The call ended. Dennis stared at the screen until Rachel opened the door and told him that their daughter had asked whether he was coming outside. He closed the laptop without sending a reminder. It was a tiny refusal, late and inadequate, but it was the first time in a long while that he had not completed Bradley's instruction automatically.
Sloane Avery spent that Sunday editing clips for Monday's livestream. She had chosen an elegant outfit, prepared a set of questions for Bradley, and written captions describing the coming CEO announcement as a victory over doubters. Her relationship with Bradley had brought her access to rooms and events that other influencers requested for months without success. She liked him when he was generous, funny, and charming; she disliked the sharpness that appeared whenever someone questioned him, but she had learned to wave it away as business pressure.
A message arrived from a viewer who had recognized Loretta's name on the viral lobby clip. The viewer wrote that the woman in the video might be connected to Harbor Gate Capital and suggested Sloane should check before making more jokes. Sloane searched the name and found articles about a cleaning-services entrepreneur who had built a substantial investment company. There were old photographs of Loretta opening warehouses, speaking at small-business forums, and presenting grants to entrepreneurs. In one picture, the woman in the navy cardigan stood beside a younger Patricia Holt.
Sloane stared at the image. It showed a Loretta Simmons who looked very much like the quiet visitor in Bradley's lobby. She called Bradley and asked whether he had ever looked up the woman's name. He laughed and told her not to be ridiculous: Patricia collected charity cases, and wealthy people did not wait forty-five minutes for a meeting without announcing themselves.
"People do strange things," Sloane said.
"People with money don't," Bradley replied. "Trust me."
Sloane ended the call and searched the Georgia business filing for Lakeside Advisory again. She knew she was listed as its registered agent because Bradley had once asked her to sign a set of documents he described as paperwork for future brand partnerships. She had thought she was helping establish an entity for sponsorship income, and she had not worried about the detail. Now, looking at an organization whose name appeared in business records but whose supposed work she had never seen, she felt the first uneasiness she could not edit out of a photograph.
She found an old message from Bradley telling her that the account setup would be handled by his team and that any incoming correspondence could be forwarded to his office. She had never asked why a marketing venture needed the involvement of Belmont Row's finance director. Her instinct was to delete the messages because they made her feel foolish. Instead, she saved them, uncertain whether that was caution or the beginning of guilt.