‘I married a billionaire this morning.
Apparently I can afford one now.’
For the first time, I saw anger beneath his charm.
He picked up the folder.
‘Be careful, Claire.
Gratitude is a more attractive quality than ambition.’
I held his gaze.
‘I wasn’t aware survival required either.’
He left without another word.
At midnight, I returned to the office.
The painting concealed a wall safe.
I had no combination.
The next morning, I asked Ethan.
He could stay awake longer now, though speaking still exhausted him.
He gave me four numbers.
They opened the safe.
Inside were property documents, an old watch, two sealed envelopes, and a phone wrapped in a handkerchief.
The battery was dead.
I took only the phone.
By noon, Martin Hale had quietly found me a compatible charger and a private room.
I had told him one thing: Ethan had left personal material that might affect the trust.
I did not tell him Ethan was awake until the phone turned on.
There were dozens of missed notifications from nine months earlier.
The final audio file had been recorded the night of Ethan’s crash.
Martin stood beside me as I pressed play.
At first there was traffic noise.
Then Ethan’s voice, strong and furious.
‘You moved company money through shell vendors.’
Jason answered.
‘Keep your voice down.’
‘I have the audit.’
‘You have suspicions.’
‘I have proof.’
A door slammed.
Jason’s voice became colder.
‘If you take this to Grandmother, I’m finished.’
Ethan replied, ‘That’s not my problem.’
There was a scuffle, a sharp sound, then the recording ended.
It did not prove Jason caused the crash.
But it proved he had lied about the last time he saw Ethan.
According to the family, Jason had claimed he had been in Boston that entire evening.
Martin’s face had gone gray.
‘We need Vivian.’
We brought her into the room.
She listened once without moving.
Then again.
When the audio stopped, she said, ‘Where did you get this?’
‘From Ethan’s safe.’
Her eyes narrowed.
‘How did you open Ethan’s safe?’
I looked at Martin.
Then at Vivian.
‘Ethan gave me the combination.’
Silence.
Vivian’s hand tightened around the head of her cane.
‘Explain.’
