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CHAPTER 43 ### Xander's POV — "The Call"
publish date:
2026-10-02 05:06:06
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Signed, Sealed, Sinful CHAPTER 46 ### Lara's POV — "Three Words"
I walked for forty minutes.The city at six in the evening was loud and bright and completely indifferent to everything happening inside me, which was exactly what I needed. I walked until my hands were cold, then put them in my pockets and kept going.The letter was in my coat pocket.I hadn't read it again since the hallway, but I could feel it there, folded along its creases, eight years old and finally delivered to the wrong person because the right person was gone.Richard had written it to my mother.He'd written her full name at the top: Ada Grace Emmanuel. He'd written it the way you write someone's name when you want them to know you're speaking directly to them and not to anyone else.He had listed what he knew, the inspection report, the date it was signed, the repairs that were scheduled and never completed, the decision he had made to defer the work until the next quarter because the budget was tight. He had written: "I made a business decision on a day that should have b
Signed, Sealed, Sinful CHAPTER 45 ### Xander's POV — "What He Handed Her"
I saw them from the doorway.Lara standing still in the corridor, my father holding out a folded page, the rest of the board filing past them both like water moving around two stones.I stayed where I was.This was not my moment to step into.My father said something I couldn't hear at the distance, and Lara took the paper from him with two hands, the way you accept something you already know is heavy. She looked at it without opening it first, just holding it, like she was taking a breath before going in.Then she unfolded it.She read standing up, perfectly still, and I watched her face from across the corridor.I have spent enough time studying Lara's face to know its geography. I know the way her jaw tightens when she is angry. I know the soft, surprised movement around her eyes when something is funny. I know the very particular stillness that comes over her when she is absorbing something large.That stillness was on her now.She read slowly. Whatever was on the page was long, s
Signed, Sealed, Sinful CHAPTER 44 ### Lara's POV — "In That Room"
The board room was on the thirty-second floor, all glass on one side and dark wood on the other, and it fit twenty people around a single long table.I counted them when we came in at nine fifty-five. Eighteen board members, three lawyers including Franklin, one court-appointed observer from the fraud inquiry, and Albert Crawford, who arrived at exactly ten o'clock with two associates and sat at the far end of the table like someone who had already decided how the morning would go.He looked at me once when he sat down.I looked back at him until he looked away.Xander opened the session at two minutes past ten. He kept his voice level and moved through the formal items without wasting time, and I sat to his right, next to Franklin, with my notebook open and my pen in my hand.Albert's lawyer stood first.His name was Gerard, and he was tall and well-dressed and moved through his argument like someone who had practiced it many times. He presented the fraud motion, quoted Tonia's state
Signed, Sealed, Sinful CHAPTER 43 ### Xander's POV — "The Call"
The London board member's name was Diane, and she answered her phone on the first ring, which meant she'd been expecting me."Mr. Williams," she said."Diane. Thank you for taking this call.""You have fourteen minutes before my next meeting," she said. "Use them."I used them. I told her about Tonia's statement, about Casandra's unauthorized building access, about the counterclaim Franklin had filed. I told her Albert's filing was built on fabricated evidence passed through a paid informant, and that the court already had documentation to that effect.Diane listened without cutting in.When I finished, she said: "That's a compelling argument for the counterclaim. It doesn't tell me why I should vote against suspension at tomorrow's board session.""Because suspending the trust transfer rewards manipulation," I said. "Albert has spent six months trying to destabilize this company through illegal means. If the board votes to pause the transfer based on his filing, it sets a precedent t
Signed, Sealed, Sinful CHAPTER 42 ### Lara's POV — "Still Here"
Mirabel set my coffee down at eight-fifteen and said: "Good morning. You look like you slept.""Four hours," I said."That's more than Xander," she said, and walked back toward her station.I opened my laptop and pulled up the statement Xander and I had released the night before. Three business outlets had covered it, two in neutral terms, one with a slightly skeptical headline but fair body text. The photo Casandra had taken had not been published.Not yet.I opened my design files for the hotel project and worked through two layout revisions until nine AM, when Franklin called."The counterclaim is filed," he said. "It argues that Albert's court motion is built on evidence obtained through a coordinated campaign of corporate espionage, citing Tonia's cooperation statement and Casandra's unauthorized server access.""How strong is it?" I said."Strong enough to matter," Franklin said. "Not strong enough to guarantee dismissal before the board session.""When is the board session?""T
Signed, Sealed, Sinful CHAPTER 41 ### Xander's POV — "Benjamin's Warning"
Benjamin was at the office at seven-fifteen the next morning.He had four files spread across the conference room table and a coffee in each hand when I walked in, and the fact that he was holding two coffees meant he had been here long enough to drink one and start on a second and had brought the third for me."Say it," I said, taking the cup he held out."Casandra's lawyer responded to Franklin's criminal complaint at midnight," Benjamin said. "He's arguing she didn't break and enter because her visitor badge was legitimately processed at the front desk.""Her visitor badge was processed under a stolen vendor account.""Her lawyer argues she had implied permission from a previous visit." Benjamin shook his head. "It's a reach, but it buys her time.""What about the phone camera?""She'll say it was taken from a public vantage point," Benjamin said. "The building across the street is not restricted access. Her lawyer will argue anyone could have taken that photo."I set my cup down.
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