Chapter 2 - The First Domino
At 11:31 p.m., Matthew Hayes stepped into Lauren’s Tribeca apartment carrying the antique cane’s velvet storage case.
He had left the cane behind.
He had not realized he had left the phone.
Lauren stood near the kitchen island wearing his white dress shirt and holding a glass of wine.
“You handled it?”
Matthew loosened his tie.
“She won’t question me again.”
Lauren smiled, but the smile disappeared when his phone began vibrating.
The first call came from Noah Brenner, NexusCore’s chief financial officer.
Matthew ignored it.
The second came from the chairman of the board.
He declined that one too.
Then three banking alerts appeared at once.
NEXUSCORE REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY SUSPENDED.
STERLING COMMERCIAL NOTE DECLARED IN DEFAULT.
EMERGENCY AUDIT AUTHORIZATION INITIATED.
Matthew read the messages twice.
“What happened?”
Lauren asked.
He opened his email.
There were forty-three new messages.
The first had been sent by Evelyn Shaw, general counsel for Sterling Holdings.
Its subject line contained only four words.
NOTICE OF FRAUDULENT COLLATERAL TRANSFER.
Matthew’s face lost its color.
Seven months earlier, he had used Clare’s protected trust shares as collateral for a private acquisition.
Clare had never agreed.
Matthew had ordered his legal department to attach her electronic signature to the authorization.
He had believed she would never discover it.
He had believed Richard Sterling would never speak to her again.
Lauren came around the island.
“Matthew.”
“What did you do?”
He grabbed his laptop and attempted to access the corporate treasury portal.
The screen displayed a red warning.
ACCOUNT FROZEN PENDING FORENSIC REVIEW.
His personal company card failed seconds later.
Then his executive travel account disappeared.
Then his access to the NexusCore board server was revoked.
Lauren stared at him.
“This was supposed to happen tomorrow.”
“It will.”
“How?”
“Clare owns part of the intellectual property.”
Lauren’s voice rose.
“If Sterling freezes the license, our entire acquisition collapses.”
Matthew struck the counter with his fist.
“Clare doesn’t even know what she owns.”
“She called him.”
Lauren said it softly.
Matthew turned.
“What?”
“Your other phone was connected.”
Her wineglass trembled slightly.
“I heard her call someone.”
“Who?”
“She said Daddy.”
For several seconds, Matthew did not move.
Then he rushed toward the door.
Lauren caught his arm.
“You can’t go back there.”
“She’ll tell the police.”
“She already did.”
Lauren pointed toward the television.
A local news alert had interrupted the late-night financial report.
Police vehicles had been seen outside the Hayes penthouse.
An ambulance had left the building minutes earlier.
Matthew’s photograph appeared beside the NexusCore logo.
The anchor said authorities were investigating an incident involving a prominent technology executive.
“This can still be controlled.”
Matthew whispered.
Lauren stepped away from him.
For the first time since their affair began, she looked at him with fear instead of admiration.
“What exactly did you do to her?”
His silence answered.
Then someone knocked on Lauren’s apartment door.
Three measured knocks.
A man’s voice followed.
May you like
“Mr. Hayes.”
“This is the New York Police Department.”
