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“Uh-huh,” Nico said, the skepticism practically dripping through the phone. “What am I looking for, exactly?”

I hesitated for a beat before answering. “If you can get into financial records, look for any large sums of money going to someone named Stacey Brenner. Or any email correspondence about her, anything that suggests bribery.”

Silence.

But not the kind that meant he wasn’t there.

The rapid clicking of his keyboard and the faint hum of Rage Against the Machine told me he was very much still on the line, already digging.

I sat back, my heart pounding harder than it should have been.

The adrenaline pounded in my ears.

If anyone could find the answers, it was Nico.

“Okay,” he said, breaking the heavy silence. His voice was steady, yet tinged with the tension of the moment. “I think I found something.”

My hands fumbled as I grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper, my movements frantic. “I’m ready.”

“Does the name Bill Griess mean anything to you?”

I froze, searching the dusty corners of my memory for any trace of recognition. I shook my head like he could see me. “No, not to me. What did you find?”

Nico exhaled sharply. “Looks like there was some correspondence with a lawyer in his cloud. He deleted the emails, but I recovered them. I did a search using the name you gave me earlier, and…” He paused, his tone shifting into something darker. “It seems this Bill guy was arranging to give her a bunch of money.”

The room seemed to tilt as his words landed. “Why?” My voice cracked, the question heavy with dread.

Nico skimmed through more of the emails, the faint click of his mouse filling the silence. “In exchange, she had to sue Stone Ranch for…a lot of cash. By taking the deal, she was essentially setting up her grandkids’ grandkids for college.”

My stomach churned, but victory didn’t taste as sweet as I thought it would. I knew it—deep down, I’d always known there was more to the story. Social media didn’t account for this level of betrayal. Heat surged through me, red-hot and relentless. I was furious, livid.

Who the hell does this to someone?

“So she agreed,” I said, my voice low and taut. “Do you see any proof that he actually sent her the money?”

“I’m looking now,” Nico replied, his tone clipped with focus.

I leaned back in my chair, my mind racing with questions I couldn’t answer. Why would this man go to such lengths? Why spend a fortune just to destroy Colton?

None of it made sense.

The rage simmering in my chest burned hotter as I opened a new browser tab and typed Bill Griess into the search bar. An older man’s face appeared on the screen. My breath caught.

He did look familiar. A face from an event, maybe. Either way, this man wasn’t a stranger.

“Bingo,” Nico said, drawing my attention back. “I found the money transfer. It’s all here. I can reverse it if you want.”

“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “Leave it. Just…send me screenshots of everything you found.”

My voice wavered, but my resolve didn’t. I needed the truth laid bare—every damning detail.

Incoming emails chimed on my laptop as Nico sent over everything, the proof I needed to show that someone else was pulling the strings. My gut had been right all along. And now, I had the evidence to back it up.

With steady hands, I compiled all the attachments into a single file and downloaded them to my iPad. My heart pounded, adrenaline coursing through me as I shut my laptop with a firm click. I couldn’t wait until morning to tell Colton. There was no way I’d sleep knowing what I did.

I wouldn’t rest until we burned Bill Griess to the ground.

“As alarming as it is that you’re so damn good at this, thank you,” I said, a slow smile forming. The weight that had pressed so heavily on my chest was lifting, replaced by something sharper—spite.