Chapter 6 - Blood Before Business
Jonathan Hartwell had grown up beside Evelyn.
Their fathers were brothers.
Their summers had been spent on the same Connecticut estate.
They had learned to swim in the same pool.
Had attended the same funerals.
Had sat at the same Christmas table for nearly forty years.
And now his name sat at the bottom of the company Nathan had secretly planned to enrich.
Evelyn felt something colder than betrayal.
Calculation.
Richard stared at the screen.
“That cannot be right.”
Daniel looked grim.
“It is right.”
Nathan spoke quickly.
“This has nothing to do with me.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“You have been meeting with a company controlled by my cousin.”
“I meet with investors.”
“Secretly.”
“There was nothing illegal about those conversations.”
“Then why hide them?”
Nathan’s eyes flashed.
“Because you turn everything into suspicion.”
Evelyn almost admired the persistence.
Even now, he tried to make his secrecy her character flaw.
Richard looked at Evelyn.
“We need to contact Jonathan.”
“No.”
Daniel agreed immediately.
“Do not alert him.”
Nathan scoffed.
“You are treating your own family like criminals.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“I married you.”
That ended the conversation.
Daniel ordered Hartwell security to preserve every document connected to Northstar.
Richard notified the trust’s audit committee.
Within twenty minutes, the celebratory dinner had become an emergency investigation.
Guests began leaving quietly.
Nobody congratulated Nathan on Arden.
Clara remained near the window, suddenly isolated from everyone.
Evelyn walked toward her.
Clara stiffened.
“I know you hate me.”
Evelyn stopped.
“I do not know you well enough to hate you.”
That seemed to hurt Clara more.
“I thought Nathan was leaving you.”
“He told you what was useful.”
Clara looked down.
“I believed him.”
“So did I once.”
Clara looked surprised.
Evelyn continued.
“That does not excuse what you did.”
“I know.”
“You hit me because you thought my husband’s contempt gave you authority over me.”
Clara’s eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Then decide what you are going to do with the moment you discovered he has contempt for you too.”
Clara looked toward Nathan.
He was whispering angrily into his phone.
When he noticed Clara watching, he turned away.
Her face changed.
Something finally broke.
“He keeps a second phone.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Where?”
“In his office safe.”
Nathan turned.
Too late.
Clara continued.
“The code is your wedding date.”
Evelyn stared at her.
Nathan crossed the room.
“You are fired.”
Clara laughed.
A broken, disbelieving laugh.
“You cannot fire me fast enough to make tonight disappear.”
Nathan looked ready to explode.
Evelyn stepped between them.
“Daniel.”
Daniel understood immediately.
“We will obtain the device lawfully.”
Nathan smirked.
“You will find nothing.”
Evelyn watched him.
He was too confident.
That bothered her.
Then her own phone rang.
Jonathan Hartwell.
Everyone became silent.
Evelyn looked at the screen.
Daniel shook his head.
“Do not answer.”
The call stopped.
A message appeared.
Cousin, whatever Nathan told you, he is lying.
Another message arrived immediately after.
And if you want to know who forged your signature, look at your own house.
Evelyn’s blood ran cold.
May you like
Because suddenly the danger was no longer only inside Nathan’s company.
It had been inside her home.
