Chapter 264
Celestine offered a pleasant smile to the man across from her. “You must be Mr. Ivan Brady?”
“Yes, Miss Selwyn.”
Malloy Brady settled into the chair opposite, a knowing smile flickering on his lips.
He shared a last name with Ivan Brady.
Whether or not he was the lawyer she was waiting for, well, if he said he was, then that settled it.
After a few cautious questions, he was convinced she didn’t suspect a thing. Malloy decided to cut straight to the chase.
“With the Fordham family’s influence in Portside, if you file for divorce now and your husband decides to fight dirty, the division of assets won’t be in your favor.” Celestine’s brow tightened with worry. “How much can I expect to get?”
Malloy slid a stack of documents across the table, tapping a section he’d circled. “Somewhere between two and three.”
“Two or three million?” Celestine’s tone climbed with hope.
“Two or three hundred thousand.”
Malloy shook his head, his face growing grave.
Celestine snatched up the paperwork, her shock barely contained. “That can’t be right.”
“With both children living with him, you’d actually owe double the usual child support out of that amount,” Malloy explained, feigning regret while carefully watching for her reaction.
Celestine’s expression turned stony. “I have proof Chester cheated. Doesn’t that entitle me to a better settlement?”
Malloy pretended to be surprised, his eyes lighting up. “If you can guarantee that evidence is genuine, then yes, theoretically, it could change everything.”
Celestine gave him a puzzled look. “Mr. Brady, I’m sure we discussed this befo
Malloy cleared his throat, forcing a sheepish smile. “Apologies, Miss Selwyn. We handle so many cases at the firm, things get mixed up. If you could just send the
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video evidence to my email, I’ll have my team review it and give you a new assessment.”
“You mean, right now?” Celestine hesitated, her fingers hovering over her phone “Just send it straight to you?”
He waved a hand dismissively. “Sending it directly is risky–messages get lost all the time.”
He eagerly spun his laptop around, opening up a new email draft for her. “Here, just upload it to this address.”
Celestine nodded.
Malloy watched her click ‘send‘, nearly bursting into laughter.
What an idiot. In all his years of running cons, he’d never met someone so gullible.
“Thank you, Miss Selwyn. My colleagues and I will work late to evaluate these documents. Unfortunately, I have another urgent meeting at the firm, so I’ll have to leave it here for today. Looking forward to our next conversation.”
He had what he came for–no reason to linger any longer.
Celestine nodded in understanding. “Of course, Mr. Brady. Goodbye.”
She watched him hurry out, his excitement barely disguised.
Her own smile faded slowly, vanishing as she sat alone.
She’d played her part in his little performance.
While they chatted, she’d managed to text Pete Selwyn and have him run a background check on this “lawyer.”
Malloy. A private investigator by trade, but with a long history of scams and shady deals.
Posing as Ivan Brady to steal her video? It didn’t take a genius to guess who might have hired him.
Now Celestine was left with a mix of anticipation and regret. She could only imagine the look on their faces when they finally saw what was on that video.
Malloy, completely unaware he’d been exposed, had no time to worry about anything except the fat paycheck he’d been promised.
He’d arranged for his men to block Ivan Brady’s car on the way over, making the real attorney couldn’t possibly show up.
He didn’t know why his employer only wanted the video, not to destroy it but that wasn’t his problem. He got paid to deliver, not to ask questions.
Whistling, Malloy forwarded the video to a new email address.
“Miss Sinclair, I’ve got the video. Just let me know when the money comes through.”
On the other end, Joanna Sinclair had just finished filming when she received the detective’s message.
“Right away,” she replied.
She could hardly wait to open her inbox and download the long–awaited video.
She already knew exactly how she’d use it.
With Chester’s current attitude, the chance of him actually divorcing Celestine was slim to none.
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