Chapter 4 - The Ledger of BloodRebecca’s charming smile froze mid-frame.
Alexander set his wine glass down slowly, his gray eyes locking onto me from the head of the table. "Laura. What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the money, Alexander," I replied cleanly, taking a slow sip of my ice water. "The seven hundred thousand dollars that was transferred from Russo Global's secondary shipping account into a private Swiss vault three days before I was framed for attempting to murder Rebecca."
Victoria slammed her fork onto her china plate. "Silence this woman! Alexander, have your guards escort her out of this house immediately! She is attempting to ruin our holiday feast with delusional lies!"
"Let her speak," Alexander commanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark register that silenced his mother instantly. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the mahogany table, looking straight at me. "Go on, Laura."
I reached beneath my chair, picked up my black leather bag, and set it flat on the white tablecloth beside my plate.
I unzipped the main compartment, pulled out a sleek, metallic digital projector no larger than a deck of cards, and set it near the center floral arrangement. Pointing it toward the massive, blank plaster wall behind Alexander, I tapped the activation button on my watch.
A high-definition blue light flickered to life, projecting a crisp, illuminated display directly onto the wall above the fireplace.
Displayed in high resolution was a certified banking audit from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
"Ten years ago," I explained, my voice steady, precise, and ringing with absolute authority, "I was accused of hiring a local gunman named Marcus Brody to tamper with the brakes on Rebecca's car. The evidence against me consisted of three items: a phone call from my private line to Brody, a wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars from my personal account to Brody's wife, and a set of forged keys found in my dresser."
Rebecca stood up from her chair, her eyes wide with frantic, manic panic. "Turn that off! Alexander, she hacked your network! This is a security breach!"
"Sit down, Rebecca!" Alexander roared, his eyes glued to the projected screen.
"What you never investigated, Alexander," I continued, pressing another button on my watch, "was where that fifty thousand dollars originally came from. It didn't come from my trust. It was funneled into my account twelve hours prior via a shell company called Blue Atlantic Logistics."
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The projected screen shifted, displaying a complete, unredacted corporate registry from the Delaware Secretary of State.
"And as you can see from the certified shareholder registry," I pointed at the glowing text, "the sole beneficial owner of Blue Atlantic Logistics... is Rebecca Hale."
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