Chapter 7 - The Hidden Account
The confidential folder led us to a private financial institution in Boston.
The bank manager wouldn't speak to me.
He spoke only to Evelyn.
Then he closed the office door.
“Mr. Hartwell established a secondary account.”
“For Isla?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Approximately four-point-six million dollars.”
I nearly fell backward.
“Then where did the eight million come from?”
The manager looked at Evelyn.
“Different accounts.”
My throat tightened.
“Was this account touched?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Philippa didn't know about it.”
I laughed bitterly.
“She knew everything.”
“Apparently not.”
The manager handed us a sealed packet.
Charles had left instructions that the account would transfer to Isla on her seventh birthday.
Yesterday.
The birthday Philippa destroyed.
The birthday she thought she was controlling.
I looked at the date.
“It activated yesterday?”
“Yes.”
For the first time since the slap, I smiled.
Not because money could fix what happened.
It couldn't.
But because Charles had planned for this.
He had known Philippa might try.
And he had built a door she couldn't open.
Then Evelyn noticed something.
“There is a beneficiary condition.”
“What?”
“Isla receives full control at twenty-five.”
“Who manages it until then?”
“An independent trustee.”
“Who?”
The manager handed us another document.
My name was not there.
Alexander's wasn't either.
Philippa's wasn't.
Instead, it named:
Renata Bennett.
I stared at my sister.
Renata looked stunned.
“Charles barely knew me.”
“He knew enough,” Evelyn said.
Then the bank manager's phone rang.
He listened.
His face changed.
“What?”
He hung up.
“There's a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone attempted to access the account this morning.”
“Who?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Using your husband's credentials.”
