Chapter 4 - The Price of Silence
Daniel did not let Nolan inside.
Instead, he stepped onto the front porch and closed the door behind him.
Natalie watched through the security feed.
Claire remained in the living room under Evelyn’s stare.
Ethan sat quietly with an ice pack against his cheek.
Outside, Daniel faced the man he had considered a friend.
Nolan was forty-six, silver beginning to show in his dark hair, always precise and controlled.
Tonight, he looked tired.
“You saw the footage?” Nolan asked.
Daniel’s eyes sharpened.
“How do you know there’s footage?”
Nolan exhaled.
“Claire called me.”
“When?”
“After you played it.”
Daniel thought of the brief moment everyone had been distracted by Ethan’s cheek.
Claire must have used her smartwatch or another device.
“What are you doing with my wife?”
“That isn’t the question you should be asking.”
“What’s Lakebridge?”
Nolan glanced toward the windows.
“Not here.”
“We’re talking here.”
Nolan lowered his voice.
“There are things about the company you don’t understand.”
Daniel nearly laughed.
“I’m the CEO.”
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Daniel stared at him.
Nolan continued.
“You run operations. You know customers, suppliers, warehouses, people. Robert trained you for that.”
“And finance?”
“Robert trusted me.”
“So did I.”
“You still should.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“My wife just staged a sexual assault accusation against my brother.”
Nolan looked away.
That was enough.
“You knew.”
“I knew she wanted Ethan removed from the shareholder vote.”
“You knew what she planned?”
“No.”
Too quick.
Daniel grabbed Nolan’s jacket.
Immediately, he remembered Ethan.
The slap.
He released him.
Nolan straightened his collar.
“Control yourself.”
Daniel laughed once.
“Don’t ever say that to me again.”
Nolan’s expression softened.
“Daniel, if you blow this up tonight, you could destroy the company.”
“Explain.”
Nolan glanced toward the house again.
“Lakebridge isn’t what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“A theft operation.”
“Is it?”
Nolan said nothing.
Daniel’s heartbeat quickened.
“How much?”
“Go inside.”
“How much money?”
Nolan swallowed.
“About one-point-eight million.”
Daniel stared at him.
For a moment, all sound disappeared.
The fountains.
Traffic beyond the gates.
The wind through the oak trees.
One-point-eight million dollars.
“From my company?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“Some came from corporate accounts. Some from transaction reserves.”
“You stole it.”
Nolan’s face tightened.
“It was supposed to be temporary.”
Daniel almost smiled at the absurdity.
“Money has a habit of becoming permanent when criminals take it.”
“Lower your voice.”
“Why?”
“Because if lenders hear about irregularities before the sale—”
“There is no sale.”
Nolan stared at him.
“There has to be.”
Daniel suddenly understood.
The private-equity offer.
Eighty-six million.
The urgency.
The pressure on Ethan.
“You need the sale to cover the missing money.”
Nolan shook his head.
“To prevent a covenant breach.”
“That’s the same thing with nicer language.”
“No.”
“Who owns Lakebridge?”
Nolan didn’t answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Nolan.”
The CFO closed his eyes.
“Claire.”
The word landed softly.
Daniel felt it like a blade.
“My wife owns the company?”
“Not directly.”
“Who?”
“A Nevada holding company.”
“Beneficial owner?”
Nolan hesitated.
“Claire controls it.”
Daniel looked through the glass toward the living room.
Claire was standing beside the fireplace.
Even through the window, she seemed composed.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
The woman he had married six years earlier.
The woman who had held his hand beside his father’s deathbed.
The woman who had learned Ethan’s favorite birthday cake recipe because she said he deserved to feel included.
“How long?”
Nolan rubbed his jaw.
“Two years.”
Daniel felt nauseous.
“Why?”
“It began with Claire’s investment.”
“What investment?”
Nolan gave him a tired look.
“You really don’t know.”
Daniel said nothing.
Nolan laughed bitterly.
“She bought into a Richmond redevelopment project through a private partnership. Luxury condos. The project collapsed.”
“How much?”
“Initially? Seven hundred thousand.”
Daniel stared.
“We didn’t have seven hundred thousand in personal cash.”
“No.”
Understanding arrived slowly.
“She took company money.”
Nolan looked toward the ground.
“And you helped her.”
“I moved funds.”
“Why?”
“She promised to replace them after refinancing.”
“And when she couldn’t?”
“We created Lakebridge.”
Daniel’s fists clenched.
“You invoiced my company for fake services.”
“Some services were real.”
Daniel nearly hit him.
He stopped himself.
Nolan saw it.
“Ethan noticed,” Nolan said.
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“He notices patterns.”
Of course he did.
Ethan loved numbers.
Schedules.
Repeating structures.
He could remember invoice sequences better than most accountants.
Nolan continued.
“He started asking why Lakebridge invoices always appeared three days before internal transfers.”
Daniel remembered Ethan’s blue folder.
“What were you going to do?”
“Get through the acquisition.”
“By taking away Ethan’s vote.”
Nolan’s silence answered.
Daniel looked toward the house again.
His brother was inside with an ice pack on his face because Daniel had become the weapon Claire needed.
“How much did Claire tell you about tonight?”
Nolan hesitated.
“Not enough.”
“Did she tell you she was going to accuse Ethan of rape?”
“No.”
Daniel studied him.
This time, he believed him.
Nolan was guilty.
But he was also frightened by Claire.
That mattered.
“Then why are you here?”
Nolan looked Daniel directly in the eyes.
“Because Claire has copies of documents with your electronic signature.”
Daniel went still.
“What documents?”
“The ones that make it look like you authorized everything.”
Daniel felt cold.
Nolan’s next words were barely above a whisper.
“If this becomes a criminal investigation, Claire isn’t planning to go down for stealing from your company.”
May you like
He glanced through the window at Daniel’s wife.
“She’s planning to make it look like you did.”
