Chapter 23 - The Forensic Audit
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Leaving the hospital, I immediately called David Miller and our head forensic accountant, a sharp woman named Elena Rostova. We met in a secure, soundproof conference room at Sterling Tower.
"We need to audit Grace's trust account line by line," I instructed, placing the tablet on the glass table. "My father embedded an encrypted sub-account inside her inheritance structure."
Elena worked swiftly, her fingers flying across her laptop keyboard. Within forty-five minutes, she bypassed three layers of legacy firewalls, uncovering a hidden sub-trust named Lumina Holdings.
"Here it is," Elena announced, turning her screen toward us. "Lumina Holdings was created four months ago—right around the time you were six months pregnant."
The screen displayed a balance that made David Miller gasp out loud: $92,450,000.00.
"Ninety-two million dollars," David breathed. "It’s the entire debt owed to The Sovereign, plus accrued interest."
"Richard used his unborn grandchild’s trust as a dark vault," I said, cold anger burning in my chest. "He knew that if he went to prison, no one would suspect an account set up for an infant."
"What do we do with it, Sarah?" David asked, looking at me with deep concern. "If this money belongs to an international criminal syndicate, keeping it in the trust makes you and Grace targets."
"We don't keep a single penny of it," I declared instantly. "Transfer the entire sum into an escrow account under federal supervision, and notify the Department of Justice's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network immediately."
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"If you hand that money over to the feds, Sarah," Elena warned gently, "The Sovereign won't get paid. And they won't be happy."
"They can take it up with the federal government," I replied coldly. "I am cleaning my family's house once and for all."
