
She wasn’t simply helping Andrew.
She had been investigating him.
The final file was an audio recording.
Andrew’s voice:
“Once Lauren signs, everything clears.”
Rebecca:
“She won’t sign.”
Andrew:
“Then use the archived version.”
Rebecca:
“That’s fraud.”
Andrew:
“It’s temporary.”
Rebecca:
“You said that last time.”
My skin prickled.
Last time?
Then Patricia’s voice entered.
“Stop acting frightened, Rebecca. Lauren will never know.”
My mother-in-law.
Rebecca whispered:
“You promised the girls weren’t involved.”
Patricia laughed.
“They’re children. Everything Lauren owns eventually passes through them.”
The recording ended.
I replayed that sentence.
Everything Lauren owns eventually passes through them.
This wasn’t merely about Andrew’s debt.
Someone was thinking about inheritance.
I immediately ordered a review of my estate documents.
Two hours later, Evelyn found a recent amendment request.
It had never been completed.
Someone had attempted to change the trustee overseeing Sophia and Chloe’s inheritance if I died.
Current trustee:
My father.
Proposed trustee:
Andrew Vance.
My forged signature appeared again.
The request had been rejected because the notarization was incomplete.
I felt physically cold.
Then Malcolm called.
“I found Rebecca.”
“Where?”
“She contacted me.”
“Put her on.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because she says your husband is tracking her.”
“Andrew?”
“No.”
Malcolm hesitated.
“She says Patricia is.”
I looked at Evelyn.
Then Malcolm said something worse.
“Rebecca also told me the dinner humiliation last night wasn’t spontaneous.”
“What?”
“Patricia wanted you to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because while you were walking out with your daughters, Andrew was upstairs.”
“Doing what?”
May you like
Malcolm answered:
“Opening your handbag.”
