Chapter 4: The Name She Wouldn't Say
Clara didn't answer.
She walked to the window and stood with her back to the room, her phone pressed flat against her stomach, her shoulders drawn up close to her ears.
Julian followed.
"Clara."
"I said it doesn't matter."
"You're shaking."
"I'm fine."
"You were threatening us thirty seconds ago.
Now you won't turn around." He stopped two feet behind her.
"Who is calling you?"
She turned then.
Her face had changed completely.
The smugness was gone.
What was left was something Julian hadn't seen on his sister's face in years.
Maybe ever.
She looked cornered.
"His name is Derek," she said finally.
Julian waited.
"He's the one who told me about the texts.
About the woman from your office." Clara's voice dropped.
"I didn't find those on my own.
He showed me.
He said he could get more.
That if I ever needed leverage against you, he could help me build a case."
Elena had gone very still near the armchair where Aria slept.
"Who is Derek?" Julian said.
"He said he worked in finance.
We met at a fundraiser eighteen months ago.
He knew who you were before I introduced myself.
He knew your company, your clients, your address." Clara pressed her lips together.
"I thought he was just well-connected."
"And now?"
"Now he's been calling me every day for three weeks.
Asking if I've used the information yet.
Asking what you've said about your business dealings.
Asking about your clients." She looked at Julian directly for the first time.
"He's not interested in your marriage, Julian.
He never was.
He was using me to get to you."
Julian's chest went cold.
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing.
I don't know anything about your business."
"What did you tell him, Clara?"
Her jaw tightened.
"I told him about the fundraiser you're hosting next month.
The one for the Alderton account.
He already knew about it.
He just wanted confirmation of the date."
The name landed on Julian like a hand closing around his throat.
The Alderton account was not public.
It had not been announced.
The only people who knew the details were Julian, his two senior partners, and the client's own legal team.
Elena crossed the room in four steps.
"Julian.
Look at me."
He looked.
"Do you know who Derek is?"
"Not yet." He turned back to Clara.
"What does he look like?
How old?
What firm did he say he worked for?"
Clara described him in short, clipped sentences.
Mid-forties.
Dark hair going silver at the sides.
Said he worked for a firm called Meridian Capital.
Drove a black Range Rover.
Always paid cash.
Julian pulled out his phone.
He opened his contacts, scrolled, and stopped.
He turned the screen toward Elena.
She looked at the name.
Then at Julian.
"That's Marcus Hale's associate."
"Yes."
"Julian—" Her voice dropped.
"Marcus Hale has been trying to acquire the Alderton account for two years."
"I know."
"If he knows the date of the fundraiser—"
"I know." Julian was already dialing.
He pressed the phone to his ear and walked toward the hallway.
Clara stood in the center of her own living room looking at the space where her leverage used to be.
It had taken her eighteen months to collect it.
It had lasted less than ten minutes.
"I didn't know," she said.
To Elena.
To the room.
To no one in particular.
Elena looked at her.
Not with anger.
With something that was almost worse.
"No," Elena said.
"You didn't.
Because you were so focused on hurting us that you didn't stop to ask why a stranger was handing you the tools to do it."
Clara's phone buzzed a third time.
She looked at the screen.
The name read: DEREK.
She held it out toward Elena without a word.
May you like
Elena looked at the screen.
Then she took the phone from Clara's hand.
