Chapter 4 - THE ORDER MAXIMILIAN SIGNED
The harbor order authorized Julian to inspect Pier Seventeen after evidence of theft appeared in the company ledgers.
Dominic drafted it. Maximilian signed without reading the attached security change.
That change removed Julian’s usual protection team and replaced it with men loyal to Dominic.
Two days later, Julian’s car went over the ravine.
Maximilian locked himself in his study with the original file. His signature looked like an accusation.
Leah examined the metadata. “The security page was inserted six hours after you signed.”
“Then my authorization is forged.”
“Your digital certificate validated the complete packet.”
Only three people had access: Maximilian, Dominic, and Adrian Vale, head of estate security.
Maximilian remembered the night he signed. He had been late for a charity dinner and irritated that Julian kept delaying the audit. Dominic placed the tablet beneath his hand and summarized twelve pages in three sentences. Maximilian signed while fastening a cuff link.
The carelessness lasted seconds. Its consequences filled a grave.
He had always believed responsibility belonged to whoever altered a document. Now he understood how much power depended on the powerful refusing to read what others would be forced to live.
Adrian reported that Clara’s room fire destroyed no company property. He recommended terminating her and transferring her to a private clinic because her pregnancy made police detention “uncomfortable.”
Maximilian heard the threat inside the recommendation.
“No one moves her.”
Dominic entered uninvited. “The girl is manipulating you with Julian’s memory.”
“Why did you approve her employment?”
“Mrs. Gable needed staff.”
“You approved no other maid.”
Dominic sat across from him. “I wanted to know who sent her.”
“And now?”
“Now we know. Federal agents use vulnerable women. A pregnant maid carrying a dead man’s ring is theater designed for you.”
The explanation was plausible enough to be dangerous.
Maximilian went to Clara’s room and found her trying to leave through a laundry stairwell.
“If you run, Dominic’s men will find you before police do.”
“Your men burned everything I had.”
“They are not all my men.”
She looked at him. “You don’t even know which house belongs to you.”
The truth stung.
Maximilian showed her the harbor order. “Julian wrote that I should ask who signed it.”
Clara’s composure broke. “He thought you betrayed him.”
“Did you?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“Later he found proof the page was added. He tried to come back.”
“When?”
Clara touched the ring. “The night of the crash.”
She finally told him this much: Julian reached her apartment injured, bleeding, and convinced someone within the Russo organization wanted him dead. He gave her the ring and told her to disappear if he failed to return by morning.
“Did he return?” Maximilian asked.
Clara shook her head.
“Then how do you know he survived the crash?”
“Because the crash happened at 1:10 a.m.”
May you like
Her voice fell to a whisper.
“Julian was with me until three.”
