Chapter 3 - The Audit Trail
The next morning, the sunlight cutting through the penthouse windows was pale and cold.
Simone sat at a mahogany writing desk, surrounded by encrypted flash drives, printed bank statements, and the thick forensic audit files she had spent the last three months compiling in secret. Her bandaged hand made typing awkward, but her focus was absolute.
The door opened silently, and Julian walked in carrying a steaming ceramic mug of black coffee. He placed it beside her laptop without interrupting her workflow.
"You've been awake since four," Julian observed, pulling up a leather chair opposite her.
"If I stop looking at the numbers, reality catches up," Simone replied without looking up from the screen. She scrolled down to a highlighted line of transactions. "Look at this. Three weeks before the wedding, four hundred thousand dollars was transferred from the father-in-law's medical escrow account into an offshore shell company registered in the Cayman Islands under the name Vance Holdings."
Julian leaned forward, his dark eyes scanning the data. "Matteo’s holding company. He used your father’s life savings to put down the earnest money on the North Side commercial plaza."
"Which is currently zoned for demolition and redevelopment," Simone added, looking up to meet his gaze. "A development that your corporation holds the primary construction lien on."
A slow, appreciative smile spread across Julian’s face. "You have a remarkable mind, Simone. Most people in your position would have spent the night crying over a ruined dress and a broken family. You spent it tracing cash flows."
"Crying doesn't pay for my father's nurses," she said softly, turning away from his intense gaze. "And it certainly doesn't stop Matteo from throwing people to the marble floor."
Julian’s expression hardened instantly. The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by the lethal, calculating edge that made rival syndicate bosses lose sleep.
"Matteo won't be throwing anyone anywhere by tomorrow morning," Julian said quietly. "My legal team filed an emergency injunction freezing all of Vance Holdings' assets at midnight. By noon, federal investigators will be seizing his office computers."
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Simone’s breath hitched. "Federal investigators? Won't that drag my father's name into it? Deline too?"
"Your father’s name is listed as the primary victim of corporate embezzlement," Julian explained calmly. "As for Deline... she chose her husband. Now she gets to share his portfolio."
