Chapter 2 - The Audit of the Lost Year
By two in the morning, the driveway of the Mercer estate was lined with four black luxury sedans.
Inside the main living room, under the stark light of the crystal chandelier, sat Thomas Vance—Sarah’s older brother, a fierce corporate litigator who had cut ties with Julian eighteen months ago when Julian married Vanessa. Beside Thomas were two senior forensic auditors and a private security team wearing dark suits.
Ethan had finally fallen asleep upstairs in his father’s master suite, wrapped in a heavy goose-down blanket, protected by two of Thomas’s private guards stationed outside his door.
Julian stood by the marble fireplace, watching Thomas examine the documents retrieved from Ophelia’s secret vault.
"It’s worse than you think, Julian," Thomas said, tossing a stack of bank printouts onto the glass coffee table. "Ophelia wasn't just hiding Sarah's codicil. Look at the financial transfers from your joint household account over the last twelve months."
Julian leaned down, picking up the ledger sheets.
Every month, fifty thousand dollars had been transferred from the household maintenance fund—a fund Julian financed for property taxes, food, and estate staff—into a shell corporation called Shaw Horizon Holdings LLC.
"Vanessa told me those funds were going toward the estate’s structural repairs and Ethan’s private tutoring," Julian murmured, his thumb rubbing against the crisp ink.
"There was no tutoring," Thomas spat coldly. "We checked with the Academy yesterday. Ethan’s tuition was paid directly from your corporate account. The Shaw family used your household fund to pay off Marcus Shaw’s gambling debts in Macao and to lease a seventy-foot yacht currently docked in Miami."
Julian closed his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath. The pieces of the puzzle were locking into place with sickening precision.
When Julian had married Vanessa, she had convinced him to fire the long-time household staff—the butler who had worked for Julian’s father, the housekeeper who had loved Ethan like a grandson, and the private chef. She had claimed she wanted a "simple, private life" without strangers walking through their home.
In reality, she had cleared the house of witnesses.
For eighteen months, Vanessa and her mother had isolated Ethan. They had made him feel like an intruder in his own home, slowly conditioning him to accept neglect while they systematically siphoned millions of dollars into their family’s offshore accounts. Leaving him alone for five days with three delivery boxes was not a momentary lapse in judgment; it was the final stage of a campaign to prove Ethan was "emotionally unstable" and "unfit" to manage his maternal trust when he turned thirteen.
"If they obtain guardianship over Ethan’s maternal share next week," Thomas explained, pointing at a clause in the trust agreement, "they get voting power on the Vance Enterprises board. They were planning to sell Sarah’s founding shares back to our rival logistics firm in Europe."
Julian looked at his brother-in-law. "Why didn't you come to me sooner, Thomas?"
Thomas looked down at his hands, a shadow of regret crossing his face. "Because when you married Vanessa six months after Sarah died, I thought you had turned your back on Sarah’s memory. I thought you were blind, Julian."
"I was blind," Julian admitted, his voice quiet and heavy with bitter truth. "I was lonely, overworked, and desperate to give my son a mother again. I mistook Vanessa’s charm for grace."
Julian walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the dark lawn.
"Where is the cruise ship right now?" Julian asked.
One of the forensic auditors looked up from a laptop. "The Royal Empress left PortMiami on Thursday afternoon. It’s currently in international waters near the Bahamas. Vanessa, Ophelia, Marcus, and four of their high-society friends are in the Grand Royal Suite."
"Who paid for the tickets?" Julian asked.
"A corporate credit card registered under Mercer Global Logistics," the auditor replied. "Total charge: one hundred and eighty-four thousand dollars."
A thin, terrifying smile appeared on Julian’s face. It was the smile that made rival CEOs surrender during hostile takeovers.
"Thomas," Julian said, turning around. "Issue an emergency ex parte motion in Cook County Probate Court at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Unseal Sarah’s trust. Name yourself and me as co-trustees of Ethan’s maternal estate."
"And what about Vanessa and her family?" Thomas asked.
"Revoke all access to the corporate credit cards immediately," Julian commanded flatly. "Freeze the joint household accounts. Report the Mercer Global credit card used for the cruise as stolen by unauthorized users."
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Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Julian... if you report those cards stolen while they are in international waters..."
"They will be detained by ship security the moment the vessel docks in Nassau tomorrow morning," Julian finished coldly. "And while they are sitting in a Bahamian holding cell, we are going to clear every single piece of their existence out of my house."
