My stomach turned over.

Nathan had been my friend since our college days at UW.

He was the one who had cautioned me against investing my inheritance into Victor’s first land buy.

Yet, he had stayed by Victor’s side for fifteen years, building Hayes Development from a three-man operation into a regional giant.

“Victor is going to use this,” I said.

“Of course he is,” Evelyn said. “He is drowning, Claire. He wants to drag everyone down with him to force a life raft.”

The door to the conference room opened, and a young paralegal put her head in.

“Ms. Price, the board members are starting to log into the secure call,” she said.

“Tell them we will be ten minutes late,” Evelyn said without looking up.

The paralegal nodded and closed the door.

I picked up my phone again and stared at Victor’s text.

*Show this to Evelyn.*

He knew exactly what he was doing.

He knew Evelyn’s duty as General Counsel would force her to report this to the board, which would halt the investigation into his own embezzlement.