PART 2
It took Julian several seconds to find his voice.
“There… there must be a mistake,” he stammered, his posture collapsing. “Mr. Vance, this is my wife. She runs a small flower shop. I pay her bills.”
Arthur looked at him as though he’d just heard the most absurd joke of his life. “You pay her bills?”
Arthur’s executive assistant stepped forward, setting a thick leather dossier on the table.
Arthur didn’t even need to raise his voice. “Valerie sold her first logistics company for a sum you couldn’t read without sitting down. She then founded Altura Capital. NovaMind only exists because she provided our seed funding. And as of this morning, her private fund is the primary institutional investor in the merger your firm has been begging us to sign.”
Julian’s boss gripped the back of his chair so hard his knuckles went white. Evelyn’s mouth hung open, but no sound came out.
Julian spun toward me, eyes wide with desperate confusion. “Why… why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Because you never asked,” I said evenly. “You had already decided who I was.”
He reached for my hand. “Babe, please, we can fix this. Tell your brother to sign the deal. My entire promotion depends on this merger.”
I pulled my fingers away. “Five minutes ago, you sent me to the coat check because I didn’t belong at your table.”
His boss lost his temper completely. “Julian, if this deal falls through because of your arrogant behavior, don’t bother coming into the office tomorrow.”
I walked out of the restaurant with Arthur, never looking back.
The next morning, Evelyn barged into my brownstone unannounced, with Julian and his younger brother, Leo, trailing behind her.
I expected an apology. Instead, I got a demand list.
“You are going to call your brother right now and save Julian’s career,” Evelyn ordered, marching into my kitchen. “And since we now know you have money, you’re going to get Leo a position at your fund. Something executive level. High salary.”
Leo nodded smugly, as if he were already picking out his office furniture. “Yeah, I’m not starting at the bottom.”
I let out a laugh sharp enough that I had to set my coffee cup down on the counter. “Did you really come into my home to demand executive jobs after the way you treated me last night?”
Evelyn slammed her handbag on the counter. “My son built this life for you! This house belongs to our family’s standing!”
I walked over to the framed painting in the hallway, opened the small wall safe behind it, and pulled out the original property deed. I laid it flat in front of her.
“I bought this brownstone two years before I met your son. My name is the only one on the title.”
Julian looked down at his shoes. Evelyn frantically flipped through the pages. “That… that can’t be right!”
“Ask your son about the private loan application he tried to submit three months ago,” I said, looking directly at Julian. “The one where he forged documents trying to use my property as collateral.”
The room’s atmosphere shifted instantly. Evelyn turned slowly to her son. “What did you do?”
Julian broke into a sweat. “It was temporary! I needed short-term liquidity. The merger bonus was supposed to cover it!”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
It was Gabriel, the husband of Julian’s sister. Evelyn had spent years dismissing Gabriel as a “mere IT guy,” but he was actually a senior forensic cybersecurity auditor who worked directly for Hexa Group’s board of directors.
Gabriel walked in holding a sleek black USB drive.
Julian stepped back, panic flashing across his face. “You have no right to look through my corporate files!”
Gabriel set the drive on the counter. “The board hired me personally. I audited thirty-six months of corporate transactions tied to your authorization codes.”
Julian’s hands began to shake.
“Valerie,” Gabriel said, turning to me, “I found wire transfers, fake vendor invoices, offshore accounts, and something else you need to see.”
Julian lunged for the drive, but Gabriel blocked him easily.
My husband finally stopped pretending. “Don’t open it!” he screamed, tears of panic in his eyes. “Valerie, I swear I can explain everything!”
I took the drive, walked to the living room media display, and plugged it in.
The first folder was labeled simply: Properties.
I opened it. A deed appeared for a luxury penthouse in Miami.
Two names were listed on the ownership documents: Julian’s, and a woman’s name I’d never heard.
“Who is Chloe?” Evelyn asked, frowning.
Julian closed his eyes.
I opened the second folder: Audio Recordings. I clicked the first file and pressed play.
When my husband’s voice came through the high-end speakers, Evelyn dropped her phone onto the rug.
