My Husband Called Me a Scullery Maid at His Sect Promotion Banquet — Then I Walked In as the Secret Owner of the Entire $12 Million Religious Compound
The Elder Council chamber remained silent after Eli’s declaration. The weight of his words pressed down, threatening to suffocate me. I knew the Elders’ traditional views. A woman, grief-stricken, acting “unconventionally”—it was a narrative easily accepted, especially when presented by the Overseer himself.
I took a slow breath, forcing myself to project calm.
“Overseer Eli,” I said, my voice cutting through the heavy air. “My father’s death has indeed been a trial. But my actions, including wearing his trustee cloak, are in honor of his wishes. They are not symptoms of a mind in distress.”
Eli scoffed, a dismissive sound. “Sister Hannah, your recent discoveries—if they can even be called that—are clearly a delusion born of trauma. Your claims of impropriety are baseless.”
He turned to the Elders. “We must act swiftly. For her own sake, and for the stability of New Gilead.”
Just then, a small knock came at the chamber door. Tobias Albright, the bookkeeper, entered, his usual neat demeanor ruffled, a thin layer of dust on his simple wool tunic. He clutched a leather-bound folio to his chest, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and urgency.
Eli scowled. “Tobias! What is the meaning of this intrusion? The Council is in session.”
Tobias bowed quickly, avoiding Eli’s gaze. “Forgive me, Overseer. Elders. But I felt it my duty to bring these… these additional pages from the communal ledger. They seem to have been misplaced.”
He walked directly to me, ignoring Eli’s furious stare. He placed the folio, open, onto the table in front of me. His hand trembled slightly as he pointed to a specific entry.
“While conducting my duties, after the… after the banquet was winding down, I returned to the Overseer’s private office,” Tobias began, his voice barely a whisper. “I discovered these pages tucked beneath a stack of old sermons. They were clearly meant to be part of the official record.”
Eli’s face went from scowl to a mask of pure panic. He made a move toward the table, but one of the Elders, Elder Amos, a stern but fair man, raised a hand.
“Let the bookkeeper speak, Eli. These are communal records.”
Tobias nodded, visibly emboldened by Elder Amos’s intervention.
“On these pages,” Tobias continued, pointing to a ledger entry, “is a second bank draft. Dated two weeks before Elder Josiah’s passing. For the sum of 45,000 New Gilead Dollars.”
My eyes widened. The first bribe to Silas had been $185,000. This was an additional, separate transaction.
“And,” Tobias added, his voice dropping even lower, “it’s marked ‘External Seed Fund.’ Sent to an untraceable account, with no recipient name, and no record within New Gilead’s usual partners.”
I leaned closer, studying the entry. It was true. A significant sum, diverted to an unknown external entity. Eli had deeper ties outside the enclave than any of us had suspected. This wasn’t just about controlling New Gilead. This was about something larger, something hidden.
Eli finally erupted. “Tobias, you are mistaken! Those are old records, misfiled! You are risking excommunication, interfering with Council matters!”
Tobias flinched but stood his ground. “The entry is clear, Overseer. And the funds are unaccounted for in New Gilead’s official balance sheets. It’s a significant deviation from established protocols.”
He then looked directly at me. “Sister Hannah, I believe these pages may be relevant to your… understanding of recent events.”
The Elders exchanged grave looks. The mention of “excommunication” hung in the air, a potent threat. But Tobias had just revealed not only Eli’s attempted cover-up but also a new, more sinister layer to his financial misdeeds. This wasn’t just about local corruption. This was about secret dealings with the outside world, a direct violation of New Gilead’s isolationist tenets.
Eli’s incompetence petition suddenly seemed less compelling than the evidence of his own deep-seated treachery.
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