Chapter 5 - THE FATHER SHE NEVER MENTIONED
Victoria Lane was born Victoria Vale.
She changed her surname after college.
Public biographies called Richard Vale a longtime family friend.
That was technically true.
A father was family.
Sarah stared at the birth record Megan's investigator obtained.
“Julian knows?”
“We don't know.”
“He has been sleeping with the chairman's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“While paying her company millions.”
“Yes.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“How is he CEO?”
Megan closed the file.
“Possibly because somebody wanted exactly the CEO he became.”
Richard Vale had chaired Halcyon for twelve years.
He recruited Julian when Halcyon was still private.
Supported his promotion.
Protected him during failed product launches.
Negotiated bonuses.
Praised his instincts.
Julian thought Richard was a mentor.
Perhaps he was also a handler.
The special committee discovered Project Crown had bypassed multiple governance procedures.
Julian signed preliminary documents.
Richard approved them.
Victoria coordinated them.
Money moved.
But one signature was still required before closing.
Sarah's.
Because part of the bridge financing pledged JSM founder shares.
Hence the forgery.
Sarah looked at Megan.
“Why not simply ask me?”
“You had begun asking questions about Victoria.”
“And they thought I'd refuse.”
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
“Then there's your answer.”
The physical humiliation suddenly had another possible purpose.
If Sarah could be painted as unstable during divorce proceedings, Julian might seek temporary control over marital assets.
Including JSM.
Including Sarah's voting rights.
The shaved head was not proof of that plan.
But the timing was impossible to ignore.
Megan warned:
“Do not assume every cruelty is strategic. Sometimes cruel people are simply cruel.”
Sarah nodded.
“But this one happened nine days after Julian drafted an instability claim.”
“Yes.”
That afternoon Julian appeared at Sarah's home.
She did not let him inside.
They spoke through the security gate.
“You're destroying Halcyon.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“You came here to say that?”
“Three hundred employees' stock options dropped today.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Yours if you keep escalating.”
Sarah stared at the man she had loved.
He looked exhausted.
Angry.
Still handsome.
Still capable of making part of her remember Sunday mornings and hospital waiting rooms and the night he proposed in a restaurant too expensive for them.
Memory was inconvenient.
“You knew Victoria was Richard's daughter?”
Julian froze.
Sarah had her answer.
“No.”
For the first time since this began, his shock looked genuine.
“She told you?”
“No.”
“Richard?”
“No.”
Julian stepped closer to the gate.
“How do you know?”
“Birth records.”
He looked physically ill.
Sarah studied him.
“You really didn't know.”
“No.”
That did not make him innocent.
Only less informed.
He had still forged or allowed her signature to be forged.
Still had an affair.
Still watched Victoria humiliate her.
Still called her dramatic.
Julian gripped the bars.
“What else did you find?”
Sarah almost told him.
Then remembered how quickly he had filed against her.
“Ask Victoria.”
“I can't reach her.”
Sarah frowned.
“What?”
“She disappeared this morning.”
Her condominium was empty.
Her office cleaned.
Corporate laptop left behind.
Phone disconnected.
Crown Strategic Partners' bank accounts drained.
Twenty-three million dollars had been moved overnight.
Richard Vale claimed ignorance.
Julian looked at Sarah.
“I think she set me up.”
Sarah stared at him.
Then said quietly:
“You helped her.”
His face changed.
Because that was true too.
And before Sarah could walk away, Julian said:
“There is one more thing.”
She stopped.
“The signature on the loan?”
Sarah waited.
“I didn't forge it.”
“Then who did?”
Julian swallowed.
“I thought you signed it.”
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
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“Why?”
“Because Victoria brought it to me.”
