บททั้งหมดของ Bound by Contract, Freed by Love: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Dominic’s POVI called the meeting for eight a.m. The conference room filled fast. Percival, Corbin, two members of legal, and Castillo sat around the table. I closed the door and set the tablet in front of me. I kept my voice low when I spoke.“Give me facts,” I said.Percival nodded and opened his folder. “We have Elena’s find linked to Trustee Langley & Pierce. Corbin confirmed the handwriting hit is in process. Forensics will have a read in forty-eight hours. The ledger shows a routing to a trustee account tied to Director Havel.”Corbin leaned forward. “We have a line. We don’t have a smoking gun yet. If we serve a subpoena badly, Havel will know. He will move funds and destroy evidence. He will warn allies.”I watched their faces. I kept my hands flat on the table. Inside, I had a furnace. I felt hot and cold at once. I made my voice even.“What is the risk if we wait for full forensic confirmation?” I asked.The legal counsel, Ms. Alvarez, pushed her glasses up and spoke in the

Dominic's POVI noticed she was gone before my coffee cooled. Her chair was empty. The pad with her notes sat open. The screen showed the file she had been working on. I frowned and called.No answer. The line went to voicemail.I called again. It went straight to voicemail.I felt that cold palm-squeeze in my chest. It was a small, precise panic I had learned to hush. I stood and walked to security.“Castillo,” I said when I reached his desk. “Track Elena’s badge swipe. Where did she go?”He tapped the terminal. “She left the building at fourteen-oh-two, sir. No badge back in. Her car is at the clinic valet.”“Show me the feed,” I said.The monitors blinked to life. Cameras slid through halls. I watched her move, brisk and purposeful. She passed the lobby without a look back. She took the side exit. My jaw tightened.“Did you try her cell?” I asked.“Twice. No reply. Messages left,” Castillo said.I hit the comm. “Percival, come to security. Now.”His voice was calm but sharp. “On my

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

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

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