Chapter 38: The Ledger

The ledger was handwritten.

That made it worse somehow. Digital records could feel distant, accidental, manipulated by systems and passwords. But ink required pressure. Intention. A hand choosing to write numbers beside names.

Scarlett sat in Alexander's secure room while Grace photographed each page.

Payments to Victor Hale. Payments to Dr. Pierce. Payments to the detective who closed Isabella's case. Payments to Marcus Vale.

And beside the largest transfer, Richard's initials appeared.

RW.

Scarlett stared until the letters blurred.

Alexander stood behind her. 'This may not mean he ordered the accident.'

'Do not protect him for me.'

'I am not.'

'You are trying to leave me one parent who was only weak instead of evil.'

Alexander said nothing.

That silence was his confession.

Grace approached carefully. 'There is more. The payment dates suggest Richard began paying Hale after your mother's death, not before. It may have started as a cover-up.'

'And became what?' Scarlett asked. 'A habit?'

Grace's eyes were sad. 'A chain.'

Scarlett laughed softly. 'He paid to bury my mother. Then he paid to steal my future. Then he paid to hide my accident. How many chains does a man need before we stop calling him trapped?'

No one answered.

Alexander received a call from Luca and stepped aside. His expression changed as he listened.

'Where?' he asked.

A pause.

'Stop the plane.'

Scarlett turned sharply.

Alexander ended the call. 'Evelyn is at a private airfield in New Jersey. Hale's men are with her.'

Scarlett's heart slammed. 'She is leaving?'

'Not if I reach her first.'

'I am coming.'

'Scarlett—'

'She killed my mother.'

'And she may have armed men around her.'

Scarlett moved closer, voice low. 'Then do not ask me to sit here while the woman who destroyed my life escapes into the sky.'

Alexander's face hardened with conflict.

Finally, he nodded once.

'You stay in the armored car unless I say otherwise.'

Scarlett did not promise.

Outside, storm clouds gathered over New York as the Moretti convoy rolled toward the airfield.