He took a slow breath, his shoulders rising and falling.

“And two investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Evelyn stood up so fast her leather chair rolled backward, striking the credenza.

“You did what?” she whispered.

“I gave them the secondary ledger,” Nathan said.

“The real one.”

“The one Victor told me he burned three years ago.”

I leaned back in my chair, the leather squeaking under my weight.

For five years, I had suspected the depth of the rot inside Hayes Development.

But hearing it spoken aloud in a sterile room made the floor feel unstable beneath my feet.

“You signed a non-disclosure agreement with this firm, Nathan,” Evelyn said, her voice rising.

“You have compromised the entire board’s legal strategy.”

“The board’s strategy was to protect Victor until the stock vested, then quiet him down with a severance package,” Nathan said.

He looked at Evelyn with something resembling pity.

“I wasn’t going to let him walk away with sixty million dollars of Claire’s family money.”

“And your own liability?” I asked.

“I’m going to take whatever they give me, Claire,” Nathan said.