Melissa arrived with an attorney.
That alone marked progress.
The woman who had once clicked financial approvals without reading them now refused to enter a room without someone explaining consequences.
I wished the lesson had cost less.
She sat opposite me at Nina's office.
Daniel remained outside.
That was intentional.
Melissa's attorney requested that her interview occur without her brother because their interests might conflict.
They already did.
Nina placed photographs of the duplicate passports on the table.
Melissa stared at hers.
“I've never seen that.”
“Police recovered it from Paul.”
“I didn't give it to him.”
“Did you provide a passport copy to anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Paul.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Why?”
“He said Northstar needed identity verification.”
“So you knew Northstar involved you.”
“I knew my name was on something.”
“That is different from what you told me.”
“I know.”
Her voice was quiet.
No tears today.
Good.
“What did you understand Northstar to be?”
“A family investment company.”
“Whose family?”
“Ours.”
“Who told you?”
“Daniel.”
Daniel had claimed she knew fragments.
Apparently he had provided at least the label.
“What were you supposed to invest?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why were you beneficiary?”
“Paul said it was temporary.”
“Why you?”
“Because Daniel couldn't be.”
“Why couldn't Daniel?”
“He said lenders were watching him.”
“So you knowingly agreed to hold assets outside his name.”
Melissa looked down.
“Yes.”
“Did you know company money would move through it?”
“Not initially.”
“When did you learn?”
“Maybe six months ago.”
“Maybe?”
“Six or seven.”
“What happened?”
“I asked why the account showed so much money.”
“You had access?”
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
“To statements?”
“Online.”
“Then you knew about the sixteen million.”
“Not all at once.”
“But you saw balances.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask where the money came from?”
“Paul said investments.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
She stared at the passport photograph.
“No.”
“When did you stop believing him?”
“After he asked me to sign the first offshore authorization.”
I leaned forward.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Not the twelve-million transfer?”
“No. Another one.”
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand.”
“To where?”
“Cayman account.”
Nina wrote quickly.
“Same destination bank?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“I was scared.”
“Of Paul?”
“Of Daniel.”
I paused.
“Why Daniel?”
“Because by then I knew he was using Northstar to hide money.”
“How?”
“I confronted Paul.”
“And?”
“He showed me enough.”
“What enough?”
“Transfers from Prescott. Bell Advisory. Dad's company.”
“PHL?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“Asked Daniel.”
“What did he say?”
“That I needed to stay out of it.”
“Did you?”
“For a while.”
Melissa's hands tightened around each other.
“Then Paul told me something else.”
“What?”
“That Northstar would protect me if Daniel went down.”
My stomach tightened.
“Protect you how?”
“He said there was enough money offshore for me to leave.”
“Leave where?”
“The country.”
There it was.
The duplicate passport.
Not just identity documentation.
An escape package.
“Was the duplicate passport genuine?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Paul arrange it?”
“He said he could.”
Her attorney shifted uncomfortably.
Nina asked, “Did you pay him?”
“No.”
“Did you ask for one?”
Melissa hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was scared Daniel's fraud would become public.”
“So you were planning to run.”
“I was planning to have an option.”
I almost laughed.
The family word.
Option.
Everyone wanted an escape route before they wanted accountability.
“Andrew's duplicate passport?”
“I knew Paul was arranging something for him too.”
“Why Andrew?”
“Because Andrew thought Victor would blame him.”
“Did you plan to leave together?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Paul said everyone needed separate routes.”
“How many passports did he arrange?”
“I don't know.”
“Robert?”
“No idea.”
“Evelyn?”
Melissa's face changed.
“What?”
“Did Paul arrange one for your mother?”
“I don't think so.”
Nina watched carefully.
“You're withholding something.”
Melissa looked toward her attorney.
He nodded.
She exhaled.
“Mom knew about the offshore account.”
My pulse quickened.
“How?”
“Victor told her.”
That connected another thread.
“When?”
“A month ago.”
“What did he tell her?”
“That Daniel had created a reserve.”
“Did Evelyn know it contained diverted funds?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she do?”
“She told me not to touch it.”
“Why?”
“She said it might be the only money left after Claire destroyed everything.”
I felt no anger this time.
Only exhaustion.
Even after helping Victor manipulate Daniel, Evelyn had found a way to frame consequences as something I was doing.
“Did she know twelve million would move?”
“Yes.”
That mattered.
“How?”
“She called me the morning Paul sent the approval link.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did she say?”
“To approve whatever Paul sent.”
“Why?”
“She said Daniel's money needed to be protected before the accounts froze.”
I stared at her.
“When was this?”
“The morning of the anniversary dinner.”
Hours before Daniel publicly humiliated me.
Before I froze anything.
They were moving money because they expected control to shift the following morning.
“Who told Evelyn the accounts were in danger?”
“Victor.”
The answer fit.
Victor anticipated the final transaction.
He wanted funds offshore before control complications emerged.
But why transfer twelve million to an account apparently linked to him?
“Did your mother say where the money was going?”
“No.”
“Did Paul?”
“He said a protected reserve.”
“Did you know Victor controlled the destination?”
“No.”
“Did Paul?”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because after I approved it, he called me furious.”
“What did he say?”
“That the receiving instructions had changed.”
Nina looked up sharply.
“Changed by whom?”
“Victor.”
“Before or after you approved?”
“Before, apparently.”
“So Paul intended the money to go somewhere else.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Another Cayman account.”
“Whose?”
“Paul never told me.”
I thought of Paul's attempt to fly to Cayman.
He wasn't necessarily running toward Victor's twelve million.
He might be trying to recover money Victor had redirected away from Paul's intended escape account.
“What was Paul's plan?” I asked.
Melissa looked ashamed.
“To take part of the money.”
“How much?”
“Three million.”
“His two-point-eight.”
“Yes.”
“And the rest?”
“Split.”
“Between whom?”
“Andrew, me, and someone else.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn't say.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Robert?”
“No.”
“Charles?”
“I don't think so.”
“Victor?”
“Definitely not.”
Then who?
Nina slid the duplicate passport photographs closer.
“Was the third participant supposed to travel with Paul?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he use a name?”
Melissa hesitated.
“Rebecca.”
I looked at Nina.
“Rebecca Shaw?”
Ridgewell's attorney?
Melissa shook her head.
“No last name.”
Nina immediately searched Paul's files for Rebecca.
Dozens of irrelevant results.
Then one folder.
R.S.
Three messages.
No full name.
The first:
Need confirmation before funds move.
Paul:
You get your percentage when we are clear.
R.S.:
Victor changed destination instructions again.
Paul:
Then stop him.
R.S.:
I can't without exposing myself.
Nina stopped.
“Someone inside Ridgewell.”
That was the logical inference.
Not necessarily Rebecca Shaw.
But someone with access to Victor's transfer instructions.
The second message contained a percentage.
R.S. would receive fifteen percent of recovered offshore funds.
The third was sent one day before the anniversary dinner.
Victor suspects. Move tomorrow.
Paul:
Melissa will approve.
R.S.:
Then after transfer, disappear.
The timing tightened.
Paul's escape plan had existed before everything unraveled.
He expected to move money.
Then disappear.
But Victor changed the destination.
Paul lost control of the stolen reserve.
And after the anniversary dinner, once I froze the accounts, everyone panicked.
“Did Paul tell you to leave the country immediately?” I asked Melissa.
“Not until after the audit started.”
“Did you agree?”
“At first.”
“Why didn't you go?”
She looked toward the table.
“Mom told me Daniel would fix it.”
Of course.
Even escape had been postponed because the family still believed Daniel would restore order.
“What made you change your mind?”
“The recording.”
“Which?”
“At dinner.”
I frowned.
“You made that recording.”
“I know.”
“What about it?”
“I watched it later.”
She swallowed.
“I looked at you.”
For the first time, emotion entered her voice.
“You weren't yelling. You weren't crying. You just looked at all of us.”
I remembered.
My napkin beside the plate.
Their laughter fading.
“What did you see?”
“That we looked awful.”
She wiped beneath one eye.
“I don't mean visually.”
“I know.”
“Daniel said you lived off him. Mom laughed. Dad smiled. Andrew laughed. I filmed it.”
She stopped.
“I knew by then Daniel was moving money. I knew my name was on Northstar. I knew Paul wanted me ready to leave.”
Her voice broke.
“And I still thought you were the problem.”
I did not comfort her.
But I listened.
“I watched it three times. Then I deleted the public post.”
“You kept the original.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Maybe you did.”
She nodded slowly.
“Maybe.”
Nina asked for her phone.
Melissa surrendered it.
Forensics recovered messages she had deleted.
One came from Victor directly.
Sent four days before dinner.
When control changes, stay close to Daniel. He will need family around him.
Melissa replied:
What about Claire?
Victor:
She will be taken care of.
My skin crawled.
That phrase again.
Taken care of.
Enough to live comfortably.
Temporary control.
Protected assets.
Every scheme reduced me to a passive recipient of whatever other people decided.
Another message followed.
Victor:
Do not discuss Northstar with Claire under any circumstances.
Melissa:
Why would she ask?
Victor:
She won't.
He had been certain.
That certainty had saved me.
Because people who believed I would never look had left records everywhere.
“What does Victor know about Paul now?” Nina asked.
Melissa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Did Victor ever contact you after the twelve million transfer?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“An hour later.”
“What did he say?”
“That the money was safe.”
“Did he tell you where?”
“No.”
“Did Paul contact you?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That Victor stole it.”
There.
Direct.
“Did Paul threaten Victor?”
“He said he would burn everything down.”
“Exact words?”
Melissa nodded.
“He said, ‘If Victor took the reserve, I send Claire everything.’”
The backup.
That's why Paul built the dead-man delivery.
Maybe he had originally created copies as protection.
Victor's seizure of the reserve turned those copies into a weapon.
“Why didn't Paul send everything immediately?” I asked.
“Because he still wanted the money.”
At least greed remained predictable.
Police allowed Nina to speak with Paul that afternoon.
He was not charged with attempting to travel.
The passport issues and financial investigation were still being sorted.
But he had retained criminal counsel.
His attorney permitted a limited conversation.
Paul looked exhausted on video.
“Melissa told us the original offshore transfer destination was yours.”
His mouth tightened.
“Not mine.”
“Whose?”
“A holding account controlled through a trust.”
“Beneficiary?”
“I was one.”
“Who else?”
“Andrew.”
“Melissa.”
“Yes.”
“And R.S.”
Paul stopped.
Nina leaned forward.
“Who is R.S.?”
“I can't say.”
“You can.”
“My attorney says I shouldn't.”
His attorney interjected.
Nina changed approach.
“Is R.S. employed by Ridgewell?”
Paul looked toward his lawyer.
No answer.
“Was R.S. employed by Ridgewell when the transfer occurred?”
Silence.
Enough.
“Did R.S. alter transfer instructions?”
“No.”
“Did Victor?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He intercepted approval through the banking intermediary.”
“How did he know the timing?”
“R.S.”
“So R.S. told Victor?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what role did R.S. play?”
Paul exhaled.
“R.S. was supposed to confirm when Victor wasn't monitoring the account.”
Nina's expression sharpened.
“An insider.”
“Yes.”
“Why would a Ridgewell insider help you steal funds?”
“Because some of the funds were already stolen from Ridgewell.”
That shifted the frame.
Paul believed he was stealing stolen money.
“How much of the twelve million originated from Ridgewell loan proceeds?”
“About five.”
“And the rest?”
“Prescott and related entities.”
“Company money.”
“Yes.”
“So your theory of ownership was convenient.”
“I know.”
“Who is R.S.?”
Paul looked at me.
“I need a deal.”
“No.”
“I can identify someone inside Ridgewell who helped Victor move money.”
“Then do it because it's true.”
“That doesn't protect me.”
“No.”
He laughed quietly.
“You've gotten harder.”
“No. I've stopped paying people to tell me things they should have told me before stealing from me.”
Paul looked down.
Fair.
“What happened when Victor changed destination?”
“I lost access.”
“Where did the money go?”
“An account controlled by Vantage Maritime Holdings.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Can it be frozen?”
“Possibly.”
“How?”
“You need someone inside the Cayman bank.”
Nina shook her head.
“We need legal process.”
“That takes time.”
“Then we use time.”
Paul looked frustrated.
“The money will move.”
“Has it?”
“Not all.”
My pulse quickened.
“How much remains?”
“Last I knew, eight-point-six million.”
“And the rest?”
“Moved again.”
“Where?”
“Singapore.”
Samuel Price had moved to Vancouver after supposedly being in Singapore.
Victor had international structures.
The money trail was widening.
“Give us account identifiers.”
Paul looked toward his attorney.
The attorney nodded reluctantly.
Paul recited them.
Nina's team started immediately.
Before the call ended, I asked one final question.
“Who is R.S.?”
Paul looked at me for a long time.
Then he said, “You already know her.”
My stomach tightened.
“Rebecca Shaw?”
“No.”
Relief came too quickly.
Then Paul continued.
“Rachel Sutton.”
Daniel, listening from the adjacent room, opened the door.
I turned.
He looked stunned.
“Rachel?”
“Who is she?”
He stared at the screen.
“My former chief financial officer.”
Marcus swore.
I remembered Rachel.
Barely.
She had left Prescott five years earlier after a bitter disagreement with Daniel.
At the time, he told me she was incompetent.
He said she had failed to understand growth.
He said firing her was one of the easiest decisions he had ever made.
“Where does she work now?” I asked.
Marcus answered.
“Ridgewell.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 24: Daniel’s Former CFO Had Been Helping Victor From Inside Ridgewell, but Her Files Proved She Was Also the First Person Who Tried to Warn Me
At Our Anniversary Table, Daniel Made Me the Family Joke Without Knowing I Still Controlled Everything He Claimed as His
Part 23 of 35
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