“I didn’t know how to explain the rest.”
“So you lied.”
“Yes.”
The simple admission hurt more than another excuse might have.
I looked at Claire.
“And Northline?”
“Adrian has been helping us,” she said. “School fees. Medical bills. Rent when I lost my job.”
“Through fake consulting invoices?”
Her face reddened.
“I told him not to do it that way.”
Adrian turned.
“I couldn’t put personal payments on the books.”
“So you created fraudulent ones instead,” Priya said.
“They weren’t entirely false. Claire introduced us to two clients.”
“Worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
He had no answer.
I crossed my arms, trying to steady myself.
“Why tonight?”
Adrian looked at Noah.
“Because the company is announcing the regional expansion.”
“That doesn’t explain the suite.”
He walked toward the window.
“The expansion includes acquiring a logistics firm in Baltimore. Julian was an early investor in it under another name. There are shares that legally belong to his estate.”
