Chapter 8 - THE LAST LIE
Julian stared at Anastasia.
“Richard threatened you?”
She looked toward the fireplace.
“He tried to frighten me.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Julian remembered an evening when Anna had mentioned concerns about Richard's business practices.
He had laughed.
Called her suspicious.
Accused her of disliking his successful friends.
His face burned.
“You told me he was dishonest.”
“I told you he was asking questions he had no legitimate reason to ask.”
“And I dismissed you.”
“Yes.”
Julian looked at the photograph again.
“Why did he want your research?”
“Caris had been studying several infrastructure opportunities. Richard wanted advance access to assumptions and investment priorities.”
“To win mandates?”
“Possibly. He never explained his intentions fully.”
Julian paced beside the library table.
“Did he know you were Anastasia of Caris then?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I introduced myself under my full name at an industry seminar. He attended on behalf of Mercer.”
“Before the divorce?”
“Nearly a year before.”
Julian stopped.
Richard had known.
While laughing at jokes about Anna's little restoration studio.
While encouraging Julian to pursue Tiffany.
While celebrating their divorce.
Anastasia watched him.
“Don't make him responsible for the way you treated me.”
The sentence stopped Julian cold.
“He wasn't,” she continued. “Whatever Richard did, the marriage was yours. The affair was yours. The decision to leave was yours.”
Julian lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“Then don't use him to make those choices easier to live with.”
He nodded.
That was the difference between an apology and change.
An apology could be spoken.
Change had to survive uncomfortable truths.
The next morning, Julian delivered a formal statement to the independent committee.
He described Richard's earlier access to his approval credentials.
He supplied meeting notes.
He disclosed the professional relationship between Richard and Lukas Brandt.
And he admitted his own failure to properly verify the revised performance targets.
Daniel listened without interruption.
When Julian finished, Margaret asked one question.
“Are you aware this statement may prevent your promotion even if you are cleared of intentional misconduct?”
“Yes.”
“Then why submit it?”
Julian looked at the papers before him.
“Because I signed an approval I didn't understand well enough. The client deserved better.”
Margaret nodded.
“Thank you.”
That afternoon, Tiffany found Julian in the hotel lounge.
She looked different.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
An ordinary gray sweater beneath her coat.
“I've spoken with my manager,” she said.
Julian looked up.
“About what?”
“Richard.”
She sat opposite him.
“He offered to arrange a promotional partnership for my account if I encouraged you not to cooperate with the review.”
Julian stared.
“When?”
“Two days before we came to Vienna.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I thought it was normal business. A brand introduction. Then he made it clear the opportunity depended on keeping you calm.”
“Did you accept?”
“No contract was signed.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Tiffany looked down.
“I said I was interested.”
Julian felt the familiar impulse to become angry.
To lecture.
To remind her how foolish she had been.
Instead, he asked, “What happened afterward?”
“I told my manager everything. We preserved the messages and sent them to the compliance team.”
Julian looked at her in surprise.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“That could damage your career.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
She swallowed.
“Because I don't want to become someone who smiles while other people are cheated.”
Julian said nothing.
Tiffany took a small velvet box from her handbag.
Inside was her engagement ring.
He stared.
“I think we need to stop pretending,” she said.
“About what?”
“Us.”
Julian felt a slow sadness.
Not the devastating heartbreak he had experienced watching Anastasia descend the staircase.
Something quieter.
The grief of recognizing a relationship had been built around things neither person truly needed.
“I cared about you,” Tiffany whispered.
“I cared about you too.”
“But you wanted someone impressive. And I wanted someone who made me feel secure.”
Julian nodded.
“We gave each other what we thought the other wanted.”
“Until neither of us knew who we were.”
He looked at the ring.
“Are you ending the engagement?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
Then nodded.
“All right.”
Tiffany's eyes filled.
“You're not going to argue?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you deserve to choose your own life.”
She began crying.
Julian moved to the chair beside her.
He didn't promise they would get back together.
Didn't offer money.
Didn't try to rescue the moment with grand declarations.
He simply sat beside her while she cried.
Later, she told him that Richard's assistant had arranged another meeting with a consultant connected to Hale Meridian.
The meeting had never occurred.
But Tiffany had preserved the invitation.
Julian examined it.
The consultant's name was Rebecca Hale.
Richard's sister-in-law.
And the proposed meeting place was the same Vienna hotel where Richard had stayed during the Austrian negotiations.
The date was four months earlier.
Julian frowned.
“Were you in Vienna four months ago?”
Tiffany looked startled.
“No.”
“Did Richard know that?”
“Of course.”
“Then why send the invitation?”
She stared at the card.
“Maybe it wasn't meant for me.”
Julian turned it over.
A handwritten note appeared on the back.
Transfer confirmed. Original schedule to be destroyed after settlement.
Tiffany covered her mouth.
Julian's hands went cold.
The note was not proof of who had authorized anything.
But the phrase matched the missing transaction appendix.
The next morning, the independent investigators obtained a preserved copy of the Winter Rose Analysis from the Austrian bank's supervisory archive.
Daniel showed Julian the document register.
The original research assumptions had been replaced with more favorable figures.
The changes were recorded under Richard's project account.
But one additional name appeared in the revision history.
Anastasia Maria of Caris.
Julian stared.
Then Daniel pointed to a notation beside her name.
Source attribution disputed — original author objection attached.
Julian looked up.
“What objection?”
Daniel opened the accompanying letter.
It was dated three months before the transaction closed.
And it contained Anastasia's signature.
She had warned that the altered analysis could materially mislead investors.
The letter had been received by Mercer & Rowe.
Then removed from the transaction packet.
Julian read the final line.
Please confirm that Mr. Julian Thorne, as responsible managing director, has been informed.
His stomach dropped.
Because someone had responded.
May you like
Using his name.
Acknowledged. No further action required. — Julian Thorne.
