Chương 4
His company account had been accessed again.
This time, the authorization request was not from Megan’s credentials.
It was from Dominic Mason’s own account.
The timestamp was from the previous night.
While he was asleep.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Megan noticed the change in his face.
“What is it?”
He did not answer.
Because for the first time in years, the threat inside his house no longer felt like something left behind by his father.
It felt current.
And whoever was moving pieces around the Mason estate had just used Dominic himself as the signature.
Dominic stared at the screen until the letters blurred together.
His own name sat at the bottom of the authorization request.
His own account had approved access.
His own digital signature appeared beneath a transaction he had never seen.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Megan shifted Jason in her arms.
The small movement reminded Dominic that she was still standing there.
That she had heard enough to know something was wrong.
And that she was now part of a problem he still did not understand.
“Everyone out.”
Richard looked at him.
“Dominic.”
“Now.”
The word was not loud.
It did not need to be.
Richard closed his mouth and stepped back.
Nancy guided the other staff away from the kitchen.
Megan remained.
Dominic noticed.
“You too.”
Her expression hardened slightly.
“I thought we were past accusing me without asking.”
“I’m not accusing you.”
“You just asked everyone else to leave while I’m standing here.”
“Because this involves my company.”
“And apparently my name.”
That stopped him.
Megan looked down at her son.
“I heard enough.”
Dominic studied her face.
He expected anger.
Instead, he saw something closer to disappointment.
That bothered him more.
“Why would someone use your credentials?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think carefully.”
“I am.”
Her voice became quieter.
“I don’t have access to your company.”
“You had access to my office.”
“I cleaned your office.”
“You found the drawer.”
“Because it was unlocked.”
Dominic looked toward the hallway.
The memory of the photograph returned.
The old image.
The drawer.
The timing.
Something connected, but not enough to form an answer.
Megan stepped closer.
“Do you believe I did something?”
The question was simple.
The answer should have been simple.
But it was not.
Dominic had spent years trusting evidence over people.
Evidence did not get emotional.
Evidence did not lie because it was embarrassed.
Evidence did not leave when things became uncomfortable.
But right now, the evidence was pointing at a woman who had spent the previous night sitting on a hallway floor with her sick child because she had nowhere else to go.
“I believe someone wants me to think you did.”
Megan looked surprised.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she had expected something worse.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
“Then what happens now?”
Dominic looked at the phone in his hand.
“I find out who accessed the account.”
“And me?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation answered before he did.
Megan gave a small nod.
“Right.”
She turned away.
“Megan.”
She stopped.
“You are not fired.”
She looked over her shoulder.
“I didn’t ask.”
The words were not cruel.
That made them sharper.
She walked away.
Dominic watched her disappear down the hallway.
Then he looked back at the screen.
The approval timestamp was 2:13 in the morning.
At that exact time, he had been awake.
Not working.
Not on his computer.
Sitting in the dark.
Thinking about the file box.
Thinking about his father.
Thinking about why a housekeeper’s name had appeared in the middle of something that should have died years ago.
That was the part he could not explain.
The person who created the authorization had known exactly when to act.
They knew Dominic would be distracted.
They knew the old records mattered.
They knew enough about the Mason family to use the past against him.
And somehow, they knew Megan’s information.
By noon, Dominic had locked his office.
Something he had not done in years.
The act felt strange.
The house had always been his controlled space.
His refuge.
Now every room felt like it contained a question.
Richard sat across from him in the study.
“I contacted the bank’s fraud department.”
“What did they say?”
“They need a formal investigation request.”
“Of course they do.”
“They also said the authorization appears valid.”
Dominic looked up.
“How?”
“Because it came from your account.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the answer they have.”
Richard rubbed his forehead.
“I know this is frustrating.”
“No.”
Dominic’s voice was flat.
“It’s familiar.”
Richard went quiet.
The word carried more history than either of them wanted to discuss.
After the accident, everyone had told Dominic the same thing.
There were no guarantees.
There were no clear answers.
There were only procedures.
Forms.
Waiting.
People who said they understood while standing far enough away that they never had to feel the consequences.
Richard looked at the documents.
“There is something else.”
Dominic’s attention shifted.
“What?”
“The property transfer.”
“You found something?”
“Not exactly.”
Richard opened another file.
“The company listed as receiving the assets was registered six months ago.”
Dominic frowned.
“By whom?”
Richard hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
“Richard.”
“It was filed through a trust.”
“What trust?”
Richard pushed the document forward.
Dominic read the name.
His fingers went still.
The Mason Family Preservation Trust.
The same trust his father created before his death.
The same trust Dominic believed had been closed.
“That is impossible.”
“I know.”
“Who reopened it?”
“We are trying to find out.”
Dominic leaned back.
For years, he had believed the worst thing about losing his father was losing the man himself.
He was beginning to understand something worse.
Someone had kept pieces of his father’s life alive.
Quietly.
Waiting.
“Megan’s name.”
Richard looked up.
“What about it?”
“Find out how her information appeared.”
Richard nodded.
Then stopped.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“If she is involved—”
“She isn’t.”
The answer came too quickly.
May you like
Richard noticed.
Dominic noticed that he noticed.
