Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire Who Bought My Silence: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 15

POV: LUCAS REEDThe name Damien Vale stayed on my screen long after Gabriel stopped talking.The access report showed that Damien’s administrative account had been used to renew the surveillance contract, but Adrian had warned me that an account name was not proof of personal approval, and right now, I needed to know who else could use it before deciding what the report meant.Gabriel arrived at my studio carrying a folder and two coffees. He placed one beside me and studied the report.“This doesn’t prove Damien renewed it himself,” he said.“I know. Adrian told me.”“An administrative account can be shared. Someone may have used his login, or the system may have recorded the account owner even if another employee submitted the request.”“So we have a name, but not the person behind the keyboard.”“Exactly. We need the access history.”I showed him the company name and renewal date. He agreed to check the security provider’s records and identify the employees who had permission to us

POV: LUCAS REEDThe agreement arrived while I was working on a damaged landscape painting in my studio. Julian Mercer had sent it with a short message asking me to review the terms before our next meeting. I expected rules about handling valuable artwork, but the confidentiality section made me stop reading.The foundation could restrict the release of any information it considered commercially sensitive. It could also delay publication while its legal team reviewed the material. The wording was broad enough to cover evidence that my mother's paintings had been taken without her permission.I called Gabriel and sent him the document. He read it while I waited, then called me back.“This is not just about keeping private client details out of the papers,” he said. “They can use this clause to stop you from sharing evidence if they decide it could hurt the foundation.”“What if the evidence proves the paintings were stolen?”“They could still argue that releasing it would harm their bu

POV: LUCAS REEDThe name beside the seller's signature was my mother's, but that did not mean she had agreed to give away her painting.I read the acquisition record again in the foundation's meeting room. Julian had arranged for the original document to be examined under the supervision of an independent conservator. The paper was kept flat beneath a clear cover, and every person who handled it had signed a record.The signature looked like Eleanor Reed's. I knew her handwriting from birthday cards, notes left on the kitchen table, and letters from my childhood. The long curve of the E and the way she pressed harder on the final stroke were familiar.I leaned closer without touching the page. “The signature appears genuine.”Julian looked at me. “Does that settle it?”“No. It tells us she may have signed this paper. It doesn't tell us what she was told or whether the document was later used for something else.”The wording bothered me, It described a transfer of rights to an appointe