Chapter 10 - The Whistleblower
The morning after the gala, I met with the whistleblower Eleanor had identified in her secret letter.
His name was Marcus, the former Chief Financial Officer of Julian’s real estate firm, and he looked terrified.
We met in a private room at an upscale diner on the outskirts of the city, away from prying eyes.
“Your husband is running a massive Ponzi scheme to cover his bad commercial investments,” Marcus explained quietly.
He slid a thick encrypted flash drive across the table, his hands shaking slightly.
“He’s been forging property valuations to secure massive loans from foreign banks.”
I stared at the small silver drive, realizing it was the final nail in Julian’s gilded coffin.
“Why are you giving this to me, Marcus? You could go to jail too,” I asked, genuinely curious.
Marcus let out a bitter laugh and rubbed his tired eyes.
“Julian was planning to pin the fraud on me if the feds ever came knocking. Your mother-in-law warned me.”
Eleanor had paid Marcus a substantial sum to gather the evidence and wait for the right moment.
“Take this to the SEC and the FBI, Mrs. Vance. Burn his empire to the ground,” Marcus said, standing up.
I took the flash drive, feeling a cold, calculating thrill rush through my body.
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Julian had tried to destroy my life with a five-minute conversation and a manila envelope.
I was going to destroy his with a tiny silver drive and the full weight of the federal government.
