Chapter 5 - The Web Expands
We collided against the heavy mahogany desk, scattering papers across the hardwood floor.
Cassandra fought with a feral, terrifying energy, scratching at my face with her manicured nails. I managed to pin her wrist against the desk, forcing her to drop the weapon. The gun clattered across the floor and rolled under the sofa.
"Get off me!" she screamed, dropping all pretense of elegance. "You ruin everything, Matthew! You were supposed to be the stupid, workaholic husband who never looked at the bank accounts!"
I pulled a pair of heavy zip-ties from my jacket—tools from my field kit—and bound her wrists securely behind her back. I stood up, breathing heavily, wiping a small smear of blood from my cheek where her nail had cut me.
"It's over, Cassandra," I panted, retrieving the gun from under the couch and dropping the magazine into my pocket.
"You think this ends with me?" she hissed from the floor, her eyes burning with pure malice. "You have no idea how deep this goes, Matthew. Your father’s company... you think he died of a heart attack? You think your precious family legacy is clean?"
My blood ran cold. "What are you talking about?"
"Ask your uncle Richard!" she laughed hysterically. "Who do you think introduced me to your family? Who do you think opened the offshore accounts for me? Julian isn't just my lover, Matthew... he’s Richard’s illegitimate son!"
The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet. Uncle Richard was my father’s elder brother, the chief legal counsel for the family estate trust, and the man who had delivered the eulogy at my father's funeral.
Before I could digest her words, the front door downstairs crashed open. Heavy footsteps echoed through the entrance hall, moving rapidly toward the stairs.
I grabbed Cassandra by the shoulder, pulling her up, and pushed her into the small storage closet behind the study desk, locking it from the outside.
May you like
I picked up the ledger, tucked the gun into my belt, and stepped out into the hallway just as a tall man in a dark suit reached the top of the stairs.
It was Julian Vance. And behind him stood my Uncle Richard, holding a leather briefcase.
