Chapter 16 - THE JUDGE IN THE FAMILY
Judge Richard Hayes withdrew from the case before investigators could confront him.
He claimed the assignment had been random.
It had not.
Messages recovered from Matthew’s phone showed that Richard had known about the foundation accounts for two years.
He had also signed sealed orders preventing regulators from accessing certain NexusCore records.
The Hayes family had protected Matthew long before the cane entered our penthouse.
Rebecca managed the hidden accounts.
Richard blocked investigations.
Matthew’s cousin operated the offshore companies.
His grandfather had taught them one rule.
Family protects family.
It did not matter who was hurt outside the circle.
Federal agents arrested Richard at his Connecticut home.
Rebecca accepted a plea agreement the following day.
In exchange for a reduced sentence, she surrendered the Hayes family ledgers.
The ledgers contained thirty years of bribes.
Judicial favors.
Tax fraud.
Blackmail.
Matthew’s empire had not been built from nothing.
It had been planted in poisoned soil.
The criminal trial was scheduled four months later.
During those months, Matthew’s attorneys attacked me publicly.
They released edited recordings of arguments from our marriage.
They published photographs of me drinking at parties.
They found former employees willing to call me controlling.
Privileged.
Vindictive.
None of the accusations addressed the audio from my watch.
None explained the cane.
None erased the hospital photographs.
But truth rarely prevents people from enjoying a crueler story.
One morning, I found hundreds of messages beneath an interview I had given.
LIAR.
GOLD DIGGER.
SHE DESTROYED HER HUSBAND’S COMPANY.
My mother closed the laptop.
“Do not read them.”
“They sound like him.”
“That is why he released them.”
I looked toward the garden.
“What if the jury believes him?”
“Then we continue telling the truth.”
“That sounds too simple.”
“It is simple.”
My mother sat beside me.
“Simple does not mean easy.”
Lauren prepared to testify.
Marcus did too.
Both faced prison after the trial.
Neither expected forgiveness.
The night before opening arguments, Detective Ortiz called.
Matthew had requested another meeting with me.
I refused.
Then Ortiz explained why.
“He says he will identify every Project Janus client.”
“He can tell prosecutors.”
“He refuses.”
“Then let him keep refusing.”
“He claims one client is planning to kill Lauren before she testifies.”
I looked toward the guest room where Daniel was sleeping.
Lauren and her son had been placed in protective custody.
No one should have known their location.
“Does he have proof?”
“He gave us a phrase.”
“What phrase?”
“White orchids bloom twice.”
My blood turned cold.
White orchids had decorated the penthouse.
They had also appeared at my wedding.
And that morning, a bouquet of white orchids had been delivered to my parents’ front gate.
There was no card.
Henderson immediately evacuated the house.
Agents searched the flowers.
Inside one stem, they found a listening device.
Someone had been monitoring my family.
Not Matthew.
He was locked inside a federal detention center.
Project Janus still had clients with resources.
People who could reach anywhere.
The trial was no longer only about punishing my husband.
It was the only public stage powerful enough to expose everyone behind him.
I agreed to the meeting.
Matthew entered the interview room wearing an orange prison uniform.
Without the suits and cameras, he looked ordinary.
That was the most disturbing thing about him.
He sat behind the glass.
“You came.”
“Give me the names.”
“Promise me something first.”
“No.”
“You do not even know what I want.”
“I know you.”
He smiled.
“I want protection for my son.”
“Daniel already has protection.”
“From Lauren.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Matthew leaned closer to the glass.
“Lauren was never the helpless mistress.”
“She designed the financial structure for Project Janus.”
“She chose the foundation accounts.”
“She forged your first signature.”
I thought about the birth certificate.
The vault.
The duplicate key.
“Why would she give investigators the evidence?”
“To eliminate me.”
Matthew’s eyes gleamed.
“And once I am convicted, she controls the client list.”
The guard announced that our time was nearly finished.
“Where is the list?”
May you like
Matthew looked directly at me.
“Inside the antique cane.”
