Chapter 4 - The Midnight Audit
Vanessa looked like she was about to faint. She grabbed Adrian’s sleeve, her manicured nails digging through his suit jacket. “Adrian! Do something! He can’t just evict us! This is our home! You told me this house was yours!”
“Shut up, Vanessa!” Adrian snapped, shoving her hand away in sheer agitation. His mask of chivalry and adoration for his mistress had completely disintegrated.
He lunged toward Julian Thorne. “This is an illegal hostile takeover! My lawyers will file an injunction by dawn! Judge Harrison is a personal friend of mine—he’ll grant a stay before you can seize a single server!”
Julian offered a thin, pitying smile that was colder than a grave. “Judge Harrison submitted his resignation to the state judicial commission forty-five minutes ago, Mr. Vale. It turns out certain offshore campaign contributions he received were routed through an entity owned by one of Mr. Sterling’s compliance auditors. Harrison will be spending his morning retaining criminal defense counsel, not signing stays for you.”
Adrian’s breath left him in a ragged gasp. He staggered backward, his heels catching the edge of the rug.
Meanwhile, the two female paramedics had crossed the foyer to my side. “Miss Sterling, please allow us to inspect your injuries,” the lead medic said gently.
“Take photographs first,” I said calmly, looking down at Adrian. “Every single welt. Every broken capillary. Every speck of blood on the floor and on that riding crop.”
“Wait!” Vanessa shrieked, backing toward the grand staircase. “I had nothing to do with that! It was Adrian! He was the one who hit her! I told him to stop! I’m an innocent bystander! I’m pregnant!”
Julian turned his gaze upon her for the first time. The look in his eyes made Vanessa freeze mid-step.
“Ah, Miss Vanessa Dubois,” Julian said smoothly, opening a manila folder from his briefcase. “Or should I say, Miss Vanessa Jenkins, former promotional model for an offshore sports betting syndicate in Cyprus. Let us discuss your supposed pregnancy, shall we?”
Vanessa’s jaw clamped shut, all the blood draining from her lips.
“What are you talking about?” Adrian demanded, frowning between Julian and Vanessa. “She had her preliminary ultrasound yesterday at Saint Jude’s!”
“She had an ultrasound appointment, yes,” Julian corrected, pulling out a glossy eight-by-ten printout. “Except the sonogram image she presented to you was downloaded from an internet forum for expectant mothers three weeks ago. Furthermore, Miss Jenkins had an intrauterine device replaced less than two months ago at a private clinic in New Jersey—paid for, ironically, using an American Express card registered to your former business development account.”
Adrian’s head snapped toward Vanessa. “What? What is he talking about? Vanessa, tell him he’s lying!”
Vanessa didn't answer. Her eyes darted frantically toward the open front door, looking for an escape route, but two burly Sterling security guards stood flanked at the entrance like stone sentinels.
“You... you lied to me?” Adrian whispered, his voice cracking. “You told me you were carrying my heir! You told me Clara was barren and holding me back, that we were going to build a legacy together!”
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“Oh, shut up, Adrian!” Vanessa suddenly spat, dropping all pretenses of innocence. Her voice turned shrill, devoid of the silky, seductive purr she had used all evening. “You wanted an excuse to get rid of your quiet wife because you thought she was plain and boring! You wanted a trophy on your arm for the tech summits! You were so desperate to believe you were a virile, brilliant titan that you swallowed every single word I fed you! Don’t you dare act like a victim now!”
***
