All Chapters of To Hate and To Hold: Chapter 11

The email notification chimed on Elena's phone just as she was forcing down breakfast alone in the dining room. She nearly dropped her spoon. The sender was the Vineyard Trust Bank. The subject line read: Transaction Alert.Her fingers, sticky with jam, fumbled to open it.Credit: $2,000,000.00. From: Thorne Consolidated Holdings. Current Balance: $2,000,817.33.She read the numbers once. Then again. The zeros blurred on the screen. A sound escaped her—a choked gasp. She slapped a hand over her mouth. The other hand held the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white."Mija? Is everything okay?"Her father's voice came through the phone on her other ear. She'd called home ten minutes ago, just to hear a familiar voice. She'd been staring at a bowl of fruit, saying nothing."Papi," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Check the account. Right now.""What? Why? Elena, you're scaring me.""Just check it."She heard the rustle of him putting down the phone, the distant creak of his offic