“Goodbye, Brandon.”
“Wait.”
I didn’t.
I ended the call.
Serena looked at me.
“That was risky.”
“Yes.”
“Also useful.”
“Very.”
She tapped her pen once.
“He didn’t deny it.”
“No,” I said. “He didn’t.”
By evening, Brandon’s Instagram post was gone.
So were several older posts.
Photos of the mansion disappeared. Captions about “building together” vanished. A video of him giving a toast at my acquisition dinner was deleted.
But people had screenshots.
People always had screenshots.
Mara sent me three.
Then Melissa finally called.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
“Natalie,” she said, breathless. “What is happening?”
I stared out at the darkening mountains.
“Why?”
“Brandon called Daniel. He said lawyers are involved. He said you’re trying to destroy his family.”
“Did he mention stealing from me?”
A long silence.
“He said it was complicated.”
“It isn’t.”
Melissa exhaled shakily.
“I didn’t know.”
“No one did.”
“I’m sorry about my text.”
I closed my eyes.
The apology landed somewhere bruised but not broken.
“Thank you.”
She lowered her voice.
“Natalie, there’s something you should know. Brandon asked Daniel for a loan last month.”
My eyes opened.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“Did Daniel give it to him?”
“No. He thought it was weird.”
“What did Brandon say it was for?”
Another pause.
“He said he needed liquidity before a major legal settlement.”
My heart began to pound.
“What settlement?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
After we hung up, I gave the information to Serena.
Her expression darkened.
“Legal settlement could mean debt. Extortion. A pending claim. Or he was lying.”
“With Brandon, assume all four.”
She almost smiled.
Almost.
At 10:38 p.m., the gate intercom rang.
I was alone in the kitchen, drinking tea I hadn’t wanted.
The security screen lit up.
Ashley stood at the gate.
No makeup. Hair pulled into a messy knot. Coat wrapped tight around her body.
She looked nothing like the woman who had arrived with suitcases and entitlement the day before.
I pressed the talk button.
“What do you want?”
Her face crumpled.
“Natalie, please. I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
“Please. Brandon doesn’t know I’m here.”
“That doesn’t make this better.”
She looked over her shoulder toward the road.
“I have something.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Proof.”
The word slipped through the speaker like a key sliding into a lock.
I should have called Serena first.
I should have told Ashley to send it through attorneys.
Instead, I watched the screen as Brandon’s recently divorced sister stood shivering outside my gate with fear written across her face.
And against my better judgment, I opened it.
But not the house.
I met her outside beneath the covered front entrance, with cameras recording everything.
Ashley walked up slowly, clutching a padded envelope to her chest.
Her eyes were red.
“I didn’t know at first,” she said.
I said nothing.
“I knew Brandon was moving money. I thought…” She swallowed. “I thought it was his. Or yours together. Linda said married people share everything.”
“How convenient.”
She flinched.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
