Chapter 6 - The Signature That Never Belonged to Nathan
Rebecca Sloan returned to the Reed mansion the next morning with an independent forensic accountant named Priya Desai.
Nathan had barely slept.
He had spent hours looking at the yellow nursery, trying to decide whether to remove the furniture or leave it untouched until he could bear the sight of it.
Leo had fallen asleep on Eleanor's sofa with an old photograph of Grace beside him.
Vanessa remained in the guest bedroom after agreeing to speak through counsel before making any decisions about leaving the property.
Nathan understood that he could not solve their shattered marriage by ordering everyone around.
He wanted facts, boundaries, and protection for the child.
Priya arrived with that same discipline.
She asked to see the foundation's payment records, vendor files, communication logs, and the applications associated with the proposed grant.
She did not begin by announcing that she had uncovered a crime.
Instead, she built a timeline and marked every statement that could be independently verified.
At the center stood the North Sound Child Wellness Initiative.
Its mission sounded admirable.
It claimed to provide pediatric transportation, emergency lodging, and access to medical services for families who could not afford them.
Nathan remembered Vanessa reading testimonials aloud over dinner.
He had believed the stories because he wanted them to be true.
Priya called the public number listed on the organization's website.
The call went to a recorded greeting.
She searched the charitable registration records, checked the address on the application, and compared the stated trustees with publicly available information.
Several details did not match.
The listed office appeared to be a shared mailing address.
Two board members could not be contacted at the numbers supplied.
A claimed partner clinic denied having the relationship described in the grant application.
"Those discrepancies require explanation," Priya said.
"They don't, by themselves, tell us where the money would go."
Rebecca agreed and requested authenticated records from the relevant parties.
Next, they examined the electronic form bearing Nathan's initials.
The document purported to record his approval of an accelerated review while he was traveling abroad.
Nathan remembered that trip clearly.
He had been in a conference room overseas, dealing with a flood that damaged one of his company's buildings.
He had not opened the foundation dashboard at all.
The access log showed a connection from a device associated with a guest network at his home.
That alone did not identify the person who used the device, but it contradicted the paperwork's description of an in-person authorization.
The audit trail also indicated that a confirmation email had been forwarded to an address Nathan did not recognize.
He felt nauseated.
"Someone used my access."
"Possibly," Priya said.
"We need to establish whether credentials were shared, compromised, or used with permission."
Her caution prevented Nathan from turning suspicion into certainty before the evidence could support it.
They reviewed the payment history and found smaller consulting charges related to the proposed initiative.
Several had been approved through ordinary channels, but supporting documentation was thin.
Priya flagged them for further review and asked the foundation to place additional payments on hold pending validation.
The trustees agreed to suspend consideration of the major grant.
No six-million-dollar payment had been released.
It was a crucial distinction.
Nathan's family had been deceived, but the largest threatened loss had not yet occurred.
Then Rebecca produced another document.
It was a proposed amendment to Nathan's personal estate plan, not yet executed.
The draft anticipated the possibility of a future child and included ordinary provisions for education and support.
Someone had attached an additional page naming Vanessa as administrator of a substantial discretionary family reserve, even if Nathan became unavailable.
Nathan had never seen the extra page.
"Is it legally effective?" he asked.
"No," Rebecca answered.
"It hasn't been properly executed, and the unexplained page would require serious scrutiny even if it had."
He let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.
"Why would she want that?"
"We don't yet know whether it came from Vanessa or Adrian," Rebecca said.
"But it is another reason to stop signing anything until we know."
Priya pointed toward an invoice for a prenatal care coordination service.
The billing address matched a suite rented through a company that also handled correspondence for Adrian's consulting operation.
The amount was comparatively small, but the connection mattered.
Nathan remembered asking Vanessa why a routine scan required a specialist coordinator.
She had told him private medicine was complicated.
He had accepted the answer because doubting it felt disloyal.
Now he wondered how many times he had punished his own instincts for asking ordinary questions.
At lunchtime, Vanessa sent a message requesting a private conversation.
Rebecca advised that Nathan could speak with her if he wished, but should avoid bargaining over evidence or making promises about legal consequences.
He chose to meet her in the sitting room with Eleanor nearby but outside the door.
Vanessa wore a simple gray cardigan.
Without the emerald dress and fabricated belly, she seemed strangely unfamiliar.
"I never wanted to take Leo's inheritance," she said immediately.
Nathan looked at her.
"I didn't accuse you of taking it."
"Adrian said you would think that."
"Then tell me what you did."
She clasped her hands together.
"He said the grant was legitimate."
"Do you believe that now?"
Tears welled in her eyes.
"No."
It was the first unambiguous admission she had offered.
Nathan waited.
"He knew things about my past," she said.
"I thought if I helped him finish the arrangement, he'd leave me alone."
"What arrangement?"
She looked toward the window.
"He wanted the foundation's money directed to accounts he controlled."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"And the baby?"
Her voice broke.
"There never was one."
Hearing it spoken aloud hurt more than seeing the prosthetic leak.
He had been grieving a child who had never existed, and he had no idea what to do with grief like that.
"You let Leo believe you might send him away," he said.
Vanessa began to cry harder.
"I was scared."
"He was ten."
She had no answer.
Nathan stood, unable to remain in the room.
Before he reached the door, Vanessa spoke again.
"There's another document Adrian wants."
Nathan stopped.
"Which one?"
"Your authorization for the hospital wing donation."
He turned slowly.
The hospital donation had nothing to do with the false baby announcement or the proposed foundation grant.
May you like
It had been established years earlier in Grace's memory.
And until that moment, Nathan had believed nobody outside the family knew the details.
