Chapter 12 - The Poison in the Ledger
"He can’t touch you, Grace. He has an active restraining order, no corporate standing, and zero parental custody," Evelyn declared, slamming a thick manila folder onto my mahogany desk the following morning.
Rain lashed against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Vance Tower. Outside, the Boston skyline was swallowed by gray fog. Despite Evelyn’s confident reassurance, the knot tightening in my stomach refused to yield.
"He was there, Evelyn," I whispered, rubbing my temples. "He watched Noah. A man like Daniel doesn't lurk in the shadows unless he's calculating his next strike."
"Then look at this," Evelyn said, sliding a printout across the desk. Her voice had dropped an octave, shedding its usual lawyerly detachment. "Three days ago, someone attempted an unauthorized backdoor query into the Vance Family Trust. Specifically, into the trust account established for Noah's twenty-first birthday."
I pulled the paperwork closer. "Who authorized the attempt?"
"The IP address was bounced through multiple offshore VPNs, but the security protocol flagged the signature password," Evelyn replied grimly. "It was Daniel’s old executive override code. Someone is funding him, Grace. Daniel walked out of federal prison penniless. His legal fees were paid by an anonymous LLC registered in the Cayman Islands, and now he has top-tier forensic accountants probing our firewalls."
Before I could answer, my private phone vibrated violently against the desk. The screen displayed an unknown, unlisted number.
With trembling fingers, I pressed speaker.
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A rasping, familiar voice filled the silent office: *"You built quite a kingdom out of my family’s name, Grace. But you forgot one little detail. Blood is thicker than court orders. Kiss my boy for me."*
The line went dead with a click that sounded like the cocking of a gun.
