Part 2 of 3

By then, the entire encounter had been recorded and saved to Aldercrest’s protected system.

Grant tried to explain that he had been worried about me.

Lucinda accused me of creating unnecessary embarrassment.

Neither of them noticed my attorney calling until my phone began vibrating in my hand.

The Real Reason Grant Came Inside

My attorney, Evelyn Sloane, had represented me throughout the divorce.

She was usually calm, even when Grant’s legal team attempted to delay proceedings or challenge financial disclosures.

That morning, she sounded different.

“Maren, can you speak privately?”

I walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

“What happened?”

“Grant and Lucinda did not come to your apartment because of the credit card.”

I glanced toward the hallway.

“Then why are they here?”

Evelyn took a breath.

“I completed an initial review of the Bellamy Educational Advancement Fund.”

The Bellamy fund had been Lucinda’s favorite public project.

She spoke about it at fundraising dinners, charity luncheons, and social events. She claimed it supported promising students from families who could not afford college.

Photographs of Lucinda posing beside young scholarship recipients appeared in newspapers and business magazines.

Because of my position at Aldercrest, I had introduced Lucinda to several generous donors.

“What did you find?” I asked.

“The fund collected more than four million dollars during the past five years.”

“That sounds right.”

“Less than six percent appears to have reached students.”

I gripped the edge of the dresser.

“Where did the rest go?”

“Private travel, renovations, event expenses, luxury purchases, consulting payments, and transfers to several companies that do not appear to perform legitimate services.”

I struggled to process her words.

“Why would Grant break into my home?”

“Several transfers were approved using documents connected to your professional credentials. Your electronic signature appears on authorization forms.”

“I never approved those transfers.”

“I know. But someone wanted the transactions to look as if you had.”

I turned toward the closed bedroom door.

Everything suddenly made sense.

Grant had not come for a conversation.

He had come for my computer.

The laptop contained years of correspondence, company records, security tokens, and archived files.

He believed he could remove something before I discovered it.

Unfortunately for him, his decision to force his way inside had placed him directly in front of six witnesses and a recording system he could not control.

The Young Woman Behind the Perfect Photograph

By the afternoon, my home had transformed into a temporary document review office.

Evelyn sat at my dining table while a digital security specialist examined my computer and cloud storage.

Every new discovery changed the meaning of an old memory.

A business dinner I had attended with Grant was connected to a suspicious vendor.

A family vacation had been partly billed to the educational fund.

A consultant Lucinda praised as a longtime friend had registered three companies using the same mailing address.

Then Evelyn found the name of a former scholarship recipient.

Riley Monroe.

Riley’s photograph had appeared on the Bellamy fund’s website for three years. She was described as a fully sponsored student whose future had been transformed by Lucinda’s generosity.

According to the records, however, Riley had received only one payment of twenty-five hundred dollars.

That evening, the concierge called from the lobby.

“Ms. Whitlock, there is a young woman downstairs asking to speak with you. Her name is Riley Monroe.”

Evelyn and I exchanged a surprised look.

Neither of us had contacted her.

We met Riley in a private sitting area near the building lobby.

She was in her mid-twenties, dressed in a simple navy coat and holding an old leather folder against her chest.

“I’m sorry for arriving without an appointment,” she said. “I heard about the divorce, and I thought this might be my only chance.”

“Your only chance to do what?” I asked.

“To ask you to remove my photograph from the Bellamy website.”

Riley sat across from us and opened the folder.

She explained that Lucinda had repeatedly described her as a fully funded scholarship student.

In reality, the fund had paid a small portion of one semester’s tuition.

When Riley tried to correct the public claim, Lucinda warned her that appearing ungrateful could harm her career.

“She told me successful people understand when to remain quiet,” Riley said.

Then she handed Evelyn a document.

It was a confidentiality agreement.

My name and signature appeared at the bottom.

I had never seen it before.

“Did Lucinda tell you I signed this?” I asked.

Riley nodded.

“She said you were the person responsible for legal compliance.”

She reached into the folder and removed a small yellow note.

Three words were written on it.

Ask Maren directly.

“Where did this come from?” Evelyn asked.

“Someone mailed it to me last month. There was no name or return address.”

Riley hesitated before continuing.

“But a man once approached me after a public lecture. He knew about the fund. He told me charities can hide more behind polished photographs than behind locked doors.”

“What was his name?” I asked.

Riley looked directly at me.

“He introduced himself as Walter Whitlock.”

My breath caught.

Walter Whitlock was my father.

And my father had passed away ten years earlier.