CHAPTER FOUR: THE LEDGER
886 Words
Serena’s POV
I barely slept that night.
The photograph wouldn’t leave my mind and neither would the man that was standing behind my father.
I had taken a picture of the frame before leaving Cross Holdings, but staring at it on my phone hadn’t helped. If anything, it had raised even more questions.
Who was he?
Why had he been there?
And why couldn’t Damian identify him?
I opened my father’s ledger again, maybe I was looking in the wrong place.
For years, I had focused on the missing pages because I believed they contained the answer. But what if the pages weren’t the only problem?
I decided to look into the dates I discovered some days ago. The ones that were three days apart. I read the entry again and still couldn't quite understand it. So i searched up who entered that record.
Information Unavailable.
I tried another route. I searched who usually had access to records like this. Two names appeared: Victor Bennett and Catherine Shaw. I memorized them because I knew one thing for sure someone accessed the files after the transaction was made and i would find out who, because for years, I had believed my father had been accused because someone had misunderstood the records but now I was beginning to wonder if someone had deliberately manipulated them.
What if my father hadn’t simply been accused but someone had built the evidence against him?
My phone buzzed and I looked at the screen, it was Lila. I answered.
“Hey.”
“You sound distracted.”
“I found something.”
“What?”
I hesitated.
“There’s a transaction in Dad’s ledger that doesn’t match the Cross records.”
“How?”
“The date.”
“Could it just be an error?”
“That’s what I thought.”
“And now?”
I looked down at the ledger.
“Now I think someone changed it.”
There was silence.
“You’re sure?”
“No.”
I exhaled slowly.
“But I’m going to find out.”
Lila sighed.
“Serena, please be careful.”
“I will.”
“You said that last time.”
“And I meant it.”
“You know normal people spend their evenings watching Netflix, right?”
I laughed softly.
“I’m not normal.”
“I’ve noticed.”
We spoke for another few minutes before hanging up. After the call I closed my laptop and looked at the photograph on my phone.
Victor Bennet, unknown man, the altered records. Something was connecting these pieces, even if I couldn’t see the full picture yet. But every search led to the same dead end. Victor Bennet had disappeared from the public eye after leaving Cross Holdings.
I was lost in my notes when my phone rang and this time, it wasn't Lila, it was Adrian. The one person who knew my true identity and had been with me throughout everything. I was a bit hesitant but i answered
“Hey.”
“Serena.”
His voice immediately sounded different.
“You’re in Belmont.”
“Yes.”
“When did you get here?”
“A couple of days ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I’ve been busy.”
“With what?”
I hesitated.
“Trying to understand what happened to my father.”
The line went quiet, a bit too quiet “Adrian?”
“There are things about that time you don’t know.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What things?”
“I can’t explain them over the phone.”
“Then explain them in person.”
Another pause.
“Serena, you need to be careful about who you trust.”
“Why?”
“Because some people benefited from what happened to your family.”
My heart sank.
“Who?”
“I can’t say.”
“You know something.”
“I know enough to tell you that you’re looking in the wrong places.”
“What does that mean?”
There was a pause and then the line disconnected. Adrian knew something and he was hiding it from me. I didn’t know whether to trust him anymore. I placed the phone beside the ledger and looked at the photograph again then picked up my pen.
“V.B.”
I circled the initials again, Victor Bennet. Maybe that was where I needed to start.
I was about to write something beneath his name when there was a knock at my door.
My pen slipped from my hand
“Who is it?”
“Damian.”
Why was Damian standing at my door?
Confused, I quickly closed the ledger and walked toward the door. When I opened it, he stood there holding a thin folder.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to give you something.”
I looked at the folder.
“What?”
“An offer.”
I frowned.
“I already have your partnership offer.”
“This isn’t about business.”
My grip tightened around the door.
“Then what is it?”
Damian looked directly at me.
“I have a proposal for you, Serena.”
I stared at him.
“What kind of proposal?”
His expression remained unreadable.
“Marriage.”
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