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Chapter Twenty Seven

Penulis: Scott Franklin
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-12-17 14:37:27

Elena's POV

I woke to my phone buzzing before dawn. The headline on my feed had a sharp edge: “Blackwood Inquiry: Inside Story…Was Ms. Hart Seeking Publicity?” I read it twice.

The piece hinted.

It did not state.

It planted a seed.

I felt the old shame like a cold hand. It slid across my skin and made my chest tight. I had lived with that small voice for years — the one that said I did not belong, that I should be quieter. For a moment I wanted to crawl back into the bed and hide.

I put the phone down and called Percival.

“Percival,” I said when he answered.

“Elena,” he said. His voice was already calm. “I saw it.”

“Can you be here in thirty?” I asked.

“I’ll be there.” He did not ask why.

He arrived with two cups of coffee and a folder. He set them on my kitchen table like a neutral intervention. “We deal with facts,” he said. “We do not give them room to make stories.”

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“It’s a small piece. A columnist wrote a speculative line and a couple of outlets picke
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  • Bound by Contract, Freed by Love   Chapter Thirty One

    Elena's POVI slept badly the night before. My mind kept running through answers. Percival had given me a list of likely questions and a tone to use: plain, short, and steady. James from PR had lined up the press Q&A as a controlled exercise. They called it staged, but I knew the reporters would be ready to pounce if I slipped.I arrived early. The room smelled of coffee and microphones. Grant Hale sat at the head of the panel with his notes. He greeted me with a quick nod. Percival stayed close and gave me a tiny checklist—one line per page.“You ready?” he asked in a quiet voice.“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. I kept my hands loose in my lap.Grant tapped his pen. “Ms. Hart, we’ll begin with the clinic. Then we’ll take a few questions on the investigation. We will be direct.”“That’s fine,” I said.He started with something easy. “Tell us, in one sentence, why you blew the whistle.”I looked at him and then at the cameras. I kept my voice slow. “I heard the numbers and they did

  • Bound by Contract, Freed by Love   Chapter Thirty

    Dominic's POVHer text woke me. Two short words: We got something big.I read it twice and felt the old animal wake in my chest. I did not think. I drove.The compound was the same grim row of metal doors I had seen on the camera last week. I parked a block away and walked in. Corbin met me at the gate with his usual two-step nod. He did not bother with small talk.“You came,” he said.“I did,” I answered. I handed him my badge. “Where is she?”“In Unit 44,” he said. “Forensics set up a table. Mira is there. Percival’s on call. We kept it tight.” He let the word tight hang like a plan.The folding table was a hum of lamps and paper. Elena sat with her sleeves rolled up. She looked up when I entered and for a second everything else dropped away. She did not smile. She did not need to. Her face had that precise thing I loved: focus without flourish.“You should not be here,” she said, voice low.“You sent a text that said big,” I said. “I came.”She folded a page and pushed it across to

  • Bound by Contract, Freed by Love   Chapter Twenty Nine

    Elena's POVThe compound smelled of oil and old cardboard. It was colder than I expected. Corbin led the way past a line of metal doors. He did not speak much. He never did until he had facts to share.“This is Unit 44,” he said. His voice was low. “Forensics already did an initial sweep. You good to work here?”“Yes,” I said. My hands were steady even though my heart was not. I had slept badly. I had run through numbers in my head. Still, seeing the place made the work feel more real.The techs had set up a folding table. Lamps leaned over stacks of files. One tech, Mira, nodded at me. She had been the junior analyst who found the clause. She had the same quick, bright look; she had stayed later and come here.“Gloves on,” Corbin said. “No phones. Log your entry.” He handed me a badge and a small paper slip. “Sign and time.”I signed and wrote the time. My handwriting had a slight tremor. I did not like it. I did not show it.We opened the first box together. Papers rustled. My finge

  • Bound by Contract, Freed by Love   Chapter Twenty Eight

    Dominic’s POVI arrived at the boardroom early. The table was long and cold. Chairs sat like waiting sentries. Percival and Ms. Alvarez were already there. Corbin stood at the back with a manila folder. I set my briefcase down and kept my face even.“We have a full agenda,” I said, and my voice was flat. “But first, we need to address an internal matter. Counsel will speak.”Ms. Alvarez stood and walked to the front. She had the sealed warrant in a folder. She spoke in legal lines that cut clean through the small murmurs.“Directors,” she said. “A magistrate issued sealed limited warrants this morning. They relate to trustee disbursements and trustee correspondence. We are cooperating with the court. No further comment is appropriate until counsel advises.”The room shifted. Papers rustled. I watched faces. Some registered surprise. Some did not move. Some tried to look very busy but their eyes flicked toward the door like birds.When the veteran director rose, he moved slow and with

  • Bound by Contract, Freed by Love   Chapter Twenty Seven

    Elena's POVI woke to my phone buzzing before dawn. The headline on my feed had a sharp edge: “Blackwood Inquiry: Inside Story…Was Ms. Hart Seeking Publicity?” I read it twice. The piece hinted. It did not state. It planted a seed.I felt the old shame like a cold hand. It slid across my skin and made my chest tight. I had lived with that small voice for years — the one that said I did not belong, that I should be quieter. For a moment I wanted to crawl back into the bed and hide.I put the phone down and called Percival.“Percival,” I said when he answered.“Elena,” he said. His voice was already calm. “I saw it.”“Can you be here in thirty?” I asked.“I’ll be there.” He did not ask why.He arrived with two cups of coffee and a folder. He set them on my kitchen table like a neutral intervention. “We deal with facts,” he said. “We do not give them room to make stories.”“How bad is it?” I asked.“It’s a small piece. A columnist wrote a speculative line and a couple of outlets picke

  • Bound by Contract, Freed by Love   Chapter Twenty Six

    Dominic's POVI sat in the back of the small courtroom and watched the room move like a slow animal. The lights were low. A few lawyers shuffled papers. Percival sat to my left. Corbin sat near the front. Ms. Alvarez had her notes ready. I kept my hands folded and breathed even.“State your case,” Hammond said. His voice was tired but blunt.Ms. Alvarez stood and walked to the bench with a thin folder. “Your honor,” she said, “we have a ledger entry and related documents that show a routing through Langley & Pierce Trustee Services. The routing matches transfers to accounts that benefited Director Havel. We request limited warrants for trustee records, bank logs, and device mirroring of the trustee contacts. We will present a sealed affidavit.”The magistrate read a page and looked up. “You have probable cause?”“Yes, your honor,” she said. “We have chain of custody. We have the ledger. We have preliminary handwriting indicators. We ask for a sealed order to prevent preemptive destruc

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