Chapter 3

I signed the date.

“Tell him I’ll wait for his lawsuit.”

After the legal team left, Rex flipped to the last page of the list.

At 10:47 last night, the one-million-dollar emergency medical payment had been confirmed as received by RHL.

At that exact moment, Alva was convulsing in the emergency room.

I took a photo of the page and sent it to Cheryl.

“A dead woman’s account received a million dollars last night. Do you think the police will believe that?”

The chat showed read.

No reply.

Five minutes later, Baron called.

“You threatened Cheryl?”

“She’s helped you handle fund transfers for three years, and instead of thanking her, you’re scaring her with fake documents. Nora, how did you become this vicious?”

I ran my fingers along the edge of the urn.

“Why didn’t you go to the funeral home today?”

“To cooperate with your little act about our child dying?”

His voice turned colder.

“Where did you hide Alva? Bring her back tomorrow morning, and I won’t pursue this.”

“No need to wait until tomorrow.”

I sent him a photo of the death certificate.

The moment the photo went out, a red exclamation mark popped up.

Baron had blocked me.

Then I heard a key slide into the lock outside.

The landlord hurried in.

“Nora, I’m sorry. Hale Group just bought this apartment. They want you out tonight.”

I took Alva’s urn to a hotel.

The front desk told me all my cards had been frozen.

I refused to let Rex pay. Instead, I took off my wedding ring and went to a nearby pawnshop.

The custom ring had cost six hundred thousand dollars.

Now it got me only eight thousand.

Just enough to cover Alva’s grave deposit and half a month in the cheapest room.

When I walked out of the pawnshop, Baron’s car was parked by the curb.

He rolled down the window and stared at the urn in my arms, his brows drawn tight.

“Still not done acting?”

I pulled open the rear door and threw the legal recovery list onto his lap.

“I’ve never seen any of these things. Since you want to sue me, remember to submit the delivery addresses to the court too.”

Baron’s voice was ice-cold.

“There are records for every dollar of the thirty-six million. You’re still going to deny it?”

I took out the police-issued photo of RHL’s owner.

“The transfers were routed to RHL. This is the company’s owner. You know you could verify with a few clicks whether she used to work for Hale Group.”

“The money didn’t go directly into my account. It passed through a company under a former employee first. Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?”

Cheryl sat in the passenger seat, her eyes red.

“Baron, because the transfer amounts were so large, sending them directly into a personal account was complicated. That’s why a specialized finance company had to process them.”

“As for the owner being deceased, that’s commercial fraud. I’m a victim too.”

“But every payment arrived. For Nora to slander me like this is really hurtful.”

I looked at the diamond ring on her hand.

“The million dollars yesterday arrived too?”

Cheryl pulled her hand back.

“The money was transferred. As for why it wasn’t received, I wouldn’t dare speculate.”

Baron’s gaze landed on my face.

“Hand over the child. If you’re unhappy about the living expenses, take it out on me. Don’t use Alva.”

I pushed the urn forward an inch.

“She’s right here. Do you want to hold her?”

Baron’s face instantly darkened.

He grabbed my wrist.

“For money, you’ve used Alva again and again. Now you’ve even made up her death. Are you even fit to be a mother?”

He shoved the urn back.

It wasn’t hard, but I stumbled.

The urn hit the car door with a dull thud.

Cheryl said softly, “Baron, the board is still waiting.”

He looked at me coldly, his eyes full of disgust.

“Come to the company this afternoon. I’ll give you a chance to perform in front of everyone.”

The Hale Group conference room was packed with shareholders and finance staff.

The big screen displayed thirty-six million dollars in expenses.

Baron sat at the head of the table.

“You said you didn’t receive the money. Where’s your proof?”

I handed over my bank statements.

“Three years. Five hundred a month. Eighteen thousand total. My balance never went over twenty thousand.”

Cheryl’s tears fell.

“I don’t know whether those statements are real, but I’ll accept an investigation. Still, there’s something I need to say.”

She took out a stack of receipts.

“Nora has been gambling for a long time and owes massive debts. To protect the Hale family’s reputation, I transferred the money into the designated account at her request.”