Chapter 164
Chapter 164
The two parties on the call were Hawk and Amara. The recording was from three months ago, before Amara had officially returned to the country.
Hawk's voice came through the headphones, edged with impatience: "How much longer on your end? I can't wait anymore. The buyer's breathing down my neck."
Amara's voice was steadier, though a thread of anxiety bled through. "I'm working on the paperwork. Four months at the earliest. Tell the buyer to hold on."
"They can't hold on."
Hawk's tone turned cold.
"Let me make something clear. If this deal falls through, I'm not the only one who loses. Half the money you and your brother siphoned out of the Visconti Group moved through my channels. If I go down, you're coming with me."
Amara was silent for several seconds. Then: "I understand. I'll speed things up."
The call ended there.
Cornelius removed his headphones and leaned back, eyes closed, turning it all over in his mind.
The recording couldn't be submitted directly as evidence to any court—but it confirmed two things.
Hawk and Amara had a long-standing financial relationship. And Hawk was preparing a major deal, with Amara as his key funding source.
He set the headphones down and met Arabella's searching gaze.
---
Ulysses sat in his car, the window rolled halfway down. The night breeze drifted in, carrying the first crisp edge of autumn.
He held a burner phone. The screen displayed a message that had just come in.
It was from his contact planted inside the finance department—a single line of text: [Efrain signed another payment authorization today. Five million dollars. Same recipient as before.]
Ulysses stared at the message for a long time, then slipped the phone into his pocket and started the engine.
His inside man was a veteran employee in the finance department—someone who'd been with the Visconti Group for over a decade but had never been in Efrain's good graces.
Ulysses had approached him privately. He hadn't revealed much, only that he needed to understand certain financial irregularities and wanted the man to flag any unusual payments Efrain authorized.
The man hesitated for two days before agreeing.
Since then, Ulysses received a message every day documenting each payment authorization Efrain signed.
Compiled together, these messages had formed a clear map of outgoing funds.
Every irregular payment led to the same shell company. And the person who actually controlled that company was Hawk.
Ulysses pocketed the phone, started the car, and pulled out of the parking garage.
He had more than enough evidence in hand now. But he couldn't move yet.
He needed to wait for the right moment—wait for Hawk and Amara to overreach, for every thread to converge on a single point. Then strike once, and make it fatal.
---
Inside the CEO's office at the Douglas Group.
Arabella sat at her desk, several documents spread before her.
Sophie's background report on Terence. Cornelius's summary of the Hawk-Amara call transcript. And Ulysses's compiled record of Efrain's irregular fund transfers.
She lined them up side by side, marking key information with different colored highlighters, searching for a common pattern.
Terence's property transfers for Hawk clustered around midyear.
Efrain's fund transfers occurred every six months. The deal mentioned in the Hawk-Amara call had a deadline of the end of the month.
Arabella set down her highlighter and leaned back, closing her eyes, threading every piece together in her mind.
Hawk had a major deal to close before month's end. He needed a large sum of capital. The money Amara funneled out of the Visconti Group through Efrain was his primary source.
Terence, as Hawk's legal counsel, was most likely providing the legal framework for the transaction.
She opened her eyes, picked up her phone, and sent Ulysses a message: [Hawk has something big planned before the end of the month. We need to cut off every route before he makes his move.]
---
Dusk was settling in. Dahlia stood at the front gate of the Visconti Villa, drew a deep breath, and pushed the door open.
She'd been staying at Sophie's for days.
During that time, she'd done a lot of thinking. About Amara. About Ulysses. About herself.
She knew she couldn't keep drifting through life the way she had been. She had to make a choice.
She wasn't exactly a saint—but she wasn't evil either. She'd never cross the line into something truly unconscionable.
Her mother had done wrong. The only thing Dahlia could do was try, in her own way, to pull her back.
And at last, she saw one thing clearly.
Amara had never truly cared about her. In Amara's eyes, she was just a useful pawn—coddled when needed, discarded when not.
She was done being a pawn.
When she walked into the living room, Amara was on the couch watching TV. She set down the remote at the sight of Dahlia, displeasure crossing her face.
"Where have you been? Gone for days without a word. Getting a little too big for your britches, aren't you?"
Dahlia lowered her eyes. The rebuke stiffened her expression for a moment, but she buried the bitterness, changed into her slippers, and sat down beside Amara. She composed herself, letting a hint of a pout soften her voice.
"Mom, I've thought it through. I was too impulsive that day. I shouldn't have fought with you."
Amara studied her, a flicker of suspicion in her gaze—but it was quickly smoothed over by a smile.
"Good. There's no grudge between a mother and daughter that lasts overnight. I'm glad you came to your senses."
Dahlia leaned against her shoulder, her voice small and sweet. "Mom, I won't cause trouble anymore."
Amara reached over and patted her head, her tone gentle. "That's my girl."
But her eyes, at an angle Dahlia couldn't see, turned faintly cold.
Too sudden.
Dahlia had stormed out a week ago. Now she was back with a complete one-eighty in attitude. That wasn't like her.
A quiet alarm stirred in Amara's gut, but she kept it hidden.
"All right, sit here for a bit. There's food in the kitchen. I'm going to freshen up."
She patted Dahlia's hand, stood, and headed toward the bathroom.
Dahlia nodded obediently, watching her go. A faint gleam flickered in her eyes.
The moment the bathroom door closed, she slipped into Amara's bedroom.
She opened the desk drawer and rifled through it quickly, finding a document.
A property lease agreement. The lessor was a company she'd never heard of. The tenant's signature was Amara's.
Dahlia pulled out her phone and photographed every page, then returned the document exactly as she'd found it, closed the drawer, and crept out of the room.