Chapter 8 - The Dinner Invitation
Thomas Patterson looked nothing like his brother. Where Zachary was polished, arrogant, and tailored, Thomas was rough around the edges—a third-rate real estate developer from Ohio who had spent his entire life living in his brother’s shadow, waiting for handouts.
At 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Thomas walked into the private dining room of Le Charm Eternel.
The restaurant was closed to the general public. The brass doors were locked, and the hostesses had been sent home. Only the faint, romantic glow of candlelight illuminated the room, casting long shadows across the antique mirrors and the mahogany tables.
Thomas stopped in his tracks when he saw where they were seated.
Right in the center of the room, surrounded by midnight-blue velvet curtains, was the exact same alcove where Zachary had hidden his affair three years ago.
Rachel and Julian sat at the table. Rachel wore a stunning, emerald silk dress—the exact twin of the one she had worn the night her world had shattered. She was sipping sparkling water, looking completely serene.
Thomas cleared his throat, adjusting his cheap polyester tie, trying to project a confidence he didn't possess. He pulled out the chair opposite them and sat down without being invited.
"Well, well, well," Thomas sneered, leaning back. "Must be nostalgic for you, Rachel. Sitting right here where your perfect little marriage went up in smoke."
Julian didn't flinch, but his eyes grew cold. "Cut the act, Thomas. You aren't here to reminisce about family history. You’re here because your dying brother dangled a forty-million-dollar carrot in front of your face."
Thomas’s smirk faltered slightly, but he recovered quickly, pulling a thick folder from his briefcase and slamming it onto the table. "You’re damn right I am. Zachary’s trust is airtight. The Blue Horizon funds are fully legal, and as Lily’s uncle and the designated executor, I have every right to petition for visitation and estate oversight. Unless, of course, you want to settle this privately."
"Define privately," Rachel said softly.
"Twenty million dollars wired to my accounts by midnight tomorrow," Thomas demanded, leaning forward, his eyes gleaming with greed. "In exchange, I walk away, I burn the custody papers, and I tell Zachary’s lawyers to drop the case. You get to keep your pristine public image, and your kid stays out of the press."
Silence descended upon the alcove.
Thomas smiled, thinking he had won. He thought he was dealing with a terrified mother who would pay any price to protect her peace. He forgot who he was sitting across from.
Rachel slowly set her glass down. She didn't look angry. She looked amused.
"Thomas," Rachel said, her voice carrying a terrifying sweetness. "Did Zachary ever tell you how I figured out he was embezzling from Patterson Technologies?"
Thomas blinked, thrown off by the sudden change in topic. "What? No. What does that have to do with—"
"It has everything to do with it," Rachel interrupted, tapping a single manicured fingernail against the table. "You see, Zachary thought he was a financial genius. He thought hiding money in a Cayman Island shell company called 'Blue Horizon' was the ultimate secret."
Thomas’s face drained of color. "How do you..."
"When the FBI seized Zachary’s assets three years ago, they didn't just audit his primary accounts," Julian chimed in smoothly, opening a leather portfolio of his own. "They executed a global asset sweep under federal subpoena. Every hidden trust, every offshore dummy corporation, and every dormant LLC tied to Zachary’s social security number was flagged, frozen, and investigated."
Julian slid a single, official document across the table.
Thomas looked down at it. His hands began to shake violently.
It wasn't a custody petition. It was a federal forfeiture order issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
"The Blue Horizon trust was flagged eighteen months ago," Rachel explained, her emerald eyes locked onto Thomas’s widening pupils. "Because the initial seed money wasn't acquired legally before our marriage, as Zachary claimed in his dying fairy tale. It was a direct siphon from Patterson-Technological R&D funds routed through a secondary laundering loop."
"That... that's impossible," Thomas stammered, his voice cracking. "Zachary said—"
"Zachary lied to you," Julian stated bluntly. "He used you as a desperate, pathetic errand boy because he was too weak to face me himself. The forty million dollars doesn't exist anymore, Thomas. It was seized by the federal government last month to pay off Zachary’s remaining restitution and corporate fines."
Thomas stared at the paper, the reality crashing down on him like a tidal wave. He had flown to New York, threatened a billionaire CEO, and walked straight into a federal trap.
May you like
"And as for your custody threat," Rachel added, leaning forward so the candlelight caught the sharp angles of her face, "if you file a single piece of paper in any family court in this country, Julian will immediately introduce this federal forfeiture order as evidence of your collusion in an extortion attempt. You will be sitting in a jail cell next to your brother before the weekend is over."
Thomas shoved his chair back so hard it screeched against the hardwood floor. He grabbed his empty briefcase, his face drenched in cold sweat, and bolted from the alcove, fleeing the restaurant without uttering another word.
