Chapter 4 - The Silent Interrogation
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The air inside the boardroom became razor-thin.
Evan turned slowly toward Kelsey, his chest heaving under his navy suit. "What did you just say? What do you mean the baby isn't mine?!"
Kelsey didn't even look at him. Her eyes remained locked on mine, steady and filled with a strange, hollow relief.
"I was paid to get close to you, Evan," Kelsey said, her voice cold and detached. "I was paid to make sure you felt like a king while you robbed your wife's company."
"You lying bitch!" Barbara shrieked, launching herself out of her chair toward Kelsey.
Naomi immediately stepped between them, while two corporate security officers rushed into the room, grabbing Barbara by her elbows and forcing her back into her seat.
"Get your hands off me!" Barbara screamed, her face contorted with hysterical rage. "Clara is manipulating all of you! She’s trying to steal my family's legacy!"
"Your family's legacy?" I asked, picking up the photograph from the glass table. "Barbara, look at this picture. Who is this man standing beside my father?"
Barbara’s eyes dropped to the photograph. The moment she saw the stranger's face, her rage vanished, replaced by an absolute, paralyzed terror. Her lips trembled, but no sound came out.
"Who is he, Barbara?" I demanded, leaning over the table.
"He's... he's nobody," she whimpered, pulling her gaze away. "Just an old investor."
"An old investor who had access to Evan's digital signature at three in the morning?" Naomi asked, holding up her tablet. "Because the nine-million-dollar transfer request wasn't routed through Atlanta. It was routed through a private server in Zurich."
Evan looked like a man standing on the edge of a crumbling cliff. He looked from his mother, to Kelsey, and finally to me.
"Clara... please," Evan stuttered, taking a step toward me with his hands raised in surrender. "I didn't know about the nine million. I swear to God I didn't know! My mother told me Apex Events was just a tax write-off!"
"Save it for the grand jury, Evan," I said, sliding the photograph into my leather bag. "Naomi, escort Mr. Whitmore and his mother off the premises. Their access codes are terminated as of right now."
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"You can't kick me out!" Evan yelled as security guards escorted him toward the door. "This is my company! I built this place!"
"My father built this place," I replied softly. "You were just a temporary manager who forgot his place."
