Chapter 6 Secret

The law office was in a strip mall in Queens, sandwiched between a dry cleaner and a vape shop. The fluorescent lights buzzed like angry hornets.

Attorney Fox looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He was young, his suit was ill-fitting, and he had a stain on his tie.

He stared at the photocopy of the separation agreement Carly had placed on his desk. His coffee cup halted halfway to his mouth.

"Mrs... Salazar?" he squeaked. "As in... Brice Salazar?"

Carly nodded. She typed on her phone. Is this valid?

Fox put his coffee down. He picked up the paper with reverent, trembling hands. He read it. Then he read it again. He pulled out a law book. He typed something into his computer.

Thirty minutes passed. The silence was thick with the smell of old paper and desperation.

Finally, Fox took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Technically? Yes. He signed it," Fox said. "But..."

Carly's stomach dropped. She had anticipated this. She knew the document was flawed; she wasn't here for a miracle, she was here for reconnaissance. But what?

"The assets listed here... the shares, the properties... they are all held within the Salazar Family Trust," Fox explained, his voice apologetic. "Under New York state law, any disposition of trust assets requires the countersignature of a secondary trustee or two notaries present at the signing. Without that, his lawyers will argue he didn't have the authority to sign them away, or that he was coerced, or that he simply made a mistake."

He pushed the paper back to her. "They will bury you, Mrs. Salazar. They will drag this out for ten years. Do you have ten years?"

Carly took the paper. She didn't have ten months.

"Unless..." Fox hesitated. "Unless you can prove he signed it with full intent to defraud the trust, or you find a lawyer who scares them more than they scare you."

"Who?" Carly typed.

Fox laughed, a dry, hopeless sound. "Nobody. Nobody touches the Salazars. It's career suicide." He paused. "Well, maybe Damon Yates. But he charges two thousand an hour and he doesn't take charity cases."

Carly stood up. She placed five hundred dollars in cash on the desk. She hadn't come here hoping the agreement would hold up; she had come to confirm the exact angle of attack Brice's lawyers would take. Now she knew.

She walked out into the gray afternoon. The city felt huge and hostile.

She sat on a bench and pulled up the photo of Damon Yates on her phone. He had cold eyes. Predatory eyes.

She needed leverage. Money wouldn't work on him. He had enough.

She closed her eyes and dug into the archives of her memory-the things she knew from her life before. The Surgeon.

She remembered a file she had intercepted years ago. Damon Yates had lost a high-profile case five years ago because a key witness disappeared. A man named "The Ghost." Damon had been obsessed with finding him , it was the only blemish on his record.

Carly knew where The Ghost was. She had stitched up his bullet wound in a safe house in Mexico three years ago.

It was dangerous. Using this information would expose that she wasn't just a mute housewife. It would leave a trail.

But she had no choice.

She checked the time. The Tech Summit Gala started in four hours.

She went home. The house was empty. She went to the bathroom and showered, scrubbing her skin until it was pink. She did her makeup-sharp, dark eyeliner, red lips.

She put on the red dress. It was backless, plunging deep. It was a weapon.

She looked in the mirror. The submissive wife was gone.