جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

I wheeled my suitcase out. She held the doorframe and didn’t follow.Later, Elio entered the board member’s office, shut the door, and placed a manila envelope on the desk.The director looked up at the security camera in the corner.“I know you’re handling the third report. Sigourney’s been here for years. You know who deserves to stay.”The director opened the envelope. Inside was a report with its conclusion already written.“The review isn’t finished, and you already have a result?”Elio pushed his phone across the desk. A transfer confirmation screen was open.“All you have to do is read this one at the press conference. Nothing else will come back on you.”The director didn’t touch the phone. Elio’s smile faltered.“Fifty million dollars. Enough to give your family any life they want. What are you worried about?”The director held the report against the desk and slowly looked up.“You’re sure you’re willing to pay that much to put Ansel in prison?”Elio leaned closer, lowering hi

The second report went up on the screen, its findings outlined in red.Tess read them out.“The firm Ansel commissioned reached the opposite conclusion. All the evidence submitted against him was fabricated. The photographs were composites, and the bank documents don’t match the original records.”Elio’s tapping fingers stopped. Then he picked up his water glass, hiding his mouth.The reporters holding microphones glanced at one another.“How can the same materials produce completely opposite results?”Sigourney grabbed a printed copy and flipped to the page with the firm’s stamp.“Ansel, you chose this firm. Did you pay them to fake this for you?”I turned toward her.“You haven’t even read it, and you’ve already decided I paid them off?”“The photos and transactions are real! You’d go this far just to get away with it?”I gave a bitter smile and placed the first report in front of her.“Aren’t you and Elio the ones who paid off a firm?”She stared, then looked up at me.“What are you

Elio sent the photographs to her phone and gently took her hand.“Then keep them. You don’t have to use them. But if he changes his mind, at least you’ll have a way to make him listen.”Sigourney looked down at the files she had received, her finger hovering over the delete option.“As long as he backs down, we never mention them. You can still protect him.”She closed the page and put her phone back in her bag.“Don’t give these to anyone without my permission.”Elio nodded, adjusted her coat for her, and let a small smile creep over his face.At the press conference, Sigourney released Elio’s collar and turned to the bank record on the screen.“That fifty million. Is that the money I gave you?”He swallowed and reached for her hand.“Listen to me first. There are too many people here. Let’s find somewhere we can talk.”She shook him off and pointed at the amount.“You said you’d made arrangements with people inside the prison! That this money would keep Ansel from being abused in the

She pressed her lips together and looked at her lawyer. He signaled for her to answer truthfully.“No. I just told Finance to pay it first. I could sort it out afterward.”“So you knew this wasn’t company business. And you knew the payment was being made under a contract for services that didn’t exist.”Sigourney gripped her ring, her knuckles white.“I thought I could pay it back! Ansel never used to make an issue of things like this. He wouldn’t let this happen to me.”Her lawyer pushed a glass of water closer. She didn’t touch it.“Explain what you did. Your husband’s past attitude doesn’t authorize a payment.”The investigator laid several delivery receipts for luxury goods beside the contract.“Were these to protect Ansel, too?”She looked at the photograph of the half-million-dollar watch and slowly lowered her head.In the station hallway, I signed my statement and set down the pen.My attorney said, “The prosecution will handle the criminal case. We’ll file separately for divor

My attorney handed the list of marital assets to the judge.“We ask that the marital assets be divided according to the agreement already upheld by the court. The company’s losses and other damages will be pursued separately.”The judge turned the last page, then looked up.“The marriage is dissolved. All divisible marital assets will go to Ansel under the terms of the agreement.”The gavel fell. Sigourney’s head snapped up.I took off my wedding ring, put it in my document folder, and stood.“You’re just leaving? Seven years of marriage, and all that’s left is paperwork?”I stopped. She braced herself against the table and rose.“The paperwork just makes what’s already happened official.”The bailiff approached her. She looked at me desperately.“What about the criminal trial? Are you really going to testify against me?”Several weeks later, the criminal trial began.I sat in the front row of the gallery. Sigourney and Elio each sat beside their defense attorneys.The hired driver was