Chapter 1 - The Chair
Adrian pulled the gold chair away before Claire could stand.
She reached for the banquet table, missed it and landed on the marble floor as sixteen wealthy guests gasped beneath the chandelier.
“You embarrassed me in front of everyone!”
He pointed down at her as though she were an employee who had spilled wine rather than the woman he planned to marry.
Claire supported herself with one hand.
Her cheek was faintly red, but her voice remained steady.
“They deserve to know what you did.”
The double doors opened.
Mason entered in a charcoal blazer, saw Claire on the floor and walked straight down the center aisle.
Adrian raised one hand.
“This is a private family matter.”
Mason redirected him away from Claire with one controlled movement and pressed him safely against the banquet table. Plates and glasses rattled.
Then Mason pulled Adrian upright by both lapels.
“You will never humiliate her again.”
Adrian’s confidence vanished.
“You don’t understand.”
Claire looked up from the floor.
“He knows about the account.”
Mason’s anger changed into suspicion.
Adrian looked toward the exit.
A deep mechanical lock sounded through the ballroom.
The guests turned toward the closed doors.
Mason released Adrian but remained between him and Claire.
“What account?” asked one of the donors.
Claire slowly rose with the assistance of a female server—not Adrian.
“The Bellweather Reserve.”
Adrian’s face went pale.
The account supposedly contained emergency money for hotel workers, retired employees and families displaced after hurricanes.
Official records showed a balance of eleven million dollars.
Claire had found another statement that morning.
May you like
The real balance had once exceeded one hundred and twenty million.
And Adrian had transferred nearly all of it before the gala.
