Chapter 2 - The Money TrailJulian had always been careful with money.
Or at least, that's what I believed.
His father had taught him that every dollar had to be accounted for.
So when I began reviewing the company records, I expected to find a few suspicious expenses.
I found something else.
A pattern.
The first payment was $18,000.
Then $42,000.
Then $75,000.
Then $120,000.
All disguised as consulting fees.
All connected to companies that didn't appear to have employees.
I traced the ownership.
Every company led back to the same private mailbox.
And eventually to Victoria.
But the money didn't stop there.
Some of it moved through offshore accounts.
Some went toward luxury properties.
And some went somewhere I couldn't identify.
That bothered me most.
I spent the entire Saturday following the trail.
By Sunday morning, I had barely slept.
Then I found a folder on Julian's laptop.
The folder was hidden behind three layers of passwords.
Inside were contracts.
Emails.
And one spreadsheet.
The title was:
Project V.
I opened it.
My stomach tightened.
The spreadsheet wasn't about Victoria.
It was about me.
There were notes beside my name.
“Expected resistance.”
“May request independent valuation.”
“Possible divorce claim.”
“Monitor access to company accounts.”
Julian had been planning for our marriage to end.
Not because he wanted freedom.
Because he wanted to protect his money.
He had apparently been preparing for months.
But then I noticed something else.
One line stood out.
Phase Two — Remove Elena from company influence.
My hands went cold.
I read further.
The plan involved transferring voting rights.
My voting rights.
The shares I had been awarded when I helped build the company.
Julian had been preparing to push me out.
And Victoria wasn't just his mistress.
She was part of the plan.
I printed everything.
Then I found the final page.
It contained a signature.
Julian's signature.
And beneath it was a name I recognized.
Marcus Vance.
I stopped breathing.
Julian's younger brother.
My brother-in-law.
I stared at the signature for almost a minute.
Marcus had always treated me like family.
He had defended me when Eleanor criticized me.
He had called me after my father's funeral.
He had even told me once:
“You're the best thing that ever happened to Julian.”
Now I was looking at his signature on a document designed to remove me from my own company.
I couldn't understand it.
So I called him.
He answered immediately.
“Elena?”
“Did you sign a document called Project V?”
Silence.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer me.”
Another silence.
Then he said:
“I need to see you.”
“Why?”
“Because there's something you don't know.”
We met at a coffee shop two hours later.
Marcus looked exhausted.
He placed his phone on the table.
“I didn't know what it was.”
“You signed it.”
“I know.”
“You helped him.”
“I thought it was a restructuring agreement.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian told me the company was in danger.”
I stared at him.
“And you believed him?”
“Yes.”
His eyes filled with regret.
“I was wrong.”
“Why didn't you read it?”
“I did.”
“Then how could you miss this?”
He looked down.
“Because the pages I signed weren't the same pages he submitted later.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Julian replaced the final pages.”
I stared at him.
“Are you saying he forged the agreement?”
Marcus nodded.
“And Elena…”
His voice dropped.
May you like
“He didn't just plan to remove you.”
“He planned to blame you for the missing money.”
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