Chapter 4 - The SetupThe revelation hung in the air, cold and sharp as a razor.
"Fraud?" I repeated, staring at Julian as if he were speaking a foreign language. "Julian, I haven't signed a corporate document since the day I walked out of that house six years ago. I gave up all claims to his stock options, his tech portfolio, everything. I wanted out clean."
"I know that, and you know that," Julian said, casting a panicked glance toward the corridor where Daniel had disappeared after Madeline. "But the paper trail points straight to your old digital ID. Whoever set this up knew your exact system credentials from when we worked out of the home office."
A cold sweat broke out across my neck. I remembered those final months in our sprawling Seattle home—the endless hours I spent organizing his schedules, signing off on minor administrative filings while he was locked away in his glass-walled studio. Someone had kept my old administrative keys active. Or worse... Daniel had.
"Where is he?" I asked, my voice dropping into a dangerous, icy calm that made Julian flinch.
"Private lounge behind the main stage," Julian muttered. "He's trying to salvage the merger with the Singapore group before the news leaks."
I set Ethan down, kneeling to look into his bright, intelligent eyes. "Sweetheart, I need you to go with Auntie Sarah—she’s sitting right over there by the dessert table. Wait for me for just ten minutes. Mommy has to handle something."
Ethan nodded solemnly, adjusting his red jacket lapel. "Okay, Mom. Don't let him lie anymore."
May you like
"I won't," I promised.
I stood up, smoothed down the emerald fabric of my dress, and marched straight past the staging curtains into the private VIP lounge.
