Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER BEHIND THE SMILE
At 11:19, I made a decision everyone hated.
I was going to the board meeting.
My mother said no.
My father said absolutely not.
Ethan said it with such force that Leah actually flinched.
I waited until they were finished.
Then I told them I was still going.
“You are thirty-four weeks pregnant,” Ethan said.
“Yes.”
“You were nearly attacked in a hospital less than twelve hours ago.”
“Yes.”
“And now you want to walk into a building controlled by my brother?”
“Yes.”
He stared at me.
I put a hand over my belly.
“Julian built this plan because he believes I’m fragile, emotional, and easy to manipulate. I’m done letting that assumption make decisions for me.”
My father rubbed his forehead.
“There will be police.”
“Good.”
Naomi stepped in.
“She may be right.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“The suspension is based partly on the claim that Ava attacked Leah. If Ava and Leah appear together, that narrative collapses.”
Leah nodded.
“I’ll go.”
“No,” I said immediately.
She looked surprised.
“You were held in a motel room an hour ago.”
“So were you almost attacked at a hospital.”
“Fair.”
For the first time since she entered my baby shower, a small, genuine smile passed between us.
The board meeting took place on the thirty-second floor of Mitchell Tower.
By 11:50, news vans were already outside.
Someone had leaked everything.
Cameras turned toward us when we stepped from the SUV.
I walked beside Ethan.
Leah walked on my other side.
The sight of the three of us together caused a burst of shouting from reporters.
“Mrs. Mitchell, did your husband have an affair?”
“Is the baby his?”
“Did you assault the other woman?”
I kept walking.
Leah stopped.
For one terrifying second, I thought she would run.
Instead, she turned toward the cameras.
“My baby is not Ethan Mitchell’s,” she said clearly. “I lied because I was threatened.”
The questions exploded.
She kept going.
“I was paid to enter Ava Mitchell’s home and make a false claim. The man who instructed me is connected to this company.”
Then she turned and walked inside.
The lobby became chaos behind us.
Upstairs, the boardroom doors were closed.
Security officers blocked Ethan.
“He’s suspended.”
Naomi handed them a letter from the detective confirming an active criminal investigation.
It changed nothing.
Julian had planned the rules carefully.
Then the doors opened.
Julian stepped out.
He wore a charcoal suit and a calm expression.
For a man whose plan was collapsing on live television, he looked remarkably composed.
His eyes moved from Ethan to Leah.
The calm cracked.
Only for a second.
Then he smiled.
“Leah.”
She went pale.
“Julian.”
His gaze dropped to her belly.
A strange intimacy passed between them.
Not love.
Possession.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“She wants to be,” I said.
Julian looked at me.
“Ava, I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”
I almost laughed.
“You sent her into my house.”
He shook his head sadly.
“You’re upset. I understand.”
There it was.
The same tactic from the file.
Emotional pregnant woman.
Unreliable.
He turned toward Ethan.
“You’ve always been good at getting people to protect you.”
Ethan took one step forward.
I touched his arm.
Not because Julian didn’t deserve anger.
Because Julian wanted it.
A camera phone appeared at the end of the hallway.
He was still building a story.
So I smiled.
“Julian,” I said, “what is Northline Urban Renewal?”
His expression barely changed.
But Calvin Price, standing inside the boardroom behind him, did.
That was enough.
Naomi saw it too.
Julian shrugged.
“No idea.”
“Interesting.”
I took out my phone.
“Because we have a recording of you discussing a transfer to it.”
Calvin stepped forward.
“This conversation is over.”
My father appeared from the elevator with two detectives.
Calvin stopped.
One detective asked him to come downstairs for questioning.
He refused.
Then he demanded a warrant.
The detective smiled.
“We have one for your office. We’re giving you the courtesy of walking with us.”
For the first time, Julian looked uncertain.
But he still had the board.
He returned to the room and closed the doors.
The vote began without Ethan.
We were not permitted inside.
Through the glass wall, I could see twelve directors seated around a long table.
Julian stood at the far end.
Naomi checked her watch.
“Once they approve the reserve transfer, we can still freeze it legally, but it becomes harder.”
“How long?” I asked.
“Minutes.”
Leah suddenly gripped my arm.
“What?”
She was staring at Calvin as he entered the elevator with detectives.
“His briefcase.”
“What about it?”
“He never lets anyone touch it.”
My father heard her.
“Why?”
“I saw Julian give him a second phone yesterday. He said it had the authorization token.”
Naomi’s eyes widened.
The reserve transfer required two-factor authentication.
If Calvin had the token, the transaction could not complete while his phone was in police custody.
Unless there was another token.
Julian took out his phone inside the boardroom.
Naomi swore.
“He has one too.”
The directors began raising their hands.
One.
Two.
Three.
Votes in favor.
Ethan stood beside me, helpless.
I could feel his frustration like heat.
Then Leah whispered, “There’s another way.”
She pulled the black pendant recorder from her purse.
“I never turned it off at the baby shower.”
I looked at her.
“So?”
“It syncs to an account Julian created for me.”
Nora, who had just arrived, understood first.
“If he’s logged into that account anywhere, we can see the device history.”
Naomi took the recorder.
“Maybe more than that.”
They connected to Leah’s account.
A laptop appeared in the device list.
MITCHELL-EXEC-07.
Julian’s.
Still active.
And beside it was a cloud folder automatically receiving Leah’s recordings.
But it held more than Leah’s audio.
It held files uploaded from Julian’s laptop.
Dozens of them.
Including one titled FINAL TRANSFER.
Naomi opened it.
The beneficiary was not Northline.
Northline was only a pass-through.
The final destination account belonged to a trust in the Cayman Islands.
The authorized beneficiary was named in plain text.
CALVIN PRICE.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Julian had not been stealing with Calvin.
He had been stealing for Calvin.
Or so he thought.
Then Naomi opened a second document.
A private agreement.
If the transfer succeeded, Julian would receive only ten percent.
Calvin would receive the rest.
I looked through the glass.
Julian was smiling as another director raised a hand.
He believed he was about to win.
He had no idea his attorney had already planned to betray him.
And suddenly I understood our only chance.
“Don’t stop the vote,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
Ethan frowned.
“Ava?”
May you like
I pointed at the boardroom.
“Let Julian finish.”
