Chapter 10 - THE MAN INSIDE ESCALANTE CAPITAL
Victor Shaw had worked for the Escalante family for nine years.
He attended Mariana’s wedding.
He sent flowers when her mother’s memorial foundation opened.
He sat beside Rafael during negotiations.
And he had access to nearly every legal structure protecting Mariana’s holdings.
When investigators searched access logs, the pattern became obvious.
Victor had downloaded trust documents after midnight.
Reviewed dormant loan agreements.
Accessed Mariana’s digital signature samples.
And opened records connected to Andrew’s company twenty-seven times in six months.
Mariana felt physically sick.
Andrew had not discovered her financial structure accidentally.
Someone had guided him toward it.
Victor arrived at headquarters at eight the next morning as though nothing had happened.
Security stopped him in the lobby.
Mariana watched from the conference room as he was escorted upstairs.
Victor looked at Rafael.
Then at Mariana.
“I assume this is about Andrew.”
Mariana placed the forged transfer in front of him.
“This is about you.”
Victor did not touch it.
His silence was answer enough.
Rafael’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“How much?”
Victor laughed once.
“You think this was about money?”
“Everything is about money to people like you.”
Victor leaned toward Mariana.
“Your father destroyed my family.”
Rafael’s expression did not change.
Victor’s father had been an accountant for Charles during the old partnership.
When the fraud was exposed, he was prosecuted.
Victor grew up believing Rafael had sacrificed an innocent employee to protect himself.
Years later, Victor deliberately joined Escalante Capital.
He waited.
Earned trust.
Then Andrew appeared.
The son of Charles.
The perfect weapon.
“You helped him forge my signature?”
Mariana asked.
Victor stared at her.
“I gave him access.”
“What he did with it was his decision.”
“That answer won’t save you.”
“I’m not trying to save myself.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“I’m trying to make sure your father finally loses something.”
Rafael stepped forward.
“What did you do?”
Victor looked toward the clock.
“It’s already done.”
Every phone in the room began ringing.
Evelyn answered first.
Her face changed.
“The foreign acquisition fund.”
“What about it?”
Mariana asked.
“The seventeen million is gone.”
“Transferred where?”
Evelyn stared at Victor.
“Into a company that just filed a claim asserting ownership of our controlling shares in Andrew’s business.”
Victor leaned back.
“And at noon, they are filing an injunction.”
Mariana’s stomach tightened.
“If the court grants it?”
Evelyn answered quietly.
“You temporarily lose voting control.”
May you like
Andrew had just found a way back into his own boardroom.
And he had done it using Mariana’s forged signature.
