Chapter 1 - The Paper Trail of Betrayal
The name printed on the scanned credit card receipt glared at David through the glow of his computer screen. Chloe Sterling. She had already been using his last name, testing it out, when she paid thirty-five thousand dollars in cash advances to a corrupt hospital administrator to wipe Clara’s admission records from the server.
David felt a physical sickness twist in his gut.
He didn't scream. He didn't smash the crystal decanter sitting on his desk. The sheer magnitude of his failure demanded total, absolute silence. He picked up his encrypted cell phone and dialed Marcus again.
"Did you trace the man from the hotel surveillance?" David asked, his voice dead of all emotion. "The one Clara supposedly had an affair with?"
"I did," Marcus replied grimly. "His name is Julian Cross. He's a struggling actor from Los Angeles. He filed bankruptcy two years ago, but suddenly bought a condo in Malibu a month after your divorce was finalized. The wire transfer came from an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. An account linked directly to Chloe's brother."
David closed his eyes. The breath rattled in his chest. "And the diamond brooch?"
"Planting it was easy, David. The security guard who 'found' it in Clara's drawer? He was fired from his last job for accepting bribes. Chloe hired him three weeks before the incident."
May you like
The entire narrative—the affair, the theft, the betrayal—had been a masterclass in manipulation. Chloe had orchestrated a flawless theatrical production to remove Clara and slide into her place, and David had handed her the knife to do it. He had thrown his pregnant wife into the streets because his ego was too fragile to demand the truth.
"Find Clara," David whispered, the command tearing at his throat. "I don't care what it costs. I don't care how many men you have to put on the ground. Find her tonight."
