PART 6: THE SWISS ACCOUNTS
PART 6: THE SWISS ACCOUNTS
The crimson folder contained exactly forty-two pages of encrypted transaction logs.
Every single wire transfer I had authorized during my time overseas was listed in perfect, chronological order.
Victoria sat in the leather chair opposite me, crossing her legs with a slow, triumphant confidence.
"My father didn't know about this account because he was too busy trying to steal your local real estate," she said, tapping the folder with one polished nail. "But I’ve been tracking this specific routing number since 2024."
I kept my face perfectly blank, my hands resting weakly on the armrests of my chair.
"The funds in that account are completely legitimate, Victoria," I said quietly. "They were vetted by the federal compliance audit."
"The funds are clean, yes," she laughed, a short, sharp sound. "But the identity used to open the account is not."
She flipped to page fifteen.
The document was a scanned copy of a signature card dated nine years ago.
The signature belonged to my late brother, Thomas, the man whose tragic death had forced me to return to Charlotte to protect Lily.
"Thomas didn't die in an accident, Mr. Bennett," Victoria whispered, leaning in so close her breath misted on the polished desk. "He died because he found out that your private Zurich fund wasn't filled with investment returns."
She leaned back, her satisfied smile returning.
"It was filled with the liquidated assets of the Ashford family's original shipping firm in Wilmington."
The room grew suffocatingly cold.
"Your brother didn't open this account to hide your money," she said. "He opened it because he was blackmailing my father."
I looked past her toward the glass window, where the autumn leaves were swirling in the wind outside.
May you like
The old police paperwork was torn to shreds, but a completely new shadow had just fallen over our empire.
"If this folder goes to the federal compliance inspectors tomorrow morning," Victoria said, "the receivership is canceled, and your true empire becomes a crime scene."
