Chapter 4 - Shadows on the Wall
Nora ignored Julian's frantic knocking, letting his shouts fade into the muffled rain outside. She bounded up the stairs two at a time and slipped back into the study.
On the screen, a chat window had popped up. The sender’s handle was simply C.V.
Julian, the hotel was breached, the message read. Did your wife take the drive? If she opens the municipal audit, the DA’s office triggers the seizure protocol tomorrow morning. Get the drive back or we burn both companies.
C.V. Chloe Vance.
Nora felt a chill run down her spine. The young woman who had brought her coffee every morning, who had smiled politely while asking about building codes and structural blueprints, was deeply entangled in a federal extortion scheme. The hotel rendezvous wasn't an accidental encounter interrupted by a wife’s suspicion; it was a desperate exchange caught midway. But the red slip dress—why the dress?
Nora plugged her personal external hard drive into the laptop and began backing up every single file, spreadsheet, and transaction receipt from the silver USB. As the progress bar slowly ticked toward eighty percent, a floorboard creaked out in the hallway.
Nora snapped her head toward the doorway.
Evelyn stood there in a long silk robe, her arms crossed, watching Nora with cold, calculating eyes. Gone was the tearful, outraged mother who had threatened to sue Julian at the hotel door. In her gaze was something sharper, deadlier.
""You shouldn't be snooping in Julian's things, darling,"" Evelyn said smoothly, stepping into the room. ""It’s undignified.""
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Nora’s hand hovered over the keyboard. ""He was embezzling from the municipal contract, Mother. And he used grandfather's trust to hide the money.""
Evelyn didn't blink. She walked over to the desk, glanced at the monitor, and smiled faintly. ""Julian didn't steal that money, Nora. He was merely moving it where I told him to.""
