Chapter 2 - The Second Set of Books
Evelyn did not answer Nathan.
She read the message again.
We found the second set of books.
Beneath it was another line.
Do not approve Arden.
Richard Hale saw her expression.
“What happened?”
Nathan stepped around the table.
“That is private.”
Evelyn looked up.
“No.”
Her voice was quiet.
“It stopped being private when company money became involved.”
Nathan froze.
Several investors exchanged uneasy looks.
Clara stared between them.
“What are you talking about?”
Nathan snapped toward her.
“Be quiet.”
It was the first time all night he had spoken sharply to Clara.
Her humiliation deepened.
Evelyn noticed.
So did everyone else.
Richard moved beside Evelyn.
“Do you want the room cleared?”
“No.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Good.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“I did not say we were continuing dinner.”
She opened the email attachment.
A spreadsheet filled her screen.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Consulting invoices.
Millions moving through entities she did not recognize.
Then she saw a familiar name.
Voss Strategic Holdings.
Evelyn looked at Clara.
Clara’s lips parted.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Give me the phone.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
“Excuse me?”
“That material is confidential.”
“It belongs to my committee.”
“It belongs to Grant Meridian.”
“Apparently so does Voss Strategic Holdings.”
Clara went completely still.
Nathan’s face hardened.
“Evelyn.”
Richard turned toward Clara.
“Ms. Voss, are you affiliated with that company?”
Clara looked at Nathan.
Not at Richard.
That was answer enough.
Evelyn continued scrolling.
Payments totaling four point six million dollars.
All labeled consulting retainers.
All authorized through Nathan’s office.
“You told the board Clara earned one hundred and eighty thousand dollars a year.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“This is not what it looks like.”
“Then explain what it looks like.”
Nobody moved.
Nathan looked around the table.
His humiliation was becoming public.
That was the one thing he had never learned to tolerate.
“We are leaving.”
Evelyn did not move.
“We?”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You are my wife.”
“And there it is again.”
His hand tightened around the back of her chair.
“Do not make a scene.”
Evelyn looked at the overturned chair behind him.
“The scene arrived before the wine.”
A director near the window covered a smile.
Nathan noticed.
His expression darkened.
Then Clara suddenly spoke.
“Nathan told me the money was approved.”
Every head turned.
Nathan stared at her.
Clara’s voice shook.
“He told me Voss Strategic was part of the executive compensation structure.”
Nathan whispered.
“Stop talking.”
Clara took a step back.
“You said Hartwell knew.”
Nathan’s face became dangerous.
“I said stop.”
Evelyn watched them both.
The affair she had suspected suddenly seemed smaller than the financial betrayal.
She looked back at the spreadsheet.
There was one more attached document.
An authorization form.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
Evelyn stopped breathing for a second.
Richard leaned closer.
“That is your signature.”
“No.”
She enlarged the page.
The signature looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Nathan had watched her sign documents for fifteen years.
Evelyn slowly lifted her eyes toward him.
“You forged my authorization.”
Nathan’s face did not move.
That scared her more than denial would have.
Richard immediately pulled out his phone.
“I am calling legal.”
Nathan lunged forward.
“Do not.”
Richard stepped away.
Evelyn looked at her husband.
“You forged my name to move trust-backed money into your assistant’s company.”
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“You do not understand the structure.”
“Then explain it.”
He did not.
The doors to the private dining room opened.
A restaurant manager entered.
Behind him stood two men in dark suits.
Evelyn recognized one of them.
Daniel Mercer.
Hartwell Trust’s outside counsel.
May you like
Nathan recognized him too.
And for the first time that night, Nathan sat down without being told.
