Chapter 4
The ballroom fell silent.
Grant looked toward the hotel's audiovisual technician.
"Turn on the main screen."
The massive LED display behind the dance floor lit up.
Guests exchanged confused glances.
Vanessa forced a nervous smile.
"Grant... what are you doing?"
"We're in the middle of our wedding."
Grant didn't answer.
He looked at Lena.
"Are you ready?"
She took a slow breath.
"I never wanted this to happen today."
"But the evidence is complete."
The room grew even quieter.
Richard stepped forward.
"What evidence?"
Lena calmly opened the leather folder.
Inside were bank records, wire transfers, shell company registrations, and dozens of financial reports.
She handed the folder to Grant.
"I traced every missing dollar."
Grant slowly nodded.
"Every transaction was verified by three independent auditors."
A murmur spread through the guests.
Forty million dollars.
No one had believed the missing money would ever be recovered.
Grant faced the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
"The person responsible has been hiding inside people we trusted."
Vanessa's breathing became uneven.
She grabbed Grant's arm.
"Can we please talk about this later?"
He gently removed her hand.
"No."
"If someone built our relationship on lies..."
"I deserve to know before I say my vows."
Susan's knees felt weak.
Richard's palms became damp.
Lena picked up a remote control.
The first document appeared on the giant screen.
A complicated web of financial transfers connected several fake companies.
Grant spoke quietly.
"Each company existed only on paper."
"They moved money until it disappeared."
Lena pressed the button again.
Photos appeared.
Property records.
Luxury vacations.
Expensive jewelry.
Hidden purchases.
Everything had been funded with stolen money.
Guests gasped.
Richard stared at the screen.
"I've never seen those accounts."
Lena looked directly at him.
"I know."
"You weren't the one using them."
Richard froze.
Vanessa's face turned pale.
She slowly stepped backward.
Grant noticed.
"Lena..."
"Who owns those accounts?"
Lena remained silent for several seconds.
Then she displayed the final document.
A signature.
An identification number.
The legal owner.
Vanessa Hart.
The ballroom erupted.
"No..."
Vanessa whispered.
"This has to be fake."
"It isn't."
Lena replied calmly.
"I spent three years proving it."
Vanessa desperately shook her head.
"I don't understand finance."
"I couldn't do something like that."
Lena looked into her sister's eyes.
"You didn't."
"You only signed the documents."
"The real mastermind convinced you everything was legal."
Grant frowned.
"So someone used Vanessa?"
"Yes."
Lena answered.
"And that person expected her to become your wife."
Richard looked completely confused.
"If Vanessa didn't plan this..."
"Who did?"
Lena slowly turned her head.
Not toward Vanessa.
Not toward Grant.
She looked at someone standing quietly near the back of the ballroom.
A man in an expensive charcoal suit.
Grant's longtime financial adviser.
Edward Collins.
For the first time that evening...
Edward stopped smiling.
May you like
He realized...
Lena had finally found him.
