Chapter 2 - The Aspen Paperwork
Julian didn't wait for 9:00 AM.
He threw his phone into his pocket, ignored the freezing air howling through the open front door, and sprinted back out to his sedan. He slammed his foot onto the accelerator, tires screaming against the icy driveway as he sped toward the city.
His mind was a chaotic storm of denial. Isabel, he thought frantically. Isabel will help me. I transferred the Aspen property deed to her name. I still have the liquid assets in our joint commercial account.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled up outside the glass-and-steel luxury high-rise where he had bought Isabel a three-million-dollar penthouse six months ago.
He didn't take the elevator; he practically ran up the stairs to the twelfth floor, pounding his fist against her mahogany door.
"Isabel! Open the door!" Julian yelled, sweating through his expensive cashmere coat. "Isabel, we have a problem! Elena knows everything!"
The door swung open.
Isabel stood in the doorway. But she wasn't wearing the silk robe he had bought her in Aspen, nor was she looking at him with the wide-eyed adoration he had fed on for a year.
She was dressed in a sharp, professional charcoal suit, holding a leather briefcase. Standing right behind her in the foyer were two men in dark suits holding federal subpoenas.
Julian backed up a step, his jaw dropping. "Isabel... what is this?"
"Mr. Vance," one of the men stepped forward, displaying a gold badge. "I’m Agent Miller with the Special Investigations Unit of the Financial Crimes Division."
Isabel looked at Julian with a cool, detached indifference that made his skin crawl.
"I'm sorry, Julian," Isabel said, her voice completely lacking the breathless sweetness he was used to. "When Mrs. Blackwood approached me three weeks ago with the complete evidence of your embezzlement, she offered me a choice: full immunity in exchange for my cooperation and testimony, or fifteen years in federal prison as your co-conspirator."
Julian stared at her, feeling as though he had been struck in the chest with a sledgehammer. "You... you set me up in Aspen?"
"Every photograph, every hotel receipt, every wire transfer you made to my account during our trip was logged directly to her legal team in real time," Isabel replied smoothly. "She even paid for the chalet, Julian. Out of your personal slush account."
Julian’s breath caught in his throat. The romantic weekend... the champagne... the luxury... it had all been a staged trap. I had literally paid for the rope he used to hang himself.
"Julian Vance," Agent Miller announced, pulling a document from his coat. "You are being formally served with a Federal Asset Freezing Order and a Summons to appear before a grand jury regarding grand larceny, wire fraud, and corporate embezzlement."
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"This is a mistake!" Julian shrieked, backing toward the hallway elevator. "My wife is manipulating all of you! She's crazy!"
"Your wife just saved your company from bankruptcy," Agent Miller said coldly. "And right now, you don't even have enough liquid capital in your personal accounts to pay for a parking meter."
