Chapter 9 - The Hidden Accounts
The red folder contained bank statements.
Not hers.
Julian's.
The wife had requested them months earlier after noticing strange transfers.
At first, she assumed they were business expenses.
Then she found payments to a private account.
Hotels.
Jewelry stores.
Luxury restaurants.
Private flights.
Many were connected to Chloe.
But the money did not come from Julian's personal account.
It came from one of the trust-funded businesses.
Evelyn stared at the statements.
“He used the company?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Evelyn looked sick.
The wife continued.
“I didn't leave because he had an affair.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“I left because he used the family money to finance it.”
She placed another document on the table.
A transfer.
Then another.
And another.
The pattern was obvious.
Julian had been diverting business money for more than a year.
The affair was only one part.
The wife called her attorney.
“I have everything.”
The attorney answered:
“Then we can move forward.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Will he go to prison?”
“I don't know.”
“Do you want him to?”
The wife paused.
“I want the truth to have consequences.”
That was different.
She did not want revenge.
She wanted accountability.
Later that evening, Julian received a notice from the company board.
He was suspended.
He called his wife.
She answered.
“What?”
“Did you do this?”
“No.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
“You're destroying me.”
She closed her eyes.
“No, Julian.”
Her voice was calm.
“You did that.”
He said nothing.
She continued.
“I am simply no longer hiding the damage.”
Julian's voice softened.
“Can we meet?”
She hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because I need to understand.”
She looked at the mansion.
Then at the red folder.
“Tomorrow.”
Julian exhaled.
“Thank you.”
She hung up.
Evelyn looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
May you like
“Because he needs to hear it from me.”
👉 Tomorrow would be the first time Julian and his wife sat face-to-face since the mansion gates closed behind her—and she had no intention of protecting him from the truth anymore.
