Chapter 3 - The Empty Register
The brass bell above the door chimed as the wind howled through the open doorway.
I ignored Silas and ran directly toward the small back office of my shop.
My wedding dress caught on a wooden chair, ripping the delicate lace, but I did not care.
I threw myself into my desk chair and frantically booted up my old computer.
Silas followed me into the cramped office, leaning silently against the doorframe.
My hands shook violently as I logged into my small business banking portal.
The screen loaded, and the bright red numbers felt like a physical punch to the stomach.
My account balance was not just zero.
It was overdrawn by four hundred thousand dollars.
"This is impossible," I panicked, clicking furiously on the transaction history.
Every single penny I had saved, along with massive lines of credit, had been wired to an account in the Cayman Islands.
The transfers had been authorized using my secure passwords.
"Graham installed spyware on your shop's network two months ago," Silas stated calmly.
I remembered Graham complaining about my slow internet and offering to fix the router for me.
He had been planning to destroy me while bringing me coffee and remembering my mother's birthday.
"His mother," I suddenly realized aloud.
"Evelyn kept looking at the clock during the ceremony because she knew he was upstairs."
Silas nodded, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
"Evelyn Vale is a known confidence trickster, and she raised a master of the craft."
I buried my face in my hands, trying to suppress the sob tearing at my throat.
I was thirty-seven, abandoned at the altar, stripped of my mother's legacy, and utterly bankrupt.
"I have to call the police," I said, reaching blindly for the landline on my desk.
Before my fingers could touch the receiver, the loud wail of police sirens echoed down the street.
The flashing red and blue lights illuminated the frosted glass of my shop windows.
"They are already here," I said, feeling a sudden surge of relief.
I stood up and smoothed out the ruined skirt of my wedding dress.
"I can show them the forged deed and the bank transfers."
Silas did not move from the doorway, and his expression grew incredibly dark.
"They are not here to help you, June."
Heavy fists began pounding violently on the front door of the flower shop.
"Boston Police Department," a gruff voice shouted from the street.
May you like
Silas looked me dead in the eyes.
"They are here to arrest you for defrauding the Sterling family out of two million dollars."
