Chapter 2: The Burgundy Key
The room held its breath. Julian looked at the folder, then at Isabella, his heart hammering against his ribs. He knew that folder. He knew what it represented. He tried to snatch it, but Isabella sidestepped him with the grace of a matador.
"Read it, Julian," Isabella said, her voice smooth as silk. "I think your guests—especially the SEC investigators sitting at Table 4—would be very interested in the contents."
Julian flipped the folder open. His face turned the color of ash. Serena, sensing the shift in the atmosphere, took a half-step back, her smirk faltering. Inside were the receipts. Not for flowers or catering, but for a complex web of shell companies, offshore accounts, and stock manipulation schemes that linked Serena—and, damningly, Julian himself—to a multi-million dollar fraud case.
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"I didn't invite Serena here to ruin a wedding," Isabella announced, her voice projected to the back of the room. "I invited her because she’s been blackmailing you, Julian. She told you she had proof of your illegal trades. And you, terrified of losing your inheritance, agreed to pay her off using foundation money. But you were both too arrogant to realize that I was the one who authorized those foundation transfers."
The silence was absolute. The billionaire groom, who had spent the evening preening, suddenly looked small. He realized the trap hadn't been set by Serena; it had been built, brick by brick, by the woman he thought he had successfully manipulated.
