Chapter 25 - The Architectural Ledger
The following afternoon, Julian stood inside a dusty, forgotten storage unit on the outskirts of the city. This was where the remaining liquidation files of Vance & Associates Construction were kept. For hours, he dragged heavy cardboard boxes down from the metal shelves, his hands covered in grime, his white shirt stained with charcoal dust.
He was looking for any record from the years 2002 to 2005—the period highlighted in the anonymous documents Victoria had sent.
Finally, at the bottom of a rusted filing cabinet, he found a leather-bound journal. It wasn't a standard corporate ledger; it was his father’s personal project diary. Julian flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning the handwritten notes until he hit a page titled: Project Abigail – Fremont/Sacramento.
As Julian read the entries, his heart hammered against his ribs. The truth was far different from the malicious narrative Victoria was spinning.
July 12, 2003: Abigail Darcy contacted me today in total secrecy. She discovered that her eldest daughter, Victoria, has been systematically forging her signature on corporate bonds, exposing the Darcy estate to massive federal liabilities. Abigail refuses to go to the police to protect her daughter from prison, but she needs to move assets out of Victoria’s reach immediately. We are setting up a dummy construction contract to legally transfer $1.5 million into a secure escrow account that Victoria cannot access.
Julian gasped. His father hadn't been stealing from Abigail Darcy; he had been helping her hide her money from her own criminal daughter.
He flipped the page to an entry dated six months later:
January 4, 2004: Victoria discovered the escrow transfer. She threatened to ruin my company and harm my family if I didn't release the funds to her Swiss accounts. I refused. Two weeks later, our main warehouse was burned to the ground. The police ruled it arson but found no suspects. My insurance claim was denied due to a technicality in the policy that Victoria’s legal associates drafted. We are ruined, but Abigail’s core estate remains safe for now. Victoria has fled the country.
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Julian slammed the journal shut, his eyes blazing with a mixture of grief and fury. Victoria wasn't just a greedy relative showing up for a legal battle. She was an arsonist, a thief, and the woman responsible for his own father’s financial ruin and early death from stress-induced heart failure.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Ana Brennan immediately. "Ana, I found it. I found the real reason Victoria vanished twenty years ago. And it gives us exactly what we need to destroy her."
