“Understood, Mary,” Simon replied through the speaker. “The fraudulent payment requests have been completely frozen, and the investigators are waiting outside.”
Robin turned to look at me in confusion. “What do you mean by fraudulent?”
Simon continued explaining over the phone line. “Ms. Willis instructed three separate vendors to add false consulting fees that total two hundred forty thousand dollars, and those fees were routed directly to a shell company owned by her brother.”
Tabitha took a quick step backward toward the wall. “That is an absolute lie.”
I reached into my bag and placed a stack of bank records on the marble table. “Your brother’s agency was officially registered exactly eleven days after Robin proposed to you.”
Robin picked up the documents and suddenly seemed to age ten years as he read the numbers.
Tabitha forced tears to spill over her eyelashes.
“Robin, please listen to me,” she sobbed softly. “Your mother completely hates me, and she set this entire trap up to destroy us.”
“No, Tabitha,” he said quietly, looking up from the pages. “She gave you total privacy, and you freely showed her exactly who you are.”
Her fake tears stopped instantly.
“You weak little boy,” she spat, glaring at him with pure hatred. “Without me, you are nothing more than your mother’s obedient little heir.”
I met her angry gaze directly.
“That is your final mistake,” I said softly. “Robin is not my successor because of his bloodline, but because he earned that position through total integrity, and the family trust you planned to access after marriage cannot be touched by any spouse.”
The distant sound of police sirens echoed beyond the front gates.
Tabitha whipped her head toward the grand windows in sudden panic.
I had not called Robin downstairs merely to expose her personal cruelty to our household staff.
I had called him down so he could watch her entire criminal plan collapse right in front of his eyes.
Part 3
Two financial crimes investigators stepped through the front doors alongside Simon and a uniformed police officer. Tabitha backed up until her spine hit the wooden staircase banister, her fingers tightly gripping the rail.
“This is just a minor family misunderstanding,” she claimed nervously, her voice trembling slightly.
