The glow of Reid’s laptop cast shadows across the living room. It was quiet, almost eerily so, except for the faint hum of the laptops connected to the TV to watch videos, and the soft shuffle of paper as they combed through old articles and videos from that night.They, thankfully have figured out most of the issues that had happened that day but now they want to know the after. What had happened after the incident?Raees scrolled idly through another YouTube rabbit hole on her tablet, lips pressed in a thin line. “Half of these are blurry uploads from ancient camcorders. What exactly are we hoping to find anymore?”“Anything the official story tried to bury,” Reid muttered without looking up, his focus narrowed on an old PDF clipping of a news column.She gave a small sigh, about to scroll past another video, until her finger froze mid-air. Something about the timestamp and the headline. Her voice stuttered. “Wait. I think I might have found something important."R
Holland’s hands shook as he gripped the edge of the folder. “You’re asking me to sign away my life’s work! You are my brother, do you have to make your point so cruelly?”“I’m not asking of you,” Rowland snapped, his voice cracking like a whip, all the meaningless laughter gone from his face. “I’m telling you. You want your precious wife back? Then prove you love her more than you love your damned empire. Sign it, and it will all end like it never happened.”Holland’s throat tightened. Images of Shauna, pale and crying behind the iron bars, rushed at him. The headlines, the whispers, the media they will never be able to prove otherwise to. His chest ached so fiercely he could hardly breathe.He closed his eyes.His pride screamed at him to fight, to tear the contract apart and spit in Rowland’s face. But ir will only worsen the situation, his pride wouldn’t get Shauna home. Pride wouldn’t stop her from rotting away in a cell that she had been forced into based on false accusations, an
Holland Flanagan had never known desperation quite like this.Not when a deal fell through, not when the market had once turned against him, not even when Reid was born prematurely and spent weeks in the incubator. But standing in the grim corridor of the police headquarters, knowing his wife sat behind iron bars on charges she did not deserve, something she did not do, desperation had become his second skin.For hours and hours, he had tried to call in favors with people and contacts he’d once had in law enforcement, men and women who had eaten at his table, drunk his wine, toasted to his success with laughter, they had come to cookouts and barbecues and flaunted their places where they could just say a simple word and a whole scheme will fall apart.But, unfortunately, one by one, the calls to them went unanswered. The few who picked up gave short, cutting responses such as.“There’s nothing I can do, Holland.”“It’s completely above me, I am sorry this is happening.”“You don’t wan
Shortly after Rina returns with the properly marked documents, “Income looks consistent on most of these so I guess that’s not where we will find the issues. Expenses are where the little liars hide.”She flipped to the quarterly breakdowns just like the duo had confirmed before, her eyes narrowing as she went through every line and every expense, until she comes to a stop on a particular line. “Here. Look at this, it says three million marked as ‘consultancy fees.’ Do you see a name attached?”Rina leaned in. “No vendor listed. Just a vague code number.”“Exactly.” Cecelia made a small tick with her pen. “Quarter one. Consultamcy fees? How very uncreative of whoever who created that one is.”They turned pages quickly now that they know what they are after, and what they are following.“There again,” Cecelia muttered. “Quarter two. Another three million. Same handwriting, same signature, no name for the receiver of the money either.”Rina frowned. “That’s… too clean to be an error. No
Cecelia sat behind the broad desk, the sunlight falling across the neat rows of files stacked high. The air smelled faintly of some sweet lavender scent, a quiet hum of the air conditioner keeping the room cool. She sat behind her desk, flipping through the last of the memos when a soft knock came.“Come in,” she said.Rina entered, her arms balanced around a tall stack of ledgers and files, with a slim flash drive tucked between her fingers. “Ma’am, these are the quarterly books you asked for. Everything from the last four years, the other ones are being gathered as well. Hard copies and digitized records are also available if you’d prefer those.”“Good,” Cecelia said, rising slightly to clear some very needed space on the desk. “Let’s spread them out. We’ll start with the physical ledgers, the digital ones can back us up later.”Rina laid them down carefully. “Would you like me to stay and assist, or do you have another errand you’d like me to run while you go ahead ma’am?”“You’ll
The tension shattered when Reid’s office door opened due to the commotion just outside the office. He stepped out, sharp in his dark shirt, eyes narrowing at the sight of Nathaniel holding his face, Raees standing firm before him, apparently the one who has just slapped him while George just stands to the side, looking a bit guilty.“What’s going on here?” Reid’s voice cut clean, looking over at Raees, his eyes slowly doing a once over of her face and body to check if she’s fine.Nathaniel rounded on him immediately. “Your little fiancée just assaulted me in front of your employees. You’ve let your personal life poison your professional judgment, Reid. You’re making the wrong enemies—”“Apologize.”The word came from Reid, coldly, without letting him finish the demeaning sentence he was just about to complete.Nathaniel blinked, shocked. “Excuse me?”“Apologize to her,” Reid repeated, his tone leaving no room for an argument. “I don’t know what you have done but you do not talk to my