Two miles away, inside the penthouse suite of the Grand Plaza Hotel, Alana paced back and forth across the plush carpet, her phone pressed tightly to her ear.
Alana: Pick up, Julian! Pick up the phone right now!
The line clicked open, and a man's deep voice answered on the other end.
Julian: Alana? Why are you calling me from a hotel line? Where are you?
Alana: Marcus found out! He threw me out of the mansion!
Julian: What?! How could he throw you out? What did you do?
Alana: I lost my temper with his stupid daughter! The little brat was crying, and Marcus walked in right as I was telling her to leave!
Julian: You idiot! I told you to play the sweet stepmother until the marriage was finalized!
Alana: I tried, Julian! But that child is insufferable! Marcus slapped me right in front of her!
Julian: Did he say anything about the bank accounts? Did he mention the Cayman transfers?
Alana: No! He was just angry about the girl! He doesn't know about the money yet!
Julian let out a long, stressed sigh over the phone line.
Julian: Are you sure? Marcus Sterling isn't stupid, Alana. If he checks the ledger, we're ruined.
Alana: He didn't check anything! He was just reacting like an overly emotional father! We need to move the rest of the funds right now before he cools down!
Julian: The charity gala account has five hundred thousand dollars in it. Can you still access the wire transfer codes?
Alana: Yes! The board gave me executive access last week for the event expenses. I have the digital key in my purse.
Julian: Good. Meet me at the hotel business center in twenty minutes. We'll execute the wire transfer, book two flights to London, and leave tonight.
Alana: What about my clothes at the mansion? My jewelry?
Julian: Forget the clothes, you foolish woman! Five hundred thousand dollars buys all the clothes you want in Europe! Just get down here!
Alana hung up the phone, grabbing her leather designer purse from the bed. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, smoothing down her blonde hair and reapplying her lipstick over her swollen, red cheek.
Alana: You think you won, Marcus? You think you can treat me like trash?
She sneered at her reflection, adjusting the collar of her white gown to hide the slight bruise forming near her jaw.
Alana: I'm taking half a million dollars of your money, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.
She grabbed her room key, stepped out into the carpeted hallway, and took the private elevator down to the hotel lobby.
The main floor of the Grand Plaza Hotel was filled with wealthy guests arriving for the annual city charity gala. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, illuminating ladies in evening gowns and men in expensive tuxedos.
Alana walked briskly past the crowd toward the quiet corridor leading to the hotel's business center.
Julian was already waiting inside the dimly lit computer room, hovering over a sleek desktop monitor with a silver USB drive in his hand.
Julian: Give me the digital key card, quick!
Alana: Here! Just hurry up!
Alana pulled a gold encryption card from her purse and handed it to Julian. He inserted it into the card reader attached to the keyboard, his fingers flying across the keys as the screen flashed with financial security prompts.
Julian: Access granted. The account is open. Initiating wire transfer of five hundred thousand dollars to the offshore trust...
Alana: Is it working?
Julian: It's processing... loading... wait, what is this?
The computer screen suddenly flashed bright red, displaying a bold black message across the center of the monitor: ACCOUNT FROZEN BY STATE SUPERIOR COURT. ACCESS DENIED.