“The Bride Slapped a Waiter in Front of Everyone. The Groom’s Next Move Ended the Wedding.”

The betrayal hurt differently because Daniel had shaken Eric Lawson's hand less than twenty-four hours earlier.

Eric, Mercer Holdings CFO, had toasted Daniel and Vivian at the rehearsal dinner.

He had called Daniel "family."

Now his name filled Celia's phone.

Marcus locked down Eric's corporate access.

Too late.

Eric had entered the office at 5:12 a.m., downloaded encrypted files, and vanished.

Daniel called him.

No answer.

Again.

Voicemail.

At 7:26, Eric finally called back.

"You should have married her," he said.

Daniel put the phone on speaker.

"You forged the proxy."

"I prepared paperwork."

"You helped kidnap a child."

"I had nothing to do with that. Celia lost control."

"Where is she?"

Eric laughed softly. "Closer than you think."

Daniel's skin prickled.

Marcus began tracing the call.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Because your father built a kingdom and left the rest of us carrying boxes through the side entrance. You inherited power. Celia understood how to use it."

"So this is money."

"It's always money. People just decorate it with better words."

Marcus held up three fingers.

"The scheduled files go public at eight," Eric continued. "You can deny them. People won't care. They'll remember the headline. Mercer Foundation Fraud."

"What do you want?"

"The original Arthur files."

"No."

"Then enjoy becoming the villain before breakfast."

Marcus pointed to the tablet.

Call trace complete.

Eric was inside Mercer Holdings headquarters.

Daniel frowned.

"Why would he go back there?"

Then he remembered the basement archival server.

It contained the only offline master copy of foundation transactions.

If Eric destroyed it, the forged records would become much harder to disprove.