Chapter 2 - The Paper Trail
The black Maybach glided smoothly to the curb outside the Lake Forest estate just as the front gates clicked shut behind me. Naomi stepped out of the passenger side, her sharp tailored coat cutting an imposing figure against the evening mist. She didn't waste time with useless platitudes. She took one look at the bundled car seat in my arms, then at the hospital discharge band still circling my wrist, and her jaw hardened into granite.
"Get in," Naomi said gently, opening the rear door for me. "The car has heated seats and the nursery suite at the penthouse is already sanitized, stocked, and staffed with two board-certified neonatal nurses."
As I settled into the plush leather, carefully shielding Willa from the chill, a heavy sigh escaped my chest. The pain from my surgical incision throbbed with every breath, a raw reminder that five days ago my body had been sliced open to bring life into this world—while my husband was figuring out how to funnel my family’s fortune into another woman's lap.
"Talk to me," I said, leaning my head against the headrest. "Give me the numbers."
Naomi opened her tablet and slid into the seat across from me. "Over the past fourteen months, Trent utilized his position as senior project director at Apex Developments—which, as you know, Cedarline acquired under a private holding entity six months prior—to sign off on bogus subcontracts. The invoices were billed under 'B&D Consulting Logistics.'"
"B and D," I murmured, my voice colder than ice. "Brynn and Darlene."
"Precisely," Naomi confirmed, swiping through the financial audits. "Seven point four million dollars routed directly into an offshore account in the Caymans, with secondary payouts funding Brynn’s luxury high-rise lease, her jewelry, and your mother-in-law's monthly country club dues. They thought Apex was just a mid-tier regional developer with slack corporate oversight. They had no idea Cedarline owned ninety percent of the debt."
"And Trent honestly believes he built this life," I said, a bitter laugh catching in my throat.
"He believes whatever his mother feeds him," Naomi replied cleanly. "He thinks you're an orphan whose modest family trust paid for a down payment on a house. He has no clue that your family trust *is* Cedarline. What do you want to do first?"
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I looked down at Willa, who was sleeping peacefully, her tiny fingers curled against the fleece blanket. Trent had looked at this innocent child and seen nothing of value simply because she wasn't a boy to carry on his mediocre name. Darlene had sneered at her as if she were an inconvenience.
"Cut the arteries," I whispered. "Cancel every single corporate card issued under Apex to Trent. Lock down the Lake Forest villa's mortgage servicing account. And freeze the offshore transfers before Brynn tries to move the remaining balance. Let's see how much Trent smiles when his gold-plated reality turns to rust."
