Chapter 13 - The Blackmail Ledger
The next morning, Marcus Vance entered Nora’s top-floor office without his usual composure. He placed an encrypted tablet on her desk alongside the recovered signal scrambler from the previous night’s ambush.
“The courier was an operative on Lucian Moreau’s payroll,” Marcus said gravely. “He wasn't trying to hurt anyone physically. He was hired to install a hardline tap directly into your primary server and upload forged medical records to the Department of Child and Family Services.”
Nora leaned forward, her gaze turning to steel. “What kind of records?”
“Fabricated psychiatric evaluations claiming you suffered severe postpartum psychosis during your stay in Washington,” Marcus explained. “Lucian filed an emergency custody injunction in an international court this morning, claiming the Moreau syndicate holds legal conservatorship over the Vance trust due to your alleged mental instability.”
Nora stood, walking over to the glass wall overlooking Lake Michigan. “Camille is directing this from inside federal prison. She’s using her family’s offshore legal network to take Clara.”
“There’s one more thing,” Marcus added, hesitating. “The man who tackled the operative at the door wasn't private security. It was Julian.”
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Nora’s expression didn't soften, but her hand tightened around her crystal pen. “Julian is trying to buy back his conscience with heroics.”
“Perhaps,” Marcus said quietly. “Or perhaps he knows that Lucian Moreau’s syndicate was the original entity that funded Eleanor’s plot to bankrupt your father eight years ago. Julian just walked into the federal prosecutor’s office this morning with Eleanor’s private personal diaries—documents he recovered from their seized country estate.”
