I almost laughed. Robert had been doing crossword puzzles in ink for forty years.
He wasn’t declining.
He was building a defense.
“That’s not why I’m calling,” Daniel added.
I went still.
“The woman he’s involved with—her name is Lillian Cross.”
I didn’t react.
“She’s not just his partner,” he continued.
Pause.
“She’s the registered owner of Cedar Ridge Holdings.”
Everything stopped.
“And she’s currently under federal investigation for financial fraud.”
That was when the story changed.
Not because of the affair.
Not because of the divorce.
But because of what Robert had tied himself to.
He hadn’t just hidden assets.
He had moved them—
into the hands of someone already under investigation.
And just like that, the system he built began to collapse.
PART 3
What followed wasn’t dramatic.
No explosion. No confrontation.
Just quiet unraveling.
