Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Chapter 1

Lily

Taking a deep breath, I opened the doors to the floor where my office is located. It was around noon, so hopefully most people on the floor would be out having lunch or enjoying the sunshine outside for a short break. And hopefully this would mean I get to sneak in without anyone noticing. Not that I hated my colleagues, or that I was expecting comments for showing up around noon. No, simply because I was already exhausted.

This morning I had sat with the solicitor for the settling of my mom’s estate. I was the sole beneficiary so it should have been straightforward. The house, bank accounts, those I expected. Maybe there would be a savings or investment account I didn’t know about. But instead, I left there feeling like I hadn’t known my mom at all! Turns out she owned a plot of land in Italy and a house in Sweden. And to top it all off, she had created a trust fund for me. A million-dollar trust fund. I’m trying to let it sink it, but none of it made sense to me. After the weeks I’ve had, I’m just exhausted.

“Hi Lily!”, I heard. So far for sneaking into the office. “Hi Noah, can I help you?”, I answered. Noah was my boss’ boss, and the son of the CEO. And let’s not forget hot. He was nice and polite, and good at his job. I liked him. A lot.

“I’m going down to get some lunch. Want me to bring you something?”, he asked. I shook my head in response and went on my way to my office. When I finally reached it, I plopped down in my desk chair and pulled my laptop out of my bag to start working.

“Hi Lily, you sure you are okay to work today?”, I heard Will ask from across the hallway. I moved a bit backwards so I could see him. “Yeah, I really need some distraction. I have a few nice big spreadsheets waiting for me to dive into.”, I said, making Will laugh at my comment. “You nerd!”

Will was my hallway neighbor and colleague. Both of us were leading a team of bright people who were analyzing transactions with one goal in mind: stopping criminal activity. I’m by no means brave, but I do want to put in my two cents for a better world. So safely tucked away behind spreadsheets we try to find suspicious behavior like money laundering, embezzlement, and tax evasion. We both gladly put our heads in the sand to think we even made an impact, and it sounds sexier than it actually is. But you can’t blame me for being a small girl with big ideals! So, every day we were fighting crime with a database full of accounts and information.

“Hi Lily.”, my manager said as she popped her head around the doorpost. “Are you sure this is the place you want to be today?” Did I mention I had the best possible manager? Okay, truth be told I haven’t had much experience with managers yet, but still! “I’m okay, Zara. Just want to have a bit of distraction now. This morning was exhausting and confusing.” Zara entered the room. “I can imagine, Lily. I’m sure it is a tough time.” I just nodded. “Let me know if you need a break, or if I can help in any way, okay?”, Zara said as she left my office.

Truth is that now some time has passed, I’m okay. Of course, I still have my moments, but I know time will help me heal. “Good. Time to do something.”, I mumbled to myself and started working.

“Lily, is that your phone?”, Will shouted from across the hallway. “Huh, what?” I had been so focused on the numbers on my screen that I didn’t even hear my phone ringing.

“Hi Norah, what’s up?”, I answered while I got up to close the door to my office. “How are you Lils? Are you finding the distraction you wanted?” I heard her smile on the phone. Norah had known me for quite some years already, and she was freakishly good in getting in my head at times. That, and being obsessive over my sex life. I had met both Norah and Emma during my university years. We had been in the same classes together but got really close when working together at a restaurant. So, we studied together, worked together and partied together. These girls knew everything about me, and they would never be allowed to share any of it. Thank God, I also had some intel on them.

“Yeah, I needed that. I didn’t even notice my phone ringing.”, I chuckled. “What are your plans for tonight? Do you want me or Emma to come over?”, Norah asked. “No need, I’m just planning to put a pizza in the oven and go over some documents that the solicitor sent over. Besides that, I thought Adam was going to be home tonight?” Adam was Norah’s long-term boyfriend who was working way too much and flew across the continent for his job. I knew that time together was limited for them. “Whatever. Just remember I offered.”, Norah laughed. “Yeah, yeah. We are still meeting later this week, right?” “Sure are!”, she replied and continued more subdued, “Text us tonight, okay? We care about you, Lils.” “I will and thank you. Now go enjoy your time with Adam! Don’t forget to put on that new lingerie you bought the other day!” I heard the loudest laugh coming from the other side of the line. “Be safe, love. And for your information, Adam prefers me naked.” With that Norah hung up on me.

After coming home, I just leaned against the inside of the door for a bit. It had been a long day and I needed a minute to gather my energy. There were so many thoughts circling in my mind that I’ve been trying to get structured and answered.

Because I had been expecting it, I had already thought about what I wanted to do to mom’s house. I have been living in my flat for several years already, and I liked it. It wasn’t big, but it was mine. It also was comfortable and convenient. It was in the middle of the city, and close to work, whereas my mom’s house was in the countryside. So, the rational part of me already wanted to sell the house. The emotional me wasn’t there yet. After this morning, so many more questions had been added that sucked up my energy.

After eating, I took out my laptop and curled up on the couch again. No better time than now to go through the documents the solicitor sent over. I just wanted to dive into all the accounts a little deeper. This was my comfort zone after all, so I was hoping for answers.

The first account I checked was filled with grocery shopping, clothes, and the like. The second account was more difficult to figure out though, but something was off. I noticed myself treating this as a work case and I got excited as I always do when I’m onto something! “Huh? This can’t be right!”, I muttered to myself. Tracing through some of the transactions I found a complex web of exotic locations. My mom had been receiving and sending money all over the world! So many questions went through my head: what? Why? When? The woman never had a speeding ticket in her life, she went to church every Sunday and donated to every charity that existed. How on earth had she even known how to do all this?

What signs had I missed? Why hadn’t she shared any of this with me? Did I not visit her enough? Finding this made me feel like I was the worst, most inattentive daughter on the planet. I was determined to figure it out and to restore her reputation, because this had to be a misunderstanding, right? I just needed to get my head straight to think of where to start, so when my eyes started to fall shut, and I couldn’t stop yawning I just shut my laptop to go to bed. Tomorrow is another day, but these people would pay for getting my innocent mom into their dirty business, or my name is not Lily Brown!

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter