Chapter 9 - FIONA'S FINAL LIE
Fiona did have access.
She also lied about one thing.
The necklace.
Matthias had bought it.
Yes.
But the storage key inside was Fiona's idea.
And she had given Peter Vale a copy.
Why?
Because Peter told her Richard was being framed.
Fiona trusted her cousin.
That mistake gave him the Hensley evidence.
Then Peter used it to manipulate everyone.
He fed selected information to Richard.
More to Daniel.
Different pieces to Eleanor.
Blackmail to Fiona.
Threats to Sabrina.
He wasn't working for one side.
He was building his own position.
Why?
Money.
Peter controlled several short positions through offshore entities.
If Dre collapsed, he made hundreds of millions.
Richard wanted control.
Daniel wanted status.
Eleanor wanted Charles removed.
Peter wanted destruction.
That made him most dangerous.
Then Fiona admitted something else.
The anonymous envelope sent to me?
She sent it.
I stared.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why not call me?”
“Because Peter monitored my phone.”
“Why Adrian's office?”
“Sabrina told me he was clean.”
Fiona had warned me.
Not enough to erase sleeping with my husband.
But enough to explain why she looked terrified rather than smug at the party.
I asked:
“Why wear the necklace?”
“Because Sabrina's evidence was inside.”
“Why walk in on his arm?”
She looked ashamed.
“Because Peter expected it.”
The affair itself had become cover.
If everyone believed Matthias and Fiona were simply reckless lovers, nobody looked closely at what they were passing.
I laughed bitterly.
“You managed to betray me and protect me in the same dress.”
Fiona's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
That was probably the most honest sentence between us.
Then Peter disappeared.
Northglass offices emptied.
Accounts drained.
One destination:
A private airfield outside White Plains.
Police moved.
His jet remained.
Peter didn't.
He had switched vehicles.
Then Sabrina finally surfaced.
She walked into Adrian's office at 2:13 a.m.
Alive.
Carrying a backpack.
Inside:
The original Dre trust amendment.
Peter had been looking for it.
Why?
Because everyone had misunderstood one clause.
The outside trustee did not automatically receive control during Matthias's incapacity.
The guardian of his biological child did.
Me.
Even if fake paternity claims surfaced, the trust required court adjudication before removing my proxy.
Peter could not simply bypass me.
Unless I was incapacitated too.
I put one hand over my stomach.
Sabrina looked at me.
“That is what Birthright means.”
Peter wasn't planning to kill Matthias.
He was planning to make both of us medically unable to act during delivery.
Then a temporary emergency trustee could step in.
Richard.
For seventy-two hours.
Enough time to move assets.
May you like
Enough time to sign Hensley.
Enough time to destroy Dre.
