903 Thrown Out at My Husband's Funeral With a Newborn, I Let His Elite Family Think They Won—Until Their Billion-Dollar Empire Landed in My Hands

"A million dollars," I murmured, sliding the folder back across the table. "You must think very little of what David left behind. Beacon Logistics funneled nearly twelve million dollars through shell companies last year alone. A million is chump change, Marcus."

Marcus’s eyes narrowed. The easy, conversational tone evaporated, replaced by a tense, calculating silence. "You're playing a very dangerous game, Maya. You think you're holding all the cards, but you're sitting on a house of cards."

"Am I?" I tilted my head, letting a cold smile touch my lips. "David knew his mother better than anyone. He knew she would try to clean house the moment he threatened to talk. That's why he didn't just hide a flash drive in our apartment. He knew Arthur would tear the place apart—which he already did."

Marcus didn't blink. "Go on."

"The original ledgers, along with the audio recordings of Eleanor authorizing the offshore transfers, aren't in my apartment," I said, leaning in closer so my voice was barely a breath above the ambient street noise. "They're sitting in a safety deposit box at the Federal Trust downtown. And the key is set to automatically mail copies to the U.S. Attorney’s office if I don't check in every forty-eight hours."

It was a complete bluff. There was no safety deposit box, and there were no automatic timers. But David had taught me one thing about the Vance family before he died: they were cowards when faced with institutional exposure. They could bully an individual, but they ran from federal scrutiny like vampires from sunlight.

Marcus stared at me for a long, agonizing moment, searching my face for any sign of a tell. The silence between us stretched until the clatter of a passing delivery truck broke the tension.

"You're a remarkably good liar, Maya," Marcus said softly, standing up from the table and smoothing down his jacket. "Or perhaps you're telling the truth. Either way, you've fundamentally misunderstood your position."

"Meaning?"

"We didn't just come for the ledgers," Marcus said, his voice dropping to a chilling register. "And we didn't just come for the child. David didn't act alone when he copied those files. He had help from inside the board. Someone gave him the encryption keys."

My breath caught in my throat. I had assumed David acted alone.

"And when Eleanor finds out who inside her own inner circle betrayed her," Marcus continued, adjusting his cuffs, "a million dollars won't be enough to keep you alive, let alone wealthy. Enjoy your afternoon, Mrs. Vance."