Chapter 12 - The Leak

The article went live at 6:42 the next morning.

PRESCOTT CEO’S ESTRANGED WIFE TIED TO SECRET LENDER FORTUNE.

Nathan called at 6:43.

“Do not read comments.”

“I’m already reading the article.”

“Comments are worse.”

I scrolled.

The reporter had my Mercer Vale percentage.

The trust date.

The estimated value range.

The Prescott credit facility.

Even the existence of my recusal letter.

My hands began to shake.

“How did they get this?”

“Not from our office.”

“Could it be public?”

“Some pieces. Not the recusal letter.”

I stopped.

“That was sent to Aaron.”

“And both legal teams.”

“So someone leaked it.”

“Yes.”

The article implied I had concealed my wealth from Aaron while quietly owning an interest in one of Prescott’s lenders.

It never directly accused me of threatening the company.

It did not need to.

I read a sentence aloud.

“‘Questions remain about whether the divorce could complicate upcoming lender negotiations.’”

Nathan swore.

“Can we sue?”

“Not for being annoying.”

“Useful profession.”

“We send a factual statement. Nothing emotional.”

My phone rang.

Aaron.

Nathan said, “Speaker.”

I answered.

Aaron spoke before I could.

“I did not leak this.”

“I didn’t accuse you.”

“You were about to.”

“I was about to ask.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Nathan leaned toward the phone.

“Who had the recusal letter?”

Aaron paused.

“Claire, is Brooks there?”

“Yes.”

“Of course he is.”

Nathan said, “Good morning, Aaron.”

“I liked you better when we were twenty-two.”

“You didn’t know me at twenty-two.”

“Exactly.”

Despite everything, I almost laughed.

Aaron continued.

“My counsel had it. General counsel received it because the credit facility is part of the board review. Samuel Keene had it.”

“Anyone else?”

“The independent committee.”

Nathan took notes.

“Names.”

“Samuel. Victor Hale. Denise Wu. Ellen Price.”

Victor.

I remembered him leaning across the board table in the account I had been given.

Are you out of your mind?

“What about Jasmine?”

“No.”

“Your mother?”

“No.”

“PR?”

“A summary, not the letter.”

Nathan said, “Preserve everything.”

Aaron’s voice sharpened.

“I know.”

After the call, my father entered the room holding his phone.

“I assume you’ve seen it.”

“Yes.”

“Nora is furious.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Mercer Vale’s counsel wants to issue a statement.”

Nathan shook his head.

“Coordinate first.”

My father looked at him.

“You’re enjoying ordering people around my house.”

“I bill less for domestic command.”

“Barely.”

By noon, the article had been picked up by three business sites.

The narrative shifted.

I was no longer the humiliated wife.

I was the secret heiress with a lender connection.

Strangers called me calculating.

Others called me brilliant.

Both versions made me sick.

My mother found me closing the curtains.

“Why are you doing that?”

“There’s a photographer across the street.”

She looked outside.

“Your father can ask him to leave.”

“He’s on the public road.”

“Then I can water the hedge.”

“In February?”

“I can be unpredictable.”

I laughed despite myself.

She touched my cheek.

“That’s better.”

“It isn’t funny.”

“No. But you are still allowed to laugh.”

My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN: Ask why Victor Hale requested your trust documents before the board ever asked for them.

I showed Nathan immediately.

He did not let me reply.

“Could be bait.”

“Could be real.”

“Both can be true.”

“Who would know?”

“Someone inside Prescott.”

Twenty minutes later, Aaron called again.

His voice was different.

“We have a problem.”

“What?”

“Security pulled access logs.”

Nathan stepped closer.

“Go on.”

“Victor’s chief of staff opened the board data room at 11:18 p.m. two nights ago.”

“That proves nothing.”

“He downloaded the recusal letter.”

Nathan’s expression sharpened.

“Who else downloaded it?”

“General counsel. Samuel. Outside counsel. Victor’s chief of staff.”

“Did Victor have a business reason?”

“Not one anyone can explain.”

I sat down slowly.

“Why would a board member leak my trust?”

Aaron answered.

“Because he wants my job.”

The room went quiet.

“That sounds convenient.”

“I know.”

Nathan said, “Do you have evidence beyond motive?”

“Not yet.”

“Then do not accuse him.”

“I’m not. The independent committee is investigating.”

I stared at the article again.

Something shifted inside me.

For weeks, every ugly event had seemed to originate from our marriage.

Now someone else had found our wreckage useful.

“Aaron.”

“Yes?”

“If this is Victor, do not use me to save yourself.”

“I won’t.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

“And do not imply the leak excuses anything you did.”

“I won’t.”

He took a breath.

“But if someone exposed your private financial information to hurt me, I’m going to help find out who.”

I looked at Nathan.

He nodded once.

“Fine,” I said.

Aaron’s voice softened.

“Claire?”

“What?”

“I’m sorry your name is in this.”

“So am I.”

“No. I mean because of me.”

I closed the article.

“The leak belongs to whoever leaked it.”

“That sounds generous.”

“It isn’t. I’m learning to assign responsibility accurately.”

Nathan smiled.

Aaron was quiet.

Then he said, “Maybe we both should have learned that earlier.”

After the call, I looked at the anonymous text again.

For the first time, the divorce was not the only story in the room.

Someone at Prescott had decided my privacy was collateral.

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And that was a fight I had not chosen.

But I was no longer willing to disappear from it.