Chapter 3 - The Attorney’s Panic
"Corbin," Marcus Sterling stammered, his usual polished courtroom cadence completely fracturing. "I... I don't know what you're referring to. That business was closed and sealed years ago per your father's explicit dying instructions."
"My father is dead, Marcus, and I am sitting outside an apartment building where the widow of the man you accused of stealing from us is currently crying because she can't afford baby formula," Corbin snarled, his fist slamming against the steering wheel. "You have thirty minutes to meet me at my office, or I pull every corporate trust, asset management account, and legal retainer we have with your firm. Do you understand me?"
"Corbin, listen to me, you are playing with fire—"
Click.
Corbin hung up. He didn't care about the fire. He had spent his entire life believing he was the benevolent master of a successful empire built on hard work and honest enterprise. Now, looking at the peeling paint of Lianna Vance's home, he realized his entire legacy was built on a foundation of shifting sand and hidden bodies.
He put the SUV in reverse, tires hissing against the wet asphalt, and sped back toward downtown Providence.
When he walked into the gleaming glass tower of Stanford Development thirty minutes later, the atmosphere on the executive floor was electric. Miss Gable looked like she was about to hyperventilate, holding a stack of pink message slips.
"Mr. Stanford, Mr. Sterling is already in your private conference room," she whispered urgently. "He didn't use the elevator; he took the private service stairs. He looks... awful."
Corbin didn't break stride. He threw open the heavy oak doors of the conference room.
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Marcus Sterling was sitting at the end of the twelve-seat mahogany table. The seventy-year-old attorney looked smaller than he had last week, his silver hair slightly disheveled, a fine sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead despite the air-conditioning.
"Talk," Corbin demanded, pulling out his chair and sitting down directly across from him. "And start with why Julian Vance's wife is my housekeeper."
