Chapter 6 - THE THIRD WOMAN

There was another woman.

Of course there was.

Her name was Nina Cole.

Thirty-nine.

Corporate recruiter.

Married.

Julian had been seeing her for six months.

Camilla found out three weeks earlier.

She stayed anyway.

That told me something about the relationship.

It was never love.

It was competition.

Julian had built a small economy around women trying to be chosen.

Camilla handed over messages.

Not because she wanted truth.

Because she wanted Julian hurt.

Useful motives still produce evidence.

One message from Julian to Nina read.

AUDREY WILL BE OUT AFTER THE PROMOTION.

Another.

CAMILLA THINKS SHE’S GETTING THE PUBLIC ROLE.

LET HER.

Another.

IF NORTHSTAR CLOSES, I’LL CONTROL THE BOARD THROUGH AUDREY.

I stared.

He thought marriage gave him access to my vote.

He thought once he became president, I would support him.

He did not know I was Northstar.

But he believed whatever I owned would eventually bend around him.

Then came the worst message.

Nina asked.

WHAT IF AUDREY FINDS OUT ABOUT THE VENDOR MONEY?

Julian replied.

SHE SIGNS WHATEVER I PUT IN FRONT OF HER.

My stomach dropped.

Rebecca looked at me.

“What did you sign?”

I thought.

Mortgage papers.

Tax documents.

Foundation forms.

A pile of year-end household documents Julian brought home in December.

My throat tightened.

“We need everything.”

We pulled signatures.

One document stood out.

A personal guarantee.

Twenty-five million dollars.

My name.

My signature.

Aurelia vendor financing.

I had never seen it.

But the signature looked real.

Too real.

Julian had copied my digital certificate from a family trust package.

He had pledged me as backstop for company obligations.

If Aurelia defaulted, creditors could pursue me personally.

And if the document held—

I might be majority owner of the company and guarantor of its hidden debt.

Julian had built a trap before he knew I was buying the company.

Then Leon found something else.

The guarantee supported one vendor.

Redwood Strategic Procurement.

The same vendor receiving millions.

Owner of record.

Nina Cole’s brother.

Camilla stared.

“She knew?”

Maybe.

Then Nina disappeared.

Her office empty.

Phone off.

Flight booked.

Destination.

Lisbon.

Julian looked sick.

Not because she was running.

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Because she had the original vendor ledger.