Chapter 12 - THE DELETED PLAN
The old tablet contained fragments.
Enough fragments to reconstruct intent.
Ashley had researched the house.
The value.
The mortgage balance.
Sarah’s ownership interest.
Even the approximate size of her father’s trust.
Daniel had supplied some of that information.
At first casually.
Then deliberately.
Ashley wrote:
YOUR EQUITY IS JUST SITTING THERE.
Daniel replied:
SARAH WOULD NEVER LEVERAGE THE HOUSE FOR A STARTUP.
Ashley:
THAT’S WHY YOU NEED TO CONTROL THE APPLICATION.
Weeks later:
Ashley: IF I’M LIVING THERE, I CAN HELP KEEP HER FROM DIGGING INTO THE NUMBERS.
Daniel: SHE’LL HATE THAT.
Ashley: SHE’LL BE HAVING A BABY. SHE’LL HAVE OTHER THINGS TO THINK ABOUT.
Sarah had to stop reading.
Megan took the tablet.
Elena photographed the screen and arranged formal preservation.
Carol sat across the room crying quietly.
“I raised him better.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Don’t make this about you.”
Carol nodded.
For once, she did not argue.
Daniel was confronted with the messages.
He admitted giving Ashley information.
He denied understanding how far she intended to go.
Then Elena showed him another thread.
Ashley had written to an unknown number:
DANIEL THINKS HE’S BUYING INTO THE COMPANY. ONCE THE SECOND DRAW CLEARS, I DON’T NEED HIM.
Daniel read it three times.
“Who is that?”
Elena answered.
“Evan Cole.”
Ashley’s former fiancé.
Evan had re-established contact with Ashley months earlier—not romantically, but because she owed him money from their settlement.
Ashley had promised repayment after “one final project.”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“She was using me to pay him?”
“Among other things,” Elena said.
Daniel finally agreed to cooperate fully.
He gave access to his business records.
He signed a sworn statement admitting he used Sarah’s laptop without permission.
He admitted he knowingly submitted financial information Sarah had not approved.
It was the first completely honest thing he had done in months.
Sarah felt no relief.
Only clarity.
That evening, the bank called Elena.
They had reviewed the second draw.
The $120,000 had already been released.
Daniel stared at the speakerphone.
“Where did it go?”
The bank representative answered.
“Most of it remains traceable.”
“Most?”
A pause.
“$90,000 was transferred this morning.”
May you like
“To where?”
“An account controlled by Ashley Monroe.”
