Chapter 3 - Secrets Behind the Ledger
The leather book lay open beneath the bright glow of the chandelier.
Victoria’s hands shook visibly as she turned the heavy cream pages. Ethan stepped forward, his dark suit brushing against the mahogany edge of the table as he leaned over to inspect the entries.
For three months, Sarah’s name appeared on nearly every page. Beside her name were long columns of punitive deductions: Late arrival: fifty dollars. Broken saucer: seventy-five dollars. Unapproved hallway presence: one hundred dollars. Child supervision fee: two hundred dollars.
By the bottom of each column, Sarah’s modest monthly wage had been systematically reduced to almost nothing. She was working sixty-hour weeks within the sprawling estate, yet receiving barely enough money to buy winter shoes for her son.
Ethan’s jaw tightened until the muscle twitched under his skin.
"Child supervision fee?" Ethan murmured, his finger tapping the ink. "Who authorized a residential staff member to be charged for the presence of a dependent?"
Victoria pulled herself upright, attempting to summon the ghost of her administrative authority. "Your late uncle’s bylaws clearly stated that domestic staff are forbidden from housing non-working family members on the estate grounds. I permitted the boy to remain in the carriage house rooms as a gesture of Christian charity, provided the maintenance costs were offset from her wage."
"My uncle died five years ago, Victoria," Ethan said, looking up from the book, his dark eyes freezing her where she stood. "I am the sole executor of the Sterling trust. I wrote the operational charter for this house. And I explicitly instructed the placement agency that Sarah and Toby were to be provided full room, board, and unrestricted access to the estate grounds without deduction."
Sarah’s head snapped up. She stared at Ethan in sheer disbelief. "You... you knew about us before the agency sent me here?"
Ethan did not answer her immediately. He closed the heavy leather ledger with a resounding thud that echoed off the high ceiling like a thunderclap.
He turned his attention back to Victoria.
"Where did the deducted funds go, Victoria?" Ethan asked softly.
Victoria’s skin drained of all color, leaving her face a ghastly, mottled gray. "They... they were deposited into the domestic petty cash reserves, sir. To cover the breakages—"
"The petty cash reserves are audited by my private accountants every Friday," Ethan said, pulling a sleek titanium smartphone from his breast pocket. "An hour ago, before I walked down that corridor, my banking security team flagged three recurring wire transfers initiated from our household domestic operational portal. The destination was an offshore personal savings account registered under the maiden name of Victoria Vance."
The name Vance dropped into the grand foyer like a burning torch.
Sarah gasped, taking an involuntary step backward, her hand flying to her throat.
Toby looked between his mother and the trembling older woman, sensing the monumental shift in power that had just occurred in the silence of the room.
"You didn't think I would check the domestic routing codes, did you?" Ethan continued, stepping closer to Victoria until his shadow completely swallowed her frame. "You thought that because my time was occupied with international maritime logistics, I wouldn't notice five thousand dollars a month leaking out of the household maintenance line."
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"Mr. Ethan... please," Victoria stammered, all her arrogance dissolving into a pitiful, frantic whimper. "I have dedicated my life to this family! Your father trusted me—"
"My father is dead," Ethan cut her off without mercy. "And the family you claim to serve does not include thieves who torment women and starve children under my roof."
