All it did was reveal her arrogance. And arrogant people always leave a paper trail.

I brewed a fresh pot of coffee, locked my home office door, and booted up my encrypted terminal. I bypassed the public records and went straight into the Sterling Family Philanthropic Trust—an organization overseen by Richard, but managed day to day by Vanessa.

For years I’d watched Vanessa drape herself in new couture, casually showcasing diamond tennis bracelets and emerald pendants that vastly exceeded Richard’s liquid income.

The family’s wealth was old, but it was tied up in real estate and failing investments. So where was the endless stream of luxury coming from?

My fingers flew across the keyboard, tracing vendor payments, donor matching records, “administrative expenses.”

It took four hours to find the first anomaly. A consulting firm registered in Delaware—Apex Synergies LLC—had been collecting monthly retainer fees from the charity to the tune of fifteen thousand dollars.