บททั้งหมดของ Bound by Deception : บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

It took less than two days for the fabricated documents to leak beyond the courtroom. Nadia woke to her phone buzzing incessantly, message after message flooding in, until she finally forced herself to look at what had triggered the sudden storm.A headline, stark and damning, splashed across one of the city's largest news outlets: *Hale Heiress Implicated in Decades-Long Fraud and Murder Conspiracy.*"No," Nadia whispered, scrolling through the article with mounting horror. The piece cited "leaked court documents," reproducing portions of Julian's fabricated evidence as though its authenticity had already been established, painting Nadia as a calculating operative who had married into the Hale family specifically to access its fortune and bury her father's murder for personal gain.Damian found her frozen at the kitchen table, phone trembling in her hands, and his expression darkened as he read the article over her shoulder. "This is Julian," he said grimly. "He's using the media the

Diane Foster looked considerably more nervous than she had during her first unannounced visit weeks earlier, glancing repeatedly toward the windows as Ms. Reyes led her into the study."Thank you for seeing me," she said quickly. "I know it's late, but when I saw the phone number mentioned in the news coverage, I couldn't stay quiet any longer.""You recognize it?" Damian asked, urgency cutting through his exhaustion."I do," Diane said. "I worked in Eleanor's office for years, remember. That number belonged to a phone she kept for what she called 'delicate arrangements.' I saw it dozens of times on her desk, on call logs I wasn't supposed to see but occasionally did anyway." She hesitated, fear flickering across her features. "It was never Nadia's number. It was Eleanor's."Nadia felt something loosen slightly in her chest, the first genuine relief she'd felt in days. "Are you certain?""Completely," Diane said. "I can provide documentation, old office records that still list that nu

Priya worked through the night, and by morning, she arrived at the estate with Diane's notarized statement and the corroborating office records, exhaustion evident but determination steady in her expression."It's not everything," she cautioned as they prepared to leave for the board meeting. "But it's enough to introduce reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the phone records specifically."The boardroom felt different this time as they entered — no longer the triumphant setting of Eleanor's exposure, but something colder, more clinical, board members exchanging wary glances as Damian took his seat at the head of the table.The chairman opened the session without preamble. "We're here to vote on a temporary suspension of Mr. Hale's active leadership role, given the ongoing public scandal surrounding recent allegations against his wife. Before we proceed, Mr. Hale, do you have anything to present in your defense?"Damian rose, steady despite the tension radiating through the room

The paternity test results came back within days, definitively confirming what Nadia's mother had insisted all along — Edward Voss was, without question, her biological father. Julian's team's challenge collapsed almost immediately once the results were filed, one more fabricated obstacle cleared from their path.But the relief was short-lived, overshadowed entirely by the far more concerning possibility of a signed renunciation document buried somewhere in decades-old estate records."If it exists," Priya said, reviewing everything they knew about the paperwork Nadia's mother had signed, "it could genuinely complicate any inheritance claim, regardless of the paternity confirmation. Renunciations, if properly executed, are difficult to challenge even when signed under emotional duress, unless we can prove genuine fraud or misrepresentation in how they were presented.""My mother said she didn't fully understand what she was signing," Nadia said. "Doesn't that count as fraud?""It migh

The café was crowded enough to feel safe, security discreetly positioned at nearby tables, though Nadia's nerves remained taut as she waited for Sandra Whitfield to arrive. The woman who eventually approached looked younger than Nadia expected, sharp-eyed and visibly nervous despite her professional composure."Mrs. Hale," Sandra said, sliding into the seat across from her. "Thank you for agreeing to meet somewhere I imagine felt safer for you.""Let's not waste time on pleasantries," Nadia said carefully. "You said you wanted to explain everything. I'm listening."Sandra glanced around the café before continuing, her voice dropping lower. "Eleanor approached me about a year ago," she said. "Before any of this became public, before Julian resurfaced. She offered considerable money for information about the Hale family's legal affairs, framed initially as simple due diligence for a business matter she claimed to be pursuing.""Did you know what she actually intended?" Nadia asked."Not