Chapter 2 - The Audit of Daniel’s TreacheryWithin thirty minutes, we arrived at the grand, high-security penthouse atop the Maro Tower overlooking the Hudson River. The residence was a sunlit, warm fortress filled with plush furniture, high ceilings, and state-of-the-art security systems.
A team of private physicians examined Lily and me, administering warm fluids and specialized pediatric care. Within hours, Lily was sleeping soundly in a plush mahogany nursery, her cheeks blooming with healthy pink color.
I sat in the penthouse library, wrapped in a soft cashmere blanket, holding a warm cup of tea. Across the mahogany desk sat Nicholas Maro, alongside Marcus Vance, his chief of legal operations and private security.
"Read the report, Marcus," Nicholas commanded, his tone dropping into a frozen, lethal register.
Marcus opened a thick leather dossier bound in red seals. "Don Nicholas, we executed an immediate forensic audit of Daniel Sullivan's accounts. Daniel is a senior accountant at Vance-Maro Logistics. Three months ago, he accrued two million dollars in illegal gambling debts with a rival syndicate."
"He didn't just abandon me because Lily was a girl, did he?" I asked softly, a wave of cold realization washing over me.
"No, Ava," Marcus revealed. "Daniel's family offered to pay off his gambling debts on one strict condition: that he produce a male heir to secure his uncle's corporate board seat. When you gave birth to a daughter, Daniel panicked. He used a fraudulent corporate clause to seize your joint bank accounts, cancel your health insurance, and kick you out of the company-leased apartment to clear his name with his family."
Nicholas’s hand clutched his crystal glass so tightly the glass groaned under his grip.
"He threw my sister's daughter and a three-day-old baby onto the street during a snowstorm to save his own skin," Nicholas said, his dark eyes burning with pure, absolute fire. "Marcus, execute Protocol One."
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"Protocol One, sir?" Marcus verified, a sharp, lethal smile touching his lips.
"Revoke his company housing, freeze every account connected to his name, and issue an immediate federal subpoena for corporate embezzlement," Nicholas ordered flatly. "Let us see how brave Daniel Sullivan is when he has nowhere to run."
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