Chapter 8: The Hidden Ledger
Before Julian could articulate the fury boiling in his veins, a soft knock echoed from the direction of the service hallway. Both Julian and Clara turned sharply toward the sound. Thomas, drenched and holding a large umbrella, stepped out from the corridor, his face grim.
"Mr. Julian," Thomas said respectfully, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on his employer. "I checked on Mrs. Martha. Elena has her wrapped in blankets in the staff quarters. She's drinking warm tea, but... she's shivering badly. The doctor needs to be called immediately."
Julian closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, a silent prayer of gratitude escaping his lips. "Thank you, Thomas. Call Dr. Henderson right now. Tell him to bring his emergency kit and come through the rear entrance."
"Right away, sir," Thomas nodded, pulling out his phone as he retreated back toward the kitchen.
Julian turned his cold, dead gaze back to Clara. Any lingering hesitation in his heart had turned to ash. He reached into the inner pocket of his ruined, rain-soaked suit jacket and pulled out a sleek leather portfolio. He unzipped it, extracting a thick sheaf of legal documents bound with a red ribbon.
Clara frowned, stepping back defensively as Julian approached her with the papers. "What is that?" she asked, her voice dropping an octave as a cold knot formed in her stomach.
"This," Julian said calmly, though his hands trembled with suppressed rage, "is the asset audit I commissioned last week when I noticed discrepancies in our joint corporate accounts. I didn't want to believe it. I thought maybe it was a clerical error." He flipped open the folder, displaying a series of signed bank transfers and property deeds. "You didn't just target my mother, Clara. You’ve been systematically liquidating my mother's remaining trust accounts and transferring the funds into offshore accounts registered under your maiden name."
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Clara’s face lost every trace of color. She stared at the papers, her mouth opening and closing silently like a fish out of water. "You... you were investigating me?"
"I trusted you," Julian corrected her coldly. "That was my mistake. But the law doesn't care about trust. It cares about embezzlement, elder abuse, and fraud."
