Chapter 4: The Woman He Tried to Erase
At six thirty the next morning, I stood before a mirror in Theodora's guest room and struggled to button a white blouse.
My hands were shaking.
The bruising around my cheek had darkened overnight, and my lip looked worse beneath the bathroom lights. I had slept for less than two hours.
Outside the window, the rain had stopped, leaving the gardens slick and silver beneath the dawn.
Ruth had laid three outfits across the bed. I chose a charcoal suit and low black heels.
I had worn the suit to the last investor dinner Rhodes had invited me to attend.
He had spent that evening telling a room full of men how fortunate he was to have a wife who never questioned his decisions.
I had smiled through dessert while a waiter refilled his wineglass.
Today, I intended to ask a few questions.
When I entered the dining room, Claire was already there.
She rushed toward me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
“Oh, Evie.””
I pressed my face into her hair.
“I thought you'd be asleep.””
“I drove through the night.””
“You didn't have to.””
“Yes, I did.””
She pulled back and studied my face.
“Did he do this?””
I couldn't answer.
Her expression hardened.
“I'm going to ruin that man.””
Despite everything, I laughed.
“Get in line.””
She looked at the suit.
“Where are you going?””
“To the Lascelles board meeting.””
“Are you insane?””
“Possibly.””
“Evie.””
“I need to be there. He's using my father's trust to support a transaction that may cost hundreds of people their investments. And he's going to tell everyone that I stole from him.””
Claire pressed her lips together.
“Then let's make sure he regrets inviting attention to himself.””
Across the table, Theodora set down her coffee cup.
“Good. I was hoping someone in this family would have a sense of humor before nine.””
Claire blinked.
“You consider her family?””
Theodora turned toward her.
“Your father was my friend. Your sister is under my protection. Family is sometimes a matter of blood, and sometimes a matter of what people are willing to do when blood isn't enough.””
Claire looked at me.
I gave her a small nod.
She pulled out a chair and sat.
“Then tell us what we're doing.””
Theodora explained the plan.
Graham would deliver the formal notice to the board. Naomi would provide the original trust documents and the evidence I had preserved. Theodora would call an emergency meeting to suspend the acquisition vote.
I would attend as the named beneficiary of the Hale Family Trust.
“We do not accuse anyone of crimes that we cannot support with evidence,” Graham said as he joined us.
“We present the documents, request an independent audit, and seek an order preventing any transfer until the ownership dispute is resolved.””
“And if Rhodes denies everything?”” I asked.
“Then we ask questions he cannot answer.””
Theodora smiled.
“Your father was particularly good at that.””
At eight fifteen, we left for Lascelles Holdings headquarters.
The building rose above the financial district, a wall of glass and pale stone. Employees passed through the revolving doors carrying coffee cups and laptops. A man in a navy suit was speaking urgently into a phone beside the security desk.
When Theodora entered, the guards straightened.
“Good morning, Mrs. Lascelles.””
“Good morning, Daniel.””
The receptionist greeted her by name and summoned the executive elevator.
I walked beside Theodora, feeling the eyes of everyone in the lobby move toward us.
Someone recognized me.
A woman near the elevators whispered my husband's name.
Another person lifted a phone.
By the time the doors closed, I knew Rhodes's statement had already begun circulating.
My phone—borrowed from Claire—vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
*You can still come home, Evelyn. Tell them you were confused. I'll make sure this goes away.*
A second message arrived before I could respond.
*Don't destroy five years of marriage for a woman who won't even see your face.*
I showed Theodora the screen.
She didn't need to ask who had sent it.
“Would you like to reply?”” she said.
I considered it.
Then I typed six words.
*I am no longer coming home.*
I blocked the number.
The elevator stopped on the thirty-second floor.
Beyond the glass doors, executives moved between offices. Two men stood outside a conference room, speaking in hushed voices.
One of them turned.
Rhodes.
He wore a dark blue suit and a silver tie. His hair was perfectly arranged. He carried a leather folder beneath one arm, and he looked every inch the polished businessman people had applauded at our wedding.
When he saw me, his smile vanished.
Then it returned.
“Evelyn.””
He approached with his arms slightly open, as if greeting a relative at an airport.
“You had us worried.””
I stepped back.
“Don't touch me.””
His hands froze.
The woman beside him—Sloane—gave a tiny, disapproving laugh.
“Honestly, Evelyn. You look exhausted. Perhaps you should be at home resting.””
I turned toward her.
“Perhaps you should stop forging signatures.””
Her face changed.
Rhodes glanced toward the corridor.
“Can we speak privately?””
“No.””
“Evelyn, I'm trying to protect you.””
“From what? The documents you forged? The money you stole? Or the public statement you prepared before dawn?””
Several executives stopped talking.
Rhodes lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
“Then explain it to me.””
His jaw tightened.
“You've been manipulated by Theodora. She's using you to get to me.””
Theodora stood beside me, her cane resting against her right hand.
“How imaginative,” she said.
“And here I thought you were going to tell us you had never met a company called Northstar Meridian.””
Rhodes's face went pale.
Sloane quickly stepped forward.
“This isn't the place.””
“Indeed,” Theodora said.
“The conference room is.””
She turned to Graham.
“Have the directors assembled?””
“Everyone who was in the building has been notified. Three are joining by video.””
“Then let's begin.””
Rhodes blocked the entrance.
“Before we go in, I want it understood that my wife is not authorized to access confidential company information.””
Graham opened his briefcase.
“Mrs. Varney is the beneficiary of a trust that holds shares in Lascelles Holdings. She has a legal interest in the proposed transaction and the disputed funds.””
“That trust has nothing to do with this acquisition.””
“Then you should have no objection to an independent audit,” Graham replied.
Rhodes glanced at the folder under Graham's arm.
For the first time, his smile looked forced.
“Fine. Let's get this over with.””
The conference room was long and bright, with a polished walnut table and a wall of windows overlooking the city.
Seven directors were already seated. A large screen displayed three remote participants. At the far end sat a man named Victor Shaw, the board's chairman, who looked deeply unhappy about the meeting.
Theodora took her seat.
I sat beside Graham.
Rhodes chose the chair opposite me. Sloane sat behind him with a laptop open.
“Let's proceed,” Victor said.
“The acquisition is scheduled for approval at nine. We have been told there is a legal objection.””
“There is,” Graham said.
He distributed the trust documents.
“This transaction relies, in part, on shares allegedly transferred by Evelyn Varney under an authorization dated August twenty-eighth. Mrs. Varney disputes the signature, and preliminary examination indicates that the notarization may be fraudulent.””
Rhodes folded his hands.
“My wife has been under considerable stress. She has misunderstood routine paperwork.””
“Then you won't object to delaying the vote until the signature can be independently verified,” Graham said.
“I will object. The transaction is legitimate, and delaying it would damage our relationships with investors.””
“Which investors?””
“One of several institutional partners.””
“Please name them.””
Rhodes hesitated.
Theodora tilted her head.
“Mr. Varney, you have spent three years presenting yourself as a responsible developer. You surely know the names of the institutions backing your deal.””
“Of course I do.””
“Then tell us.””
Rhodes named two banks and an investment fund.
Graham checked a sheet of paper.
“The first bank has denied approving the loan. The second has stated that it issued no commitment. The investment fund is registered to Northstar Meridian.””
One of the directors removed his glasses.
“That's not possible.””
Graham placed another document on the table.
“Northstar Meridian has no registered employees, no operating properties, and no verifiable revenue. Yet the account received eighteen million dollars from the Hale Family Trust.””
Victor looked toward Rhodes.
“Can you explain that?””
Rhodes rose.
“This is an ambush.””
“No,” I said.
The room became quiet.
I stood and placed both hands on the table.
“This is what happens when someone assumes the woman he's been lying to is too frightened to ask questions.””
Rhodes stared at me.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“I have copies of the loan agreements you hid in your safe. I have the transfer records. I have emails from your assistant instructing a notary to replace my original authorization.””
Sloane's face drained of color.
Rhodes turned toward her.
“Is that true?””
For one brief second, she looked frightened.
Then she lifted her chin.
“No. She's twisting everything.””
Graham slid a printed email across the table.
“Would you care to explain this message?””
Sloane didn't touch it.
Victor read over Graham's shoulder.
“Replace the original before Friday,” he murmured.
“What original?””
Rhodes's voice cracked.
“This material was obtained illegally.””
“That's a separate question,” Graham said.
“It does not change the need to investigate the transactions.””
One of the remote directors leaned toward his camera.
“I move to suspend the acquisition pending an independent forensic audit.””
“Seconded,” another director said.
Victor looked toward Theodora.
“Mrs. Lascelles?””
“Agreed.””
The vote was unanimous.
Rhodes slammed his palm against the table.
“You cannot do this to me!””
The sound echoed across the room.
One director flinched. Another stared at him with undisguised disgust.
Theodora remained perfectly still.
“We haven't done anything to you, Mr. Varney. We have simply stopped allowing you to do whatever you please.””
Security appeared at the doorway.
Rhodes looked at me.
“You think you've won?””
I could see the old performance returning: the quiet voice, the wounded expression, the suggestion that everyone else was unreasonable.
He leaned toward me.
“Do you know what happens when people start asking questions about your father's trust? They'll discover how the money disappeared. They'll discover who signed the original agreements. And when that happens, they'll come for you.””
I held his gaze.
“Then I'll show them everything.””
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then he smiled.
It was the same smile he had given me beside the road.
“You really should have stayed quiet.””
He walked out with Sloane close behind him.
The room remained silent until the conference door shut.
Only then did I realize my hands were trembling.
Theodora placed her hand over mine.
“You were very brave.””
“I was terrified.””
“Courage and terror have always been close relatives.””
Graham gathered the documents.
“We have suspended the vote, but that doesn't settle the ownership dispute. We need to file for an injunction immediately.””
“Do it,” I said.
He nodded and left the room.
Theodora stayed seated.
I turned toward her.
“Rhodes knows something about the original agreements. What was he talking about when he said people would come for me?””
She was quiet for a long moment.
Then she said, “Evelyn, there is a reason your father placed those shares in your trust instead of selling them outright.””
“What reason?””
“Because the shares weren't merely an investment. They were connected to an agreement he made with me more than thirty years ago.””
She took a key from her pocket and placed it in my palm.
It was old, brass, and heavy.
“Your father asked me to keep this until the day you needed to know the truth.””
“What does it open?””
“The safe in my private archive.””
May you like
She rose.
“And what is inside may explain why Rhodes is willing to risk prison rather than let you examine the original agreement.””
