Waitress: Keep talking, sweetie! I am getting you out right now!

Arthur immediately stood up, walking toward the security monitor. He pressed the intercom button to the guardhouse at the gate. "Who is that?"

"Sir," the voice of his head security guard, Douglas, crackled over the speaker. "It's Julian Hayes. Isabella's brother. He claims he needs to retrieve his sister's personal legal files from the guest house."

Arthur's face darkened into an expression of pure, lethal fury. "Tell him that if his feet touch my driveway, I will have him shot for trespassing."

"Wait, Mr. Montgomery," I interrupted quickly, stepping up beside him. "Don't send him away."

Arthur turned to me, frowning. "Why on earth would I let her brother set foot on my property?"

"Because if Isabella forged death certificates and set up Cayman trust funds within forty-eight hours, she needed an insider with access to state registries and banking codes," I explained, my mind working fast. "A stepmother alone can't fake a coroner's seal. Julian Hayes works for the State Department of Health, doesn't he?"

Arthur’s eyes narrowed as the legal puzzle pieces clicked together. "Yes. He is the deputy director of vital statistics for the tri-state area."

"He isn't here to collect her clothes," I urged softly. "He's here to destroy the hard drives in her private study before your attorneys can subpoena them."

Arthur looked at me, an impressed, dangerous smile spreading slowly across his face. He pressed the guardhouse button again. "Douglas. Let Mr. Hayes in. Direct him to the main house. And have four armed guards stationed silently outside the library."

Ten minutes later, the heavy front doors of the mansion creaked open.

Julian Hayes stepped into the marble foyer. He was a tall, smooth-talking man in a tailored trench coat, holding a leather briefcase. He attempted to maintain an air of aristocratic composure, but the slight tremble in his fingers and the sweat glistening on his forehead gave him away.

"Arthur!" Julian exclaimed, taking a step forward with an expression of manufactured concern. "I just heard the news on the radio! It's horrific! Absolutely horrific! I can't believe my sister would do something so monstrous! I came immediately to offer my assistance—"

"Save your breath, Julian," Arthur said, walking down the grand staircase with his hands casually tucked into his pockets. I walked two steps behind him, carrying a sleeping Leo wrapped securely in a wool blanket.

Julian’s eyes flicked to me, then down to the boy in my arms, and finally to Arthur’s icy demeanor. "Arthur, please. Isabella is mentally unstable. She lied to me too! She told me Leo was staying at a private boarding school in Vermont!"

"Is that why your official state digital signature is stamped on Leo’s forged death certificate?" Arthur asked coldly, stepping onto the marble floor.

Julian went completely pale. "I... I don't know what you're talking about. My signature key was stolen last week—"

"We haven't released the death certificate to the public yet, Julian," I said clearly, stepping forward. "Mr. Montgomery never mentioned that your signature was on it. You just confessed."

Julian froze. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He glared at me with pure, venomous hatred. "Who the hell are you? A servant? You don't speak in this house!"

"She speaks with my authority," Arthur roared, stepping directly between Julian and me. "And as of five minutes ago, my corporate legal team tapped the server logs of the Department of Health. You didn't just sign one forged certificate, Julian. You and Isabella have been liquidating dormant child trust funds across New York for three years."

Julian’s composure completely shattered. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small, sleek silver flash drive. "You have no proof that holds up in court without this primary decryption key, Arthur! Let me walk out that door, or I crush this drive right now!"

Before Julian could smash the drive against the marble floor, a sudden, sharp bark sounded from the upper balcony.

Douglas, the head of security, stepped out with his sidearm raised, while two heavy estate guards flanked Julian from behind, pinning his arms behind his back with lightning speed.

The flash drive slipped from Julian's hand, clattering onto the polished marble.