The Judge, The Fiancée, The Frame-up

, each step a painful reminder of what they had done. But I was there. Detective Anderson had gotten me out of that sham clinic and int

w where t

new me as the man who had embezzled from them, the man Sarah' s family had so generous

eeted me at the door with a hug, her vo

find some light duties for you while you recover.

d no choice but to let me back in. A public refusal would look suspi

-numbing task of verifying old paper invoices against digital records. It wa

with a mind for patterns. And they forgot that I was the one who had taken the fa

part of the grateful, humbled employee. I kept my head dow

em to build a backdoor, a small, invisible program that would copy e

single transaction that was off. A rounding error. The kind of thing that only a m

ut it was a threa

cross-referencing vendor lists and payment schedules. The shell corporation had been receiving small,

r had committed. This was slick. Professional. It had Liam' s finge

registration. It led back to

ed the crimes, Olivia created the legal shields

other to knock. He strolled in, wearing a suit that cost m

ice. "Look what the cat dragged in. Back in the land

at," I said, keepi

against the doorframe, the picture of casual power. "Sarah tells m

xactly what he was doing, an

lding up the invoice. "A penny off.

e walked over and took the paper from

Annoyingly so. Don' t worry about it. I' ll have s

nd walked out. He wasn't just mockin

ice. She was holding a single piece

u found an err

confirmed. "

paper on my desk. "This is just a formality. Since you were the one who flag

always read the fine print now. Buried in the jargon was a clause. It stated that the signator

ection form. It

It would be my signature, my name, taking responsibility for Liam' s money laundering s

h. Her face was a blank mask, but I could see the tension in her

is time, but it wasn't a happy one. It was t

said, my voice light. "

ish. Her shoulders slumped in r

hen, I reached into the drawer and pulled out another documen

divorce

red at the papers, her fa

this?" sh

ight on my good leg. "You got what you wanted. You have your

e, leaving her standing there with the proof of her victo