Chapter 2: The Second File
Part 2 ⬇️
The sound came through every speaker in the ballroom.
Vanessa's voice, warm and laughing: "He has no idea.
He never did."
Julian's answer: "After today it won't matter."
Then Vanessa again: "Patricia made sure of it.
The account transfer goes through tonight."
Three hundred people heard every word.
Graham didn't move.
He stood with broken glass around his shoes and his hands completely still at his sides.
Julian took one step toward him.
"Graham, let me explain—"
"Don't." Graham's voice didn't rise.
That was the worst part.
He didn't shout.
He just said it once, quietly, and Julian stopped walking.
Vanessa turned to the room with her smile still fighting to hold.
"This is edited.
Someone tampered with it.
Claire did this."
I hadn't moved from my seat.
Every person near me had watched me sit there the entire time.
My mother grabbed Vanessa's arm and pulled her close, whispering something fast and sharp.
Then Graham's father rose from the front table.
He was a tall man.
Quiet at every dinner I had ever heard about.
He reached into his jacket and placed a folded document on the table in front of Graham.
"I received this three days ago," he said.
"I didn't want to believe it."
Graham looked down at the document.
His jaw tightened.
Lily was still standing at the microphone.
"There's a second file on the drive," she said softly.
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What's inside that second file — and what did Graham's father know three days ago?
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The truth goes deeper than anyone in that ballroom expected.
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