Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Ledgers
By the next morning, the fallout of the canceled engagement had sent shockwaves through Providence.
The Whitlock family tried to spin the story, leaking rumors to the tabloids that Daniel Carver had suffered a mental breakdown and was holding a housemaid hostage. But Daniel’s legal team was faster, slapping injunctions on every media outlet before the ink could dry on the morning papers.
Inside the mansion, the atmosphere was tense. Daniel had dismissed the entire household staff, keeping only a few highly vetted security guards.
Hannah was sitting up in bed, eating a warm broth Daniel had prepared himself. Her short hair had been trimmed into a neat, elegant bob by a trusted stylist Daniel had brought to the estate. It made her look fiercely beautiful, highlighting her high cheekbones and expressive eyes.
"Caleb warned me," Hannah said, her voice steady now. "His last phone call... he said someone was moving millions of dollars under the Carver name. He was working as a junior accountant at your firm. He thought you didn't know."
Daniel pulled a leather-bound ledger from his briefcase and laid it on her lap. "He was right. I didn't. Not until it was almost too late."
Hannah opened the ledger, her eyes scanning the columns of numbers. As an archivist and researcher, she immediately saw the pattern Caleb had found. "These are shell companies. Offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands... but the digital signatures used to authorize the transfers are yours, Daniel. Your personal encryption key."
"Exactly," Daniel said, his jaw tightening. "But I never signed those documents. The encryption key was cloned. Someone with direct access to my personal study and my private server did this. They've framed me for laundering cartel money."
"Claire," Hannah whispered, the realization hitting her like a physical blow. "Her family was going broke. That’s why she was so desperate to marry you. She wasn't just marrying for your money—she was using your name to hide their crimes."
"And Caleb found the thread," Daniel added, his eyes filled with a dark, simmering wrath. "When he confronted Claire’s father, Arthur Whitlock, Caleb disappeared."
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Hannah’s eyes filled with tears, but this time, they were tears of anger, not fear. She looked at her pregnant belly, then back at Daniel. "We have to find him, Daniel. If they could do this to me... what have they done to my brother?"
"We will find him," Daniel promised, placing his hand over hers. "But we have to play their game. Arthur and Claire think they’ve won because they have the encryption key. They don't know we have the ledger."
