Chapter 13 - Seventy-Two Hours
The number on Noah's revised report looked unreal.
Two million, three hundred and forty thousand dollars.
That was the value someone had attempted to move under the false capacity instruction.
The transfer had not been completed.
The brokerage's controls had stopped it for additional verification.
I wanted to feel relieved.
Instead, I thought of how close my future had come to disappearing without my knowledge.
Evelyn explained that the firm had placed additional safeguards on the accounts during its investigation.
It had also preserved the attempted instruction and supporting records.
“Could Ryan do it again?” I asked.
“Not through the same channel without triggering the new controls, and we're taking further steps.”
That afternoon, I received a notice from my insurer.
Ryan had attempted to change the contact information on a policy tied to our household.
The insurer had blocked the request pending verification.
I sent the notice to Evelyn.
The pattern was becoming harder to dismiss as coincidence.
Ryan wasn't only defending himself.
He was searching for doors that remained unlocked.
Meanwhile, Mara's team continued gathering evidence about the New Year's assault.
She told me to prepare for the possibility that formal proceedings could be slow and emotionally difficult.
I asked whether Grant could simply claim I had invented everything.
“He can make statements,” she replied.
“But statements will be compared with medical records, recordings, witness accounts, and the rest of the evidence.”
That night, Simone stayed over when I had a bout of frightening but irregular abdominal tightening.
Dr. Park's on-call team directed me for evaluation.
The symptoms settled, and I returned to the apartment with instructions to follow up and seek urgent care if they recurred.
I was exhausted when my phone displayed a message forwarded through Evelyn.
Ryan's counsel claimed that his client wanted to negotiate quickly.
The proposed terms were astonishing.
Ryan would agree to a separation and surrender any contested claim to furnishings if I withdrew my allegations against Grant and stopped reviewing Summit Harbor.
Evelyn replied that my cooperation with investigators was not a bargaining chip.
I sat at the kitchen table staring at the letter.
He had offered to return things he never owned in exchange for silence about money he had no right to take.
It might have been almost funny if it hadn't been my life.
The next morning, Noah located a wire confirmation from Summit Harbor to a newly formed account.
The transfer was scheduled to settle within three business days unless stopped through appropriate channels.
Its destination was an offshore financial institution with a United States intermediary.
The source involved money whose ownership and authorization were under dispute.
Evelyn and Noah moved to preserve and challenge the transfer through counsel and the institutions.
I had seventy-two hours to wait for systems far larger than me to work.
Then Malik called.
“The fake email account sent a message this morning.”
“To whom?”
“Someone at your company.”
“What did it say?”
May you like
“It offered confidential equity documents in exchange for a payment.”
