(Julian's POV)
The television over the bar replayed Chloe’s arrest. Mascara ran down her face as officers led her toward a police car.
The clip kept looping. Handcuffs. Shouted questions. Then Chloe turned toward the camera.
“He made me do it! Julian Vance is a liar and a thief! He used me!”
My lawyers had stopped answering. The board resigned together in one email, and every news banner paired the name Vance Group with the word *fraud*.
Later, a junior lawyer I did not recognize brought a cardboard box to my apartment.
“Ms. Sterling’s remaining personal effects from her office.” He set it inside the door and left before I could answer.
It was a single box, light enough to carry under one arm. Nothing inside shifted when I lifted it.
Beneath a few pens and a spare phone charger lay
