Chapter 9
Maison Privé finally produced the launch-milestone agreement under discovery.
Rebecca read it before Alexander.
Her reaction made him sit down.
“What?”
“Veronica’s compensation was not a hundred and eighty thousand.”
“How much?”
“Potentially much more.”
The agreement made Veronica an outside development partner for the Chicago launch.
If the Vaughn estate became the company’s flagship account and remained active for twelve months, she would receive a small equity interest in Maison Privé’s Chicago subsidiary.
Not a fortune overnight.
But meaningful.
Potentially millions if the expansion succeeded.
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“So this was money.”
“Partly.”
“There’s more.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca turned the page.
The launch had financing requirements.
Maison Privé borrowed heavily to open its Chicago operation.
The lender required the company to secure one flagship residential account by a fixed date.
The deadline was eight days after Alexander and Veronica’s scheduled wedding.
If no account activated, the lender could freeze expansion funds and trigger restructuring.
Alexander stared at the dates.
“They needed my house.”
“Yes.”
“Before I even agreed.”
“Yes.”
“Veronica promised it.”
“That appears to be what happened.”
But something still bothered him.
“If the wedding happened, she could ask me.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And you could say no.”
“Which I would have.”
“Exactly.”
The financial motive explained why Veronica wanted control over the household quickly.
It did not yet explain why she needed Sofia humiliated.
Then investigators recovered one planning memo from Maison Privé.
Not forged.
Not secret.
Simply buried among hundreds of pages.
The pre-launch risk assessment listed:
Primary obstacles: longtime house manager, legacy nanny relationships, child attachment to existing staff, principal’s reluctance to restructure domestic operations.
Under mitigation strategy:
Create demonstrable need for immediate post-marriage household reset.
Alexander read the sentence.
Again.
Then once more.
“Demonstrable need.”
Rebecca said nothing.
If the existing household could be portrayed as chaotic, undisciplined, or incapable of managing Sofia, Alexander might accept immediate restructuring.
Veronica needed a crisis.
But why would she create one in which she herself looked cruel?
That was still missing.
The answer came from the fake email timestamps.
May you like
All four had been sent from a laptop registered to Maison Privé.
But the login credentials used belonged to someone inside Alexander’s own executive office.
