Chapter 3 - The Broken Seal
The blue light of the monitor reflected off the dark mahogany walls of the study. Nora leaned closer, scrolling frantically through the spreadsheets. The transaction dates stretched back over eighteen months, aligning perfectly with the firm's biggest urban redevelopment contract. Julian was a senior partner, yes, but he had never possessed clearance to move municipal escrows without board oversight.
Yet there it was: regular siphonings totaling over four million dollars, funneled into a shell corporation registered under the name Vanderbilt Estates—the estate trust established by Evelyn’s late father.
Nora pushed back from the desk, nauseated. Her husband had cheated on her with her protégée, but this went far beyond marital infidelity. This was criminal embezzlement, engineered to implicate her own bloodline.
Before she could process the documents, headlights flashed across the drawn blinds of the front lawn. Tires crunched over gravel. Nora walked to the window, peering through the slats. Julian’s Audi had pulled halfway up the curb.
He climbed out in a hurry, still wearing the dark trousers from the hotel, now paired with a rumpled trench coat thrown over his bare chest. He looked manic, his hair plastered against his forehead by the rain.
Nora moved quietly downstairs, latching the deadbolt just as Julian bounded up the porch steps. The heavy brass knocker struck twice, echoing like gunshots through the foyer.
""Nora! Open the door!"" Julian pleaded through the wood, his voice raw. ""You don't understand what happened today! It wasn't what it looked like—you have to listen to me before it's too late!""
Nora stood two feet from the door, her voice icy and low. ""You took off your clothes in Room 307 with Chloe in the dress I bought her, Julian. There is nothing to understand.""
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""Chloe isn't who you think she is!"" Julian yelled, pounding against the solid oak. ""I had to meet her! If you don't hear me out, the firm is going down, and your mother is taking you with it!""
Inside the locked study behind her, Julian's unattended laptop let out a sharp, chime of an incoming message on an encrypted channel. Nora froze, her eyes drifting toward the stairs.
