Chapter 6 - The Three Million Dollars
Serena stopped answering Derek’s calls.
Her lawyer answered instead.
“All communication regarding your marriage should now come through counsel.”
Derek stared at the phone.
“Is Serena filing for divorce?”
“She is evaluating her options.”
“She tried to kill my son.”
“That allegation has not been proven.”
“She took three million dollars from Summit Crest.”
Silence.
Then the lawyer said, “I have no idea what you are referring to.”
Derek ended the call.
Benjamin opened a divorce strategy file that afternoon.
Colorado was an equitable-distribution state.
Hale Mountain shares Derek owned before marriage were largely separate property, though increases and marital contributions could create disputed value.
Serena was not going to walk away owning the company.
But she could still create years of litigation.
More importantly, criminal and civil investigations had begun converging around White Pine.
Margaret Sloan petitioned the probate court for emergency authority to inspect any attempted transaction affecting Frostline.
She found one.
A purchase option.
Signed six months earlier.
Seller: Caleb Hale Trust.
Buyer: Summit Crest Capital.
Purchase price: $46 million.
The signature beneath “Trustee” read Margaret Sloan.
Margaret stared at the document.
“I never signed this.”
Derek’s face went hard.
“Forgery.”
“Yes.”
The notary acknowledgment came from a Denver mobile notary.
The notary’s log showed Serena Hale had arranged the appointment.
The document had never completed formal recording, likely because Summit Crest’s title lawyers discovered inconsistencies.
But somebody had tried.
Derek called Grant.
This time he answered.
“You forged the trust option.”
Grant laughed.
“Be very careful.”
“Margaret never signed it.”
“That doesn’t mean I forged anything.”
“Serena arranged the notary.”
“Talk to your wife.”
“She’s sleeping with you.”
Silence.
There.
Derek closed his eyes.
Not denial.
Not shock.
Silence.
He whispered, “How long?”
Grant’s voice changed.
“This is not a productive conversation.”
“How long?”
“You lost Emily because you married your company.”
Derek’s grip tightened.
“Do not say her name.”
“Serena understood what it was like living beside someone who only noticed spreadsheets and emergencies.”
Derek almost exploded.
Then he stopped.
Grant was baiting him.
“You’re right about one thing.”
Grant hesitated.
“I failed my family in ways I’m still understanding.”
Grant said nothing.
“But your affair is yours.”
Derek disconnected.
That distinction mattered.
He would not make Serena’s betrayal proof that Derek’s failures caused her choices.
Later that day, Olivia met Derek at a coffee shop near the sheriff’s office.
She was a graduate student in environmental law, home in Colorado for winter break.
“I should tell you something,” she said.
“What?”
“I didn’t start recording because of Caleb.”
Derek frowned.
“I was filming Serena.”
“Why?”
Olivia opened her phone.
“My father owns a small lodge on the south side of Frostline.”
Derek recognized Parker Lodge.
A family-run property dwarfed by Hale Mountain.
“Summit Crest has been pressuring landowners for access,” Olivia said.
“My dad refused.”
“What does that have to do with Serena?”
“She came to the lodge two weeks ago.”
Derek leaned forward.
“She offered him money?”
“She threatened him.”
Olivia played an audio recording.
Serena’s voice.
“Once Frostline changes hands, the access issue disappears. Your father can accept the offer now or watch guests drive past his lodge forever.”
Another voice—Olivia’s father.
“You don’t own Frostline.”
Serena laughed.
“Not yet.”
Derek’s blood chilled.
Olivia continued.
“I saw her on the slope yesterday and started recording because I thought she might meet someone.”
“Grant?”
“I didn’t know who.”
“Did she?”
“No. Then she put Caleb in the tube.”
Derek closed his eyes.
Olivia lowered her voice.
“I almost stopped recording because it felt creepy.”
“You saved my son.”
“No. Mason saved him.”
She looked directly at Derek.
“I just made it harder to lie afterward.”
That sentence stayed with him.
That evening Mason called.
“Caleb asked for me.”
Derek felt a flash of jealousy.
He hated himself for it.
“He can see you.”
“You sure?”
“No.”
Mason laughed.
Derek surprised himself by laughing too.
At the chalet, Caleb showed Mason a drawing of Frostline.
Three stick figures stood beside a cabin.
One was Caleb.
One was Mason.
One was a woman with wings.
Emily.
Derek was not in the picture.
He looked away before Caleb saw.
Mason noticed.
Later, in the hallway, Mason said quietly, “Don’t make his grief about you.”
Derek’s eyes hardened.
Then softened.
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
Derek almost told him to leave.
Instead he asked, “Why did Emily trust you?”
Mason’s expression changed.
“She trusted people who listened.”
Derek absorbed that.
His phone rang.
Deputy Ortiz.
“We traced Serena’s call with Grant from the slope.”
Derek’s heartbeat accelerated.
“What did they say?”
“We don’t have content.”
“Then what?”
“Grant called Serena six times that morning.”
Ortiz paused.
“And fourteen minutes after Caleb’s accident, Serena called White Pine Advisory’s bank.”
“Why?”
“She tried to transfer the remaining balance.”
“How much?”
May you like
Ortiz answered.
“Two million, four hundred thousand dollars.”
