Chapter 1
The ambient noise of the L’Orangerie dining room faded into a dull hum the moment Julian asked the question. He sat motionless across the white linen tablecloth, his dark tailored suit hugging his broad shoulders, his short beard trimmed to perfection. Elena had just finished smoothing the lapel of her black blazer dress, her pearl earrings catching the warm glow of the crystal chandelier. When the waiter stepped away with the payment terminal, the silence between them thickened like cooling glass.
Julian’s gaze remained fixed on the center of the table. He did not blink as he adjusted his black tie with a slow, deliberate movement.
“Shall we split it?” Julian asked softly.
Elena stopped mid-motion, her hand hovering over the zipper of her black quilted handbag. She let out a dry, humorless breath that carried no warmth.
“Split it?” Elena repeated, her voice rising just enough to cut through the quiet elegance of the room. “After three years of building an empire together, you want to divide a truffle pasta and a bottle of Bordeaux fifty-fifty?”
“I want clarity, Elena,” Julian replied, his voice a low, steady baritone that betrayed no frustration. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Clarity is a funny word for cowardice,” she shot back, her dark eyes narrowing as she stared straight into his unreadable face. “You aren’t looking for fairness. You’re looking for a clean break so your conscience doesn't prick you when you sign the final dissolution papers tomorrow morning.”
“Let’s not make a scene here, Elena,” Julian said, his fingers drumming a slow rhythm against the edge of the leather menu folder. “We agreed to keep this civilized. You wanted out of the penthouse. You wanted the accounts unfrozen. I complied with every demand your high-priced corporate attorneys drafted.”
“And you kept the holding company,” Elena snapped, her chest rising and falling beneath the plunging neckline of her dress. “You kept the offshore accounts that bear my signature as much as yours. Don’t act like a benevolent benefactor, Julian. You’re cutting me out piece by piece.”
“The gold card you just handed the waiter was linked to the primary corporate fund,” Julian reminded her, his expression hardening by a fraction. “Which means you just charged this dinner to the company we are dissolving. Technically, you just split it with yourself.”
Elena froze. She slowly pulled her hand back from her handbag, her fingers trembling slightly despite her best efforts to stay composed.
“You knew,” she whispered, the color draining from her cheeks. “You knew the card was still active.”
Julian didn’t answer right away. He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a small, heavy silver flash drive, and placed it gently on the table between them.
“That drive contains the decryption keys to the encrypted wallet,” Julian said quietly. “All eleven million dollars are on it. Take it, walk away, and let’s pretend we never met.”
Elena stared at the silver metal glinting under the restaurant lights, her heart hammering against her ribs. She reached out slowly, her fingers brushing the cold casing, but before she could pick it up, Julian’s phone on the table lit up with a silent text notification, illuminating his face in a harsh blue glow. He glanced down at the screen, and for the first time all evening, the color completely drained from his face.
May you like
“Don’t touch it,” Julian whispered, staring at the message. “Someone just accessed our secure vault at the downtown branch.”
***
