“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The check.”
“What about it?”
“I want it back.”
I almost laughed.
“It is still on my dining table.”
“You left it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I never wanted your money.”
She was silent.
Then she whispered,
“You wanted control.”
“No.”
I looked out the window.
“I already had control.”
That was the first moment I think Evelyn truly understood the structure of the company.
Adrian had never explained it to her.
He had allowed his mother to believe I was replaceable.
That belief had produced the eighty-million-dollar check.
Now it made her sound very small.
At three, the forensic team found another irregularity.
A private clinic had received three payments through Aster Lane Consulting.
The clinic specialized in reproductive medicine.
The dates were unusual.
They began ten months before the twins were born.
I felt my heartbeat change.
Claire noticed.
“Do you recognize the clinic?”
