“Who is going to prove it?” Richard asked. “The copy in the corporate office has already been updated. This is the only original left.”

I looked at the stack of ledgers in his arms.

Among the dark leather, I could see the edge of a thick, blue legal folder.

It had the seal of the Whitmore Family Trust stamped on the front in gold foil.

My heart did a slow, heavy thud.

That was the document Hayes had told me about.

The one that proved Richard had forged Nathan’s signature to strip Lily of her birthright.

“If you burn that, you go to prison,” I said, my voice cutting through the damp silence of the room.

Richard laughed, a dry, hacking sound that echoed off the concrete walls.

“In this city? With my lawyers?” Richard sneered. “A tragic accident in a private residence. A faulty wire. A small fire. Nothing more.”

He raised his hand slightly, the flame licking the air just beneath the bottom ledger.

“Nathan, please,” I whispered, my hand reaching out to touch his back.

I could feel the tension in his muscles, wound tight like a spring.