Chapter 4 - The Face Beside the Fire
Nathan released my wrist.
I pressed play.
The giant screen showed the warehouse entrance at 6:42 p.m.
My car arrived first.
I stepped out wearing the same red evening gown, covered by a black coat.
Julian had told me we would sign our divorce settlement privately before attending the gala separately.
At 6:47, his car arrived.
He entered the warehouse carrying a leather document case.
The footage had no audio, but his movements were clear.
He handed me papers.
I read them.
I shook my head.
Then Julian grabbed my arm and dragged me deeper inside.
The audience watched without breathing.
At 7:01, Julian exited alone.
He locked the main door.
Then a second person appeared.
A woman wearing a hooded coat.
She carried a red fuel container.
She poured gasoline along the side entrance before handing Julian a small electronic device.
Beatrice turned away from the screen.
The woman in the video lifted her face.
It wasn’t Beatrice.
It was Evelyn Shaw.
My oldest friend.
My personal attorney.
The woman sitting only twenty feet from the stage.
Guests turned toward her table.
Evelyn didn’t run.
She slowly stood.
“Claire,” she said. “I can explain.”
My chest tightened.
Evelyn had known me since college.
She had sat beside me at my father’s funeral.
She had advised me to sign control of the company over to Julian.
She had prepared every failed legal challenge I brought against him.
Every time I nearly found proof, Evelyn had told me there wasn’t enough.
Now I understood why.
“You gave him my schedule,” I said.
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“He threatened my son.”
Julian laughed.
“No, Evelyn. Don’t embarrass yourself.”
She looked at him.
Something in her expression changed.
“You promised no one would get hurt.”
“You poured the gasoline.”
“You said it was to scare her.”
Julian walked toward her.
“You were paid to follow instructions.”
Thomas Reddick signaled security.
The guards moved toward Evelyn.
But she reached inside her handbag.
Several guests ducked.
She pulled out a flash drive.
“This contains every document Julian made me alter,” she said. “Trust agreements, shareholder votes, insurance records, medical releases.”
Beatrice stepped onto the stage.
“She’s lying.”
Evelyn held the drive tighter.
“I kept copies because I knew one day he would blame everything on me.”
Julian’s calm finally cracked.
He rushed from the stage.
Evelyn ran toward me.
For one second, I thought she was bringing me the evidence.
Then a sharp sound cracked through the ballroom.
Not a gunshot.
A champagne bottle shattered near her feet.
Evelyn slipped on the glass.
The flash drive flew from her hand.
It skidded beneath Beatrice’s table.
Beatrice bent down first.
When she stood again, her hand appeared empty.
May you like
But the drive was gone.
👉 Evelyn’s evidence had disappeared beneath Beatrice’s table, and Claire now had to prove what the older woman had hidden before Julian regained control.
