Chapter 9 - Nathan Had Built a Fake Company Inside a Real SecretNathan's phone went directly to voicemail.
His company access had been disabled before Maddox finished the second call.
Silas handled it.
“Freeze his credentials.”
The Mercer Development IT director asked why.
“Internal investigation.”
“Does Maddox approve?”
Maddox took the phone.
“Yes.”
Within twenty minutes, Nathan was locked out of company systems.
Then Elise Brennan, outside counsel to the company, joined remotely.
Maddox told her the essential facts.
Not the affair.
That could wait.
Unauthorized payments.
Hartwell.
A shell company impersonating Blue Hollow.
Potential credential theft.
Elise did not waste time.
“Preserve everything. Nobody deletes emails. Nobody contacts Tessa Ward until we image accounts.”
Brielle sat silently.
Maddox looked at her.
“You're going to help.”
“With what?”
“Every transfer.”
“My lawyer should be here.”
“That is probably wise.”
She stared at him.
There was pain in her face now.
Maybe grief over the marriage.
Maybe fear of prosecution.
Maddox could no longer tell.
That loss of certainty was its own kind of grief.
Brielle called an attorney.
Until she arrived, she refused substantive questions.
Eleanor, meanwhile, provided records from the genuine Blue Hollow.
No incoming Hartwell funds.
No account in the bank Nathan had shown Brielle.
Silas compared registration numbers.
Different state.
Real Blue Hollow Capital LLC was a Delaware entity.
Fake Blue Hollow Capital Partners LLC had been formed in Wyoming eleven months earlier.
Registered agent service.
Anonymous ownership.
Banking in Nevada.
Maddox stared.
“Nathan built it.”
“Likely,” Elise said. “But prove, don't assume.”
Tessa Ward became the next link.
Hartwell's official owner.
She called Brielle seven times.
Brielle ignored them.
On the eighth, her lawyer had arrived.
Catherine Wynn was sharp, calm, and visibly unhappy with her client.
She listened.
Then asked Brielle:
“Did you knowingly submit false invoices?”
Brielle looked at Maddox.
Catherine repeated:
“Do not look at your husband. Look at me.”
Brielle nodded.
“Yes.”
Maddox felt sick.
“How many?”
“Six.”
“Were services actually provided?”
“No.”
“Where did you believe the money was going?”
“To an investment Nathan arranged.”
“Did you personally receive any?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred seventy thousand.”
“Where is it?”
Brielle swallowed.
“Some is gone.”
“How much?”
“About one hundred eighty.”
Maddox stared.
“What did you spend it on?”
Catherine held up a hand.
“My client will answer me.”
Brielle whispered:
“Apartment.”
Maddox's heart sank again.
“What apartment?”
No answer.
Then he understood.
For Nathan?
For them?
Brielle began crying.
“Tessa found it.”
Catherine's expression changed.
“Found what?”
“The apartment.”
“Who uses it?”
Brielle closed her eyes.
“Nathan and me.”
Maddox stood and left the room.
He walked downstairs.
Past family photographs.
Past the framed wedding picture.
Past a photograph of Nathan holding Ivy at her baptism.
He entered the kitchen and gripped the counter.
For several minutes, he did nothing.
Silas eventually appeared.
“Want me to leave?”
“No.”
Silas stayed near the doorway.
Maddox said:
“I almost hit you.”
“I know.”
“I believed her before you spoke.”
“Yes.”
“Why aren't you angrier?”
Silas gave a humorless smile.
“I am.”
“Then say it.”
“You want another thing to punish yourself with?”
Maddox looked at him.
Silas continued.
“You were wrong. You stopped before you actually hit me. You watched the evidence.”
“Because you had a camera.”
“Yes.”
“What if you didn't?”
Silas hesitated.
“That question matters.”
Maddox looked away.
Brielle had known exactly what he would do.
That was why she chose the accusation.
She knew he would protect her first and investigate second.
She had weaponized his love.
Silas sat.
“I turned the camera on because I knew she was desperate.”
“How?”
“She came to my office yesterday.”
“What happened?”
“She asked how much I knew about Hartwell.”
“And?”
“I lied. Said almost nothing.”
“Why?”
“To see what she'd do.”
“She invited you here.”
“Yes.”
“And you expected something.”
“I expected bribery.”
Maddox laughed bitterly.
“Not assault.”
“No.”
“Why use the baby camera?”
“Because I didn't want to secretly record audio on my phone and create legal questions. The camera is yours. She knew it existed.”
“She forgot.”
“She stopped noticing it.”
Maddox nodded.
Familiar things became invisible.
Like Nathan.
Like Brielle's resentment.
Like his own habit of believing peace meant nothing was wrong.
Silas's phone buzzed.
Elise.
She had a preliminary trace.
The fake Blue Hollow account had received $330,000 from Hartwell.
Within forty-eight hours, $250,000 moved again.
Destination:
A company called Ash & Vale Interiors.
Maddox frowned.
“Interior design?”
Silas searched.
A Nashville boutique firm.
Owner:
Tessa Ward.
Brielle's college friend.
Then another transfer.
$70,000 from Ash & Vale to a private account.
Nathan Cole.
Silas looked at Maddox.
Nathan had not merely built the channel.
He was taking money at both ends.
Maddox's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman spoke.
“Maddox? This is Tessa.”
He turned toward the room where Brielle sat with counsel.
“What do you want?”
Tessa sounded frightened.
“I need to tell you something before Brielle does.”
“About Hartwell?”
“Yes.”
“Talk.”
“She thinks Nathan loves her.”
Maddox closed his eyes.
“I know about the affair.”
“No.”
Tessa's voice dropped.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“Nathan has another woman.”
Maddox stared.
“Who?”
Tessa hesitated.
“Your mother.”
For one absurd second, Maddox thought she meant romance.
Then Tessa clarified.
“Not like that.”
She breathed.
“He's been meeting Eleanor privately for months.”
Maddox looked toward his mother.
She was still upstairs.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“But Brielle found out last week.”
Maddox's stomach tightened.
“And?”
“She thinks Eleanor and Nathan are trying to take Blue Hollow away from her.”
Brielle had no ownership in Blue Hollow.
Yet she believed something was being taken.
Then Tessa said:
“That is why she needed Silas gone before Friday.”
“What's Friday?”
A pause.
“The vote.”
Maddox stared.
“What vote?”
“Mercer Development's board is voting to sell the company.”
Maddox stopped breathing.
May you like
There was no sale vote scheduled.
At least none he knew about.
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