Chapter 19: The Name They Tried to Steal

Adrian's voice was unusually quiet when he called Willa. "The instruction came from an account registered in your name." Willa stood motionless in the middle of her office, staring at the city lights beyond the glass. For a few seconds, she said nothing. Then she asked, "What account?" Adrian gave her the number. She recognized the last four digits immediately. It was an old private account her father had opened for her when she was nineteen, one she had not touched in years.

Willa's stomach tightened. "I never authorized anything from that account." Adrian answered, "I know. That's why I didn't call Hollis first. Someone accessed it using an old authorization file." Willa closed her eyes. The betrayal was no longer just about Hollis, Gianna, or the Rossi family. Someone had deliberately stolen her identity and placed her name at the center of a financial attack against the Lombardis.

When Willa arrived at the Lombardi estate, Hollis was already waiting with Matteo. The moment he saw her expression, he stood. "What happened?" Willa placed the documents on the table. "Someone used my account to authorize the forged transfers." Hollis looked at the papers, then at her. His face hardened. "They're trying to make it look like you were behind this." Willa gave a cold laugh. "And if they succeed, the succession trust activates." Matteo nodded grimly. "Exactly. If Willa appears to have deliberately compromised the family financially, the council can declare her unfit and appoint an emergency administrator. Whoever controls that administrator controls the trust."

Hollis picked up the final document. His eyes stopped on the authorization code. "This isn't Gianna's access code." Willa stepped closer. "No. Because Gianna wasn't the mastermind." Silence filled the room. Adrian had traced the authorization through three shell companies, two offshore accounts, and finally a private legal office that had once handled Lombardi family succession documents. Matteo's expression changed when he saw the firm's name. "That office represented Victor for years." Hollis shook his head. "Victor was being paid. He wasn't giving the orders."

Then Matteo opened an old file. Inside was a handwritten note dated fifteen years earlier, signed by Willa's father. It named one person outside the four original trustees who had been given emergency access to the succession structure: Sebastian Lombardi, Hollis's uncle and Matteo's younger brother, who had supposedly died overseas years ago. Hollis stared at the name. "Sebastian is dead." Matteo's voice was barely audible. "That's what we were told."

Adrian suddenly called again. "Willa, you need to hear this. We found the person who logged into the account." He hesitated. "The login came from inside the Lombardi estate." Hollis immediately looked toward the hallway. "When?" Adrian answered, "Twenty minutes ago."

Hollis grabbed his coat. "Nobody leaves this house." Willa caught his arm before he could walk away. "No. If someone wants us frightened, don't give them that satisfaction." He looked down at her hand around his sleeve. For the first time in weeks, there was no anger between them, only trust built from surviving the same storm. "Then what do we do?" he asked.

Willa released him and picked up the forged authorization. Her voice was calm. "We let them believe their plan is working." Matteo's eyes narrowed. "You have a plan." Willa looked toward the darkened windows of the estate. "They stole my name, tried to steal my future, and used your family to destroy mine. Tomorrow, we'll give them exactly what they expect." Hollis studied her face. "And what happens after they make their move?" Willa's expression hardened. "Then I take everything they thought they could control."

Later that night, Willa returned to Cross & Crumb and opened the locked drawer beneath her desk. Inside was the original marriage settlement Hollis had once postponed signing, the document that tied her to the Lombardi succession structure. She placed it beside her father's old records and the forged authorization.

For ten years, Hollis had believed Willa would always be waiting for him. He had mistaken her loyalty for weakness. The people attacking the Lombardis had made the same mistake. They thought putting Willa's name on a crime would make her desperate to clear it. They didn't understand that Willa Cross had already lost the one thing she once feared losing most: Hollis.

At midnight, Adrian sent one final message. The mysterious account had made another transaction. This time, it wasn't money. It was a transfer of voting rights over the Lombardi trust, and the recipient had just accepted it.

Willa stared at the message for several seconds before a slow, determined smile appeared. "Good," she whispered. "Now they have put the entire trap in writing." She picked up her phone and called Hollis. "Tomorrow morning," she said, "we end this."