Chapter 9 - The Real Ledger
The fake ledger was clever.
Same leather.
Same handwriting style.
Wrong paper.
Charles had never intended to give me evidence.
He wanted my signature.
The building fire alarm turned out to be manual.
Someone pulled it on the forty-second floor.
Security footage showed Julian.
I watched the clip twice.
Sienna swore.
Naomi said nothing.
I called him.
"Why were you in the building?"
"I followed you."
"Why did you pull the alarm?"
"Because my father had two men waiting near the elevator."
"To do what?"
"I don't know."
"That's becoming your favorite answer."
He sounded exhausted.
"Clara, I saw one of them lock the stairwell door."
That made me quiet.
Julian may have created chaos.
He may also have gotten us out.
Sienna hated him anyway.
"He knew enough to warn us before we went upstairs."
I agreed.
Then Julian texted me a photo.
The real black ledger.
I called immediately.
"Where did you get that?"
"My mother."
Julian's mother, Evelyn Hartwell, had lived in Connecticut for years and rarely appeared in public.
I had met her twice.
Quiet woman.
Careful eyes.
She had skipped our wedding because of "health issues."
Julian said, "She took it from Charles five years ago."
"Why?"
"Because she knew he was going to destroy it."
"Where is she?"
"At my apartment."
Naomi shook her head before I even asked.
I said, "We're coming."
We arrived forty minutes later.
Evelyn sat at Julian's dining table with the ledger in front of her.
She looked at me.
"I'm sorry I missed your wedding."
I didn't respond.
She touched the book.
"Your father gave this to me before he died."
"Why you?"
"Because he stopped trusting Charles."
Then she opened to the last page.
My father's handwriting.
If Clara ever marries into this family, tell her the truth before they use her name.
I stared at Julian.
Evelyn's eyes filled.
"I tried."
May you like
Julian looked away.
And I realized he had known his mother carried my father's warning.
