Chapter 7
Sabine finally admitted knowing Claire.
Her attorney arranged a limited interview.
Cassian did not attend.
Rebecca did.
Sabine claimed the Halifax meeting concerned vendor disputes.
She said Claire accused Adrian of overbilling and accused Sabine of helping disguise it.
She admitted some invoices had been inflated.
She denied knowing the full scale.
She also claimed she had wanted Adrian to repay the money.
That part was supported by two old emails.
In one, Sabine wrote:
We have to stop before this becomes something nobody can explain away.
Adrian responded:
It stops when the company is stable.
The company never became stable enough for him.
Sabine described Claire as furious but willing to give them seventy-two hours to produce records.
Then Claire returned to Chicago.
Six weeks later she died.
“Why didn’t Sabine tell Cassian after they met?” Rebecca asked her attorney.
The answer was predictable.
Fear.
Fear of Adrian’s exposure.
Fear of civil claims.
Fear of criminal charges.
Fear Cassian would believe Sabine had approached him because of Claire.
Cassian read the interview summary.
“That last one interests me.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Me too.”
They reconstructed how Cassian and Sabine first met.
A Chicago museum fundraiser.
Cassian had attended reluctantly.
Sabine was seated beside him after another guest canceled.
Who arranged the seating?
The foundation’s donor liaison.
Who asked her to make the change?
Adrian.
Cassian stared at the email.
“Adrian put her beside me.”
“Yes.”
“Sabine says she didn’t know?”
“She says Adrian told her the seating change was harmless.”
“Do you believe her?”
“That isn’t my job.”
Cassian hated that answer.
Which meant it was probably the right one.
Then the hangar investigation produced another document.
Inside Adrian’s laptop was a calendar reminder created eighteen months earlier.
Three days before Cassian met Sabine.
S — museum / C.R.
No explanation.
No long message.
Just initials.
S.
Sabine.
C.R.
Cassian Rinaldo.
Rebecca did not call it proof of a romantic setup.
Not yet.
But the possibility was now impossible to ignore.
May you like
Cassian had spent two years believing he happened to meet a beautiful woman during the worst period of his life.
Adrian had arranged the chairs before either of them sat down.
