Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4 — The Audit
Diane recovered first because women like her mistook volume for power.
“This is absurd,” she snapped. “You came into my home pretending to be some helpless little nobody.”
I looked around the dining room.
The gold accents.
The chandelier.
The cream walls.
The expensive table where they had fed themselves superiority for years.
“Your home?” I asked.
Diane’s mouth tightened.
Arthur answered before I could.
“This property is held under a Bellamy-backed residential trust connected to Mr. Morrison’s executive compensation package.”
Diane went pale.
Brendan looked at Arthur.
“That’s not true.”
Arthur opened another document.
“It is.”
Jessica slowly pushed back from the table.
“I should go.”
“No,” Arthur said.
She froze.
“Your consulting invoices are part of the review as well, Ms. Vale.”
Jessica’s face emptied.
Brendan turned to her.
“What invoices?”
I looked between them.
There it was.
Another lie inside the lie.
Arthur glanced at me.
I nodded.
He continued.
“Ms. Vale received payments through a marketing vendor connected to Mr. Morrison’s division. Several invoices appear fraudulent.”
Brendan’s eyes widened.
Jessica whispered, “You said no one would check.”
The words fell into the room like a dropped knife.
Diane sat down hard.
For months, I had suspected Brendan was not only unfaithful.
He was reckless.
A man who believed rules were for smaller people eventually touched money that was not his.
That was why Protocol 7 existed.
Not revenge.
Containment.
Protection.
Evidence.
Brendan pointed at me.
“You set me up.”
I stared at him.
“No. I gave you privacy. You filled it with proof.”
His face darkened.
“You think because you have money, you can destroy people?”
I touched my belly.
“No. I think because I have a daughter, I refuse to let people like you teach her that humiliation is love.”
For the first time that night, Diane looked at my stomach not with disgust, but fear.
Not fear for the baby.
Fear of inheritance.
Fear of losing access.
Fear of a child connected to the woman she had just tried to break.
Her voice softened instantly.
“Cassidy, sweetheart, emotions are high. We all said things.”
“You poured water over me.”
“It was a joke.”
“Then laugh.”
Nobody did.
Arthur closed the folder.
“Security will escort all nonessential guests to the front hall. Mr. Morrison, you will surrender company devices. Mrs. Morrison, a car is waiting whenever you are ready.”
Mrs. Morrison.
The name sounded strange now.
Like a coat that no longer fit.
Brendan heard it too.
He stepped closer, desperate replacing arrogance.
“Cassidy, listen to me. We can fix this. We have a child coming.”
“Our child is the reason I am done fixing you.”
His eyes reddened.
“I made mistakes.”
“You made choices.”
“I was angry.”
“You were cruel.”
“My mother pushed things too far.”
I looked at Diane.
Then back at him.
“And you enjoyed watching.”
Brendan had no answer.
That silence was the first honest thing he had given me all night.
I picked up the cloth napkin from the table and wiped water from my wrist.
My hands were still shaking, but my voice was calm.
“Arthur, begin full termination review. Preserve all footage. Notify the board I will attend remotely in twenty minutes.”
Arthur nodded.
“Yes, Madam Chairwoman.”
Diane flinched at the title.
I was glad.
Not because I needed the title.
May you like
Because she did.
Some people only recognize humanity when it comes with power attached.
