Instead, I opened my leather folder.

The white pages inside glowed under the living room lights.

“Is that so?” I said.

“We spent a lot of time reviewing the corporate structure of Carter Logistics last week,” I said.

I pulled out a document stamped with a red corporate seal.

I laid it flat on the table, right over Daniel’s settlement papers.

Daniel frowned, his eyes scanning the header of the page.

The color began to drain from his face as he read the first few lines.

He reached out, his hand trembling slightly as he pulled the document closer.

Richard leaned forward, his brow furrowing as he tried to read the text from a distance.

Margaret’s tea cup remained suspended in mid-air.

Sophia looked between Daniel and me, her smirk beginning to fade.

“Look at the signature page, Daniel,” I said softly.

He flipped the page over.

The silence in the room became absolute.

The silence stretched until the only sound was the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Daniel’s chest rose and fell rapidly as his eyes darted across the lines of text.