Chapter 2 - What the Camera Actually RecordedMaddox did not pause the recording again.
Brielle begged him to.
That was exactly why he kept watching.
On-screen, Silas remained near the doorway.
He never approached her.
His hands stayed visible.
“You asked me here,” he said.
Brielle crossed her arms.
“I wanted to give you one chance.”
“For what?”
“To stop digging.”
Maddox frowned.
He looked toward Silas.
“Digging into what?”
Silas kept his eyes on the video.
“Keep watching.”
Recorded Brielle walked toward the window.
“You've been asking questions at Mercer Development.”
“I own forty percent of the company.”
“You've been asking the wrong questions.”
“According to who?”
“According to me.”
Silas laughed.
“You don't work there.”
“No. I'm married to the man who controls it.”
“Forty-five percent isn't control.”
“It will be.”
Maddox stiffened.
Brielle spoke over the video.
“I was angry. I said things.”
“Quiet,” Maddox said.
She stared at him.
He had never spoken to her that way.
The recording continued.
Silas:
“Does Maddox know about Hartwell Advisory?”
Brielle stopped moving.
Maddox looked at his brother.
“What is Hartwell Advisory?”
Again Silas said:
“Keep watching.”
Brielle on the video turned slowly.
“What about it?”
“Three payments. Eight hundred thousand dollars total.”
“So?”
“From Mercer Development.”
“I don't handle company payments.”
“You approved two through Maddox's executive portal.”
Brielle's face changed.
Maddox paused the recording.
“What?”
Brielle stepped forward.
“He's lying.”
“That's on the camera.”
“He's making accusations.”
Maddox turned to Silas.
“What executive portal?”
“The finance authorization app you use.”
“I've never given Brielle access.”
Silas looked at him.
“Then somebody logged in from your home office on nights you were traveling.”
Brielle interrupted.
“Anyone could do that.”
Maddox stared at her.
“Anyone?”
She realized the mistake.
Silas resumed the recording.
Brielle said:
“You don't know what you're looking at.”
Silas:
“I know Hartwell Advisory was incorporated fourteen months ago.”
“So?”
“I know its mailing address belongs to your college roommate.”
Brielle stopped.
Maddox's jaw tightened.
“Which roommate?”
Silas answered now.
“Tessa Ward.”
Maddox knew her.
Tessa had been a bridesmaid at their wedding.
Brielle spoke quickly.
“Tessa runs several consulting businesses.”
Silas looked at her.
“Hartwell has no website, no employees, no phone number, and no evidence it ever provided Mercer Development a service.”
Maddox looked back at the screen.
Recorded Brielle stepped closer to Silas.
“Listen carefully.”
He did not move.
“You love your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop.”
“Why?”
“Because Maddox doesn't survive another family scandal.”
Silas's face tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“You know exactly what it means.”
“No.”
Brielle smiled.
“Your father's investigation nearly destroyed him. Your mother's drinking nearly destroyed him. If people discover his wife has been stealing from his company…”
Maddox froze.
Brielle turned away from the television.
“Turn it off.”
Maddox did not.
Silas on-screen said:
“Interesting choice of words.”
Brielle realized what she had said.
“I didn't say I stole anything.”
“You just did.”
“I said if people discover.”
“Discover what?”
She became angry.
“You think you're smart.”
“No. I think you're scared.”
Then came the most important section.
Brielle walked toward Silas.
He backed away.
She followed.
“You want to be the hero?”
“I want to know where the money went.”
“You want your brother to choose you.”
“This isn't about us.”
“It has always been about you two.”
Silas shook his head.
“You're trying to turn this into something emotional because you don't have an explanation.”
“I have an explanation.”
“Let's hear it.”
Brielle looked toward the hallway.
Then said:
“You attacked me.”
Silas stared.
“What?”
“You cornered me.”
His expression changed.
“Brielle.”
“You grabbed my shirt.”
“Don't.”
“You threatened me when I wouldn't kiss you.”
Silas stepped backward.
“Stop talking.”
Brielle smiled.
“Why?”
“Because the camera is on.”
Her eyes snapped toward the bookshelf.
For the first time, she saw it.
The green light.
Everything changed.
She looked at Silas.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You set me up.”
“No.”
Silas's voice remained calm.
“I protected myself.”
Brielle looked toward the hallway again.
Then she made her decision.
She pulled her own hair.
Ripped her sleeve.
And screamed.
Maddox stopped the recording.
Nobody spoke.
He stood in the same room where thirty minutes earlier he had nearly punched his brother.
Silas looked at him.
There was no triumph in his face.
Only hurt.
Maddox remembered how quickly he had attacked.
No question.
No hesitation.
Brielle cried softly now.
These tears looked different.
Maddox could not tell whether they were real.
That disturbed him more than anything.
Silas spoke.
“I didn't want you to find out like this.”
Maddox looked at him.
“Find out what?”
“Hartwell.”
“How long have you known?”
“Three weeks.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I was trying to make sure.”
Maddox turned to Brielle.
“Where did eight hundred thousand dollars go?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't steal it.”
“Then explain.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because it isn't mine to explain.”
Maddox stared.
“Whose is it?”
Brielle looked toward Silas.
Something passed between them.
Silas saw it too.
Then Brielle said:
“Ask your brother why he was investigating me instead of telling you.”
Maddox turned.
Silas looked suddenly uncomfortable.
Brielle saw her opening.
“You think he's protecting you?”
She laughed weakly.
“He's been keeping secrets too.”
Maddox frowned.
“What secrets?”
Brielle wiped her face.
“Ask him what your father left him before he died.”
May you like
Silas went completely still.
And for the first time since the camera began playing, Brielle was not the only person in the room who looked afraid.
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