Chapter 7: My Mother's Name on the Transfer
For several seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
“My mother?”” I repeated.
Brianna nodded, wiping mascara from beneath her eyes.
“The first payment came from an account approved with her credentials. I didn't know that until Victor showed me the records.””
I stared at her, searching for the familiar signs of another lie.
“Why didn't you tell me this before?””
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of Victor?””
She hesitated.
“Of what you'd discover.””
The distinction mattered.
I could feel it.
My mother, Linda Carter, had spent thirty years working as an accountant before retiring. She'd helped me establish my company, reviewed my first contracts, and taught me to distrust any business deal that promised effortless money.
She was the last person I'd suspect of stealing from me.
“Show me the records,” I demanded.
Brianna reached into her purse and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
“I kept a copy.””
I took it.
The document listed a transfer of $15,000 from Carter Media's operating account to Northbridge Advisory. The transaction date was November 18 of the previous year.
Under authorization, it read: *Linda Carter — Executive Finance Access.*
My mother's name was followed by a digital approval code.
I recognized the format.
I'd created those codes myself when the company was small enough that I could personally monitor every transaction. My mother had retained limited access to help with quarterly reconciliation, even after she officially retired.
“Did you make this copy yourself?”” I asked.
“Yes.””
“Who gave you the original?””
“Victor.””
“And why would he give you evidence against himself?””
Brianna looked down.
“Because he said he had enough evidence to prove the money came from your company. He wanted me to understand that if I stopped paying, he'd make sure you took the blame.””
I folded the paper carefully.
“Or he wanted you to believe my mother was involved.””
“Ethan, I don't know what to believe anymore.””
I studied her face.
That was the first honest thing she'd said all evening.
I called my mother.
She answered on the third ring.
“Ethan? Honey, is everything okay?””
“Mom, I need you to answer a question honestly.””
Her voice immediately changed.
“What's happened?””
“Did you authorize a fifteen-thousand-dollar transfer to Northbridge Advisory last November?””
Silence.
Then a soft, confused laugh.
“Northbridge what?””
I closed my eyes.
“Mom, please. Check your records.””
“Ethan, I haven't approved a company payment in months.””
“Your credentials were used.””
“That's impossible.””
“I have a transaction record with your name on it.””
She inhaled sharply.
“Someone used my login?””
“I don't know yet.””
“Ethan, listen to me. I never authorized a payment to that company. I wouldn't transfer fifteen thousand dollars without asking you first.””
I believed her.
I didn't want to. Believing her meant accepting that someone had deliberately used her identity to reach into my company.
But I knew her voice.
“I'm sending you a copy,” I said.
“Don't contact anyone about this yet. I'll have my attorney investigate.””
“Of course.””
She paused.
“Ethan?””
“Yeah?””
“Is this connected to Brianna?””
I looked at my girlfriend standing beside the sedan.
“Yes.””
My mother's voice softened.
“Oh, sweetheart.””
That tenderness nearly broke me.
“Mom, I have to go.””
“Come home tonight if you need to. Whatever this is, we'll face it together.””
I ended the call.
Brianna was watching me.
“You believe her,” she said.
“Yes.””
Her expression tightened.
“Just like that?””
“She's my mother.””
“And I'm the woman you were going to marry.””
“Were you?””
She flinched.
I hated that the question hurt her. Some foolish part of me still wanted to protect her feelings.
Then I remembered Marcus sitting beside a birthday cake, discovering that his fiancée had hidden a pregnancy and another relationship from him.
I couldn't keep protecting Brianna from the consequences of her own decisions.
“I'm taking these records to my attorney,” I said.
“Ethan, please. If Victor finds out you're investigating, he'll come after you.””
“He already has.””
“You don't understand what he's capable of.””
“Then tell me.””
She looked toward the road where Victor's SUV had disappeared.
“He has recordings. Messages. Documents. He said he could make it look like you and I worked together to move the money.””
“Did we?””
“No!””
“Then the evidence will show that.””
She shook her head desperately.
“He said the records could be altered.””
I slipped the document into my jacket.
“Brianna, if you want me to believe you, stop telling me what Victor said and start telling me what you did.””
Her lips trembled.
“I created B. Lane Consulting because I wanted to build something of my own. Victor promised to connect me with investors. When the investment failed, he said I had to repay the money or he'd expose me.””
“Why did you take money from my company?””
“I thought I could borrow it temporarily. I was going to replace it before you noticed.””
“How much did you take?””
She didn't answer.
“How much, Brianna?””
“Forty-two thousand dollars directly,” she whispered.
“But I don't know how much went through the other accounts.””
I stared at her.
“You took money from me, then let Victor threaten me with a forged agreement when the money disappeared.””
“I was scared!””
“So was I.””
She began crying again.
I turned toward the Porsche.
“I'm leaving.””
She caught my wrist.
“Ethan, one more thing.””
I pulled free.
“What?””
“Victor didn't choose your company randomly.””
She swallowed.
“He knew about your mother's access before I met him. He knew which accounts she could reach, and he knew exactly how much money was available.””
A cold feeling settled over me.
“Who told him?””
Brianna shook her head.
“I don't know.””
But her eyes moved toward the hotel entrance.
I followed her gaze.
Through the glass doors, I could see Ashley standing near the reception desk, talking urgently to someone whose face I couldn't make out.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message had arrived from my mother.
Ethan, I checked my old records. Someone accessed my finance account from a new device last November. I thought it was you.
A second message followed.
I just found the email that approved the access.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
The sender wasn't Victor Hale.
It wasn't Brianna.
It was someone whose name I had trusted almost as much as my mother's.
*Daniel Brooks — my company's chief financial officer.*
And beneath his name was a message dated eleven months earlier:
Linda, Ethan asked me to update your access. Please approve the request.
I had never sent that email.
May you like
Which meant someone had been impersonating me long before Brianna's birthday.
And if Daniel had been involved from the beginning, the missing money might be only a fraction of what he'd stolen.
