Chapter 523 
Maeve peered at the ledgers with a thoughtful frown. “It’s been a while since I last looked at these. I need some time to get back into the groove,” she said. 

Zion observed Maeve’s intense concentration and remarked, “I didn’t realize my wife was so skilled. Even accounting methods like these seem second nature to you.” “Did you forget my major? I studied finance. If I couldn’t make sense of accounts, how could I possibly manage a company? Marve replied. Despite her words, she silently thanked Sergio 
In her previous life, her feelings for Sergio had driven Maeve to master everything about finance to support him painstakingly. She’d absorbed knowledge quickly, but without that foundation, she wouldn’t understand these details now, 
Mare studied the books for a while, but her frown deepened. “There’s something wrong with these records.” 
“What’s wrong?” Zion asked. 
“The figures don’t add up.” 
“What do you mean?‘ 
“Take a look. It’s written here that the Spencer Group’s foreign goods business shows an income of 300 thousand dollars, but expenses of 600 thousand dollars. So, where did that extra 300 thousand dollars go? 
“The Scott family’s main cosmetics line is even stranger. They report an income of 100 thousand dollars but expenses of 200 thousand dollars. 
“And the Foster family’s agricultural business shows an income of 200 thousand dollars and expenses of 400 thousand dollars.” 
Mare flipped in the Hackett Group’s records and said, “Here, the total income is 1.2 million dollars, but the expense section is blank, 
“So, you’re saying that all the expenses went to the Hackett Group?” 
Maeve and Zion fell stent 
“Zion asked. 
These records only cover the first year. That year, each of the four families showed double losses, with all the money flowing into the Hackett Group 
In other words, the four major families were falsifying their accounts that year. 
“It these records are fake, then we only need to remember the Hackett family’s total income to see if they had an extra 1.2 million dollars that year.!! 
Back then, 1.2 million dollars was equivalent to over 1.2 billion dollars today. For Seathbu City’s development at the time, it was an astronomical sum. Such a large amount was alarming. 
“Could this money be the treasure the four major families were guarding? Marve wondered. 
“The amount is huge, but money loses value over time. After all these years, is it really worth dismantling the four major families for just 1.2 million dollars? Zion questioned. “Are you suggesting that the 1.2 million was just adecoy?” Maeve asked with a frown. 
If such a large sum were merely a smokescreen, the secrets behind it would be even more frightening 
At that moment, Mane’s phone rang The caller ID showed Zayla. 
Marve answered the call, “What’s going on?” 
“Ms. Scott, Mr. Brooks has been trying to reach you. He’s called several times and says he can’t get through.” 
Marve looked at her phone and checked the call leg, which showed no missed calls from Sergio 
Mary frowned and said, “I didn’t get any calls from him.” 
“Well..” At that moment, Zion, who had been standing nearby, cleared his tout awkwardly.