Chapter 2 - The Clean Break
The rain in Marsh Hollow was different from the rain in the city. Here, it tasted of wet pine, river clay, and old leaves, washing away the lingering scent of white peonies and expensive candle wax.
It had been three days since the wedding. I sat in the kitchen of my mother’s small cottage, wearing an oversized flannel shirt and a pair of faded jeans. My left cheek was still slightly tender, a faint shadow of bruise visible under the morning light.
"The news is everywhere, Nora," my mother, Clara Bellamy, said softly as she placed a mug of chamomile tea in front of me. She sat down, her worn hands wrapping around her own cup. "The Voss family’s PR firm is trying to spin it. They’re saying you had a nervous breakdown due to the pressure of the wedding."
"Let them spin it," I said, taking a sip of the hot tea. "A spin is just a lie that hasn't met a cross-examination yet. I have the papers, Mom."
I pulled the folded corporate ledger pages from my leather briefcase on the table.
"These show that Voss Industrial has been actively funding the legal defense and offshore accounts of the executives from Pharaoh Chemical," I explained, pointing to the transfer codes. "They didn't just settle those wrongful death suits. They paid off the inspectors to falsify the fire reports. The two workers who died didn't die because of an accident. They died because the safety valves had been bypassed to increase production speed, and the Voss board knew it."
"Nora, these people are dangerous," my mother said, her eyes filled with a deep, maternal terror. "They own the police, the judges, the politicians. If you try to expose them, they will destroy your career. They’ll make sure you never practice law in this state again."
"They can try," I said, a cold, hard determination settling deep in my chest. "But I didn't spend seven years in school and three years working eighty-hour weeks to let a man who slaps his bride in a ballroom decide my future."
The sound of gravel crunching outside interrupted us.
I stood up, walking to the window that looked out over the misty valley. A sleek, black luxury SUV had pulled up to the gate. But it wasn't Julian’s car.
The driver's door opened, and a man in a dark trench coat stepped out, holding a large black umbrella.
Leo Vance.
Leo was the senior partner at Vance & Associates, a powerhouse federal litigation firm based in Chicago. He was also a former federal prosecutor who had spent his career dismantling corporate monopolies. More importantly, he was the man who had offered me a job six months ago—an offer I had turned down because Julian wanted me to stay in New York and manage the Voss family foundation.
I walked to the front door and opened it just as Leo reached the porch.
He lowered his umbrella, shaking the water off the edges. He was thirty-five, with sharp, perceptive grey eyes and a quiet, solid presence that made the air feel instantly safer. He looked at my face, his gaze resting on the faint bruise on my cheek for a long second before his eyes met mine.
"I saw the headlines," Leo said, his voice a calm, steady baritone. "But I knew you well enough to know there was a story behind the scandal."
"I have the evidence, Leo," I said, stepping aside to let him into the warm kitchen.
"I didn't come for the evidence, Nora," Leo said, looking at me with a sincerity that made my breath catch. "I came to offer you your office back. We have a federal grand jury convening next month in Chicago. We’re looking into corporate racketeering and infrastructure fraud. I think you’d make an excellent lead counsel."
I looked at the folder on the kitchen table, then back at Leo.
May you like
"The Voss family will come after me," I warned him. "They will try to ruin your firm if you align with me."
Leo smiled, a slow, confident turning of his lips. "Nora, my firm was built to handle beasts like the Voss family. Let them come."
