"This is the old double-entry bookkeeping system. It looksplicated," said Debra, squinting at the thick ledgersid out in front of her.


    "You can understand it?" Marion asked, surprised.


    "Sort of," she replied, eyes still fixed on the pages. "I haven''t seen this in a long time, so I''ll need to refamiliarize myself."


    Debra examined the books closely. Beside her, Marion couldn''t help but watch her serious expression.


    "I didn''t realize you were so skilled. You even know how to handle this kind of bookkeeping."


    Debra smiled but gave him a yful eye roll.


    "Did you forget what I studied? I majored in finance. If I can''t read these books, how could I ever manage apany?"


    Despite her light tone, Debra couldn''t help but feel a wave of gratitude toward Juan.


    1


    In her past life, she had loved him deeply and had worked tirelessly to learn everything about finance just to help him. She''d absorbed knowledge quickly back then. If not for the foundation she built in that life, she wouldn''t have understood any of this now. As she studied the ledgers, her brow furrowed deeper. Something''s off with these books."


    Marion leaned closer, concern coloring his voice. "What do you mean?"


    "The numbers in these ounts... They don''t add up." she exined, flipping to a specific page.


    "Look here. The Houston family''s foreign goods business shows an annual ie of 300 thousand dors. But the expenditures? 600 thousand. Where did the extra 300 thousand go?"


    Debra pointed out another entry. "And the Frazier family, our main business was cosmetics. Our ie for the year was 100 thousand dors, but the expenditures are double that."


    She continued to scan the pages, her fingers tracing the columns of numbers. "Osborne family? Agricultural business. Yearly ie: 200 thousand dors. Expenditures, 400 thousand. Again, double." Finally, Debra reached the ledger for the Potter family. Now, look at this one. Their total annual ie was 1.2 million dors, but the expenditure column is nk."N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    Marion''s eyes narrowed as he understood her implication. "You mean all the money from the other families eventually ended up in the Potter family''s pockets?"


    The two of them fell into a heavy silence as they stared at the incriminating entries. In the first year, all four families reported a loss, double their actual ie. And in the end, every pennynded in the Potter family''s hands.


    The four families had all made false books..


    Debra said grimly, "If these books are urate, all we need to do is track the Potter family''s total annual ie to realize that they suddenly gained 1.2 million dors out of nowhere."


    1.2 million dors back then was equivalent to more then 1.2 billion dors today.


    +25 BON


    That kind of money would have been an astronomical sum.


    Both of them felt a chill run through the room. The sheer magnitude of the sum was staggering.


    "Could this money be the treasure the four families were rumored to be guarding?" Marion wondered


    aloud.


    "It''s possible," Debra admitted. "But money loses its value over time. Could they really have been fixated on 1.2 million dors for all these years, dismantling the four great families over such a sum? It seems far fetched." "So, you''re saying that maybe the money was just a smokescreen?" Marion asked.


    Debra remained silent for a moment, her mind racing. If such a huge sum was merely a decoy, then the secret hidden behind it must be even more terrifying than she imagined.


    The sudden ringing of her phone broke the tense silence. She nced down at the screen. It was Ben calling.


    "What''s up?"


    "Madam, Mr. Nichols has been trying to reach you. He''s already called several times. He says he can''t get through." Debra looked at her phone, puzzled. There were no missed calls from Juan in her call log.


    "I haven''t gotten any calls from him."


    Marion cleared his throat, drawing her attention.