Chapter 9 - The Audit Begins
On Wednesday afternoon, I sat in a private conference room with Arthur Vance and Marcus Cole, a sharp forensic accountant hired by Arthur's firm.
Marcus laid out three thick binders filled with financial spreadsheets on the glass table.
"Sarah," Marcus said, flipping to a highlighted section in red. "We’ve completed the preliminary audit of your joint accounts, as well as the subsidiary accounts linked to your digital agency's revenue."
"What did you find?" I asked.
"Over the last three years," Marcus explained, pointing his pen at a series of large wire transfers, "Ryan has systematically transferred over $210,000 out of your shared household fund into a private account registered under Linda Miller Enterprises LLC."
I sat up straight. "Two hundred and ten thousand dollars?"
"Yes," Marcus replied. "He claimed on tax documents that these were 'consulting fees' paid to his mother for interior staging. But when we traced Linda’s account, that money was immediately funneled into paying off her personal credit card debts, luxury resort vacations, and high-stakes casino trips in Atlantic City."
I gasped. "Linda has a gambling problem?"
"A severe one," Arthur Vance chimed in from the head of the table. "She lost her own townhouse three years ago to foreclosure—which is why she suddenly 'moved in' with you and Ryan under the guise of an extended family visit."
The puzzle pieces finally fell into place with terrifying clarity.
Linda hadn't just wanted a dressing room. She was consolidating her hold over the house because she was completely broke. And Ryan had been secretly stealing my hard-earned income to keep his mother's financial ruin hidden from the world!
"Does Ryan know we have these records?" I asked.
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"Not yet," Marcus smiled grimly. "He thinks this is just a simple divorce and custody battle. He has no idea he’s facing civil fraud charges and grand larceny investigation."
"Hold the evidence," I told Arthur, my jaw tight. "We serve it at the court deposition."
