Chapter 10 - The Distorted Truth
Armed with the butler's ledger, Ethan did not go to the police station. Instead, he scheduled a private meeting at an upscale downtown steakhouse with Julian Vance, the senior partner of the city’s most influential law firm and a close personal friend of Eleanor.
Julian sat across from Ethan in a private dining booth, cutting into a rare steak with a polished silver knife. He offered a polite, sympathetic smile, suggesting that Ethan accept a quiet financial settlement on Emma’s behalf, move abroad, and leave the Carrington estate behind before things got "unpleasant" in court.
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Ethan placed the leather ledger on the white tablecloth, opening it to the page featuring the district attorney's signature alongside Julian’s own law firm stamp. Julian’s knife froze mid-cut. The color drained from his face as his eyes moved across the documented bribes and land seizures detailed on the page.
Ethan leaned across the table, his voice a quiet, terrifying whisper. He informed the lawyer that a digital copy of the entire ledger had already been uploaded to a secure legal server set to release to the federal press at noon if Eleanor did not sign a full surrender of her power of attorney over the family trust by five o'clock that evening.
