They stared at each other across the scattered papers.
“As in, our Malphas,” Derek whispered. “The senior partner.”
Ava’s hands were shaking. She pressed them flat against the table, forcing herself to think like a lawyer instead of a terrified daughter.
“Wait. Look at the client list. Peterson Holdings has dozens of other accounts: small businesses all over the tri-state area. Restaurants in Newark. Dry cleaners in the Bronx. A bodega in Astoria.” She scanned the documents. “This looks like standard firm operations. Predatory lending wrapped in legitimate paperwork. Awful, but generic. No personal targeting.”
Derek pulled up more files, cross-referencing. “You’re right. It’s systematic, but not specific to your family.”
“So Lilith used the firm’s existing infrastructure for her own vendetta.” The pieces clicked together with sickening clarity. “She has access to Peterson Holdings as part of her partnership duties. Malphas manages it as one of dozens of shell companies. And she used it for her own personal war.”
“Which means Malphas probably doesn’t know she’s specifically targeting you and Victor.” Derek’s expression shifted from fear to calculation. “This isn’t a conspiracy involving all the partners. It’s Lilith going rogue with firm resources.”
The door opened.
Victor appeared in the doorway, his expression unreadable.
“You found it.”
“Malphas Holdings.” Ava met his eyes. “Did you know?”
“I suspected. But the firm’s structure is deliberately compartmentalized. Each partner has their own domain.” He gripped the back of a chair, knuckles white. “Malphas probably doesn’t know what Lilith’s been doing specifically. But once we expose that she’s been using firm resources for a personal vendetta against another partner…”
“He’ll have to act,” Derek finished. “She made him look incompetent. Demons hate that.”
“And the other partners?”
“They’ll claim ignorance. But once we expose Lilith, they’ll be forced to choose sides.” Victor’s voice flattened, all business. “A partner using firm resources for a personal grudge makes everyone look weak. They’ll turn on her to protect themselves.”
Ava looked at the files spread across the table. Fifteen years of traps. Centuries of heartbreak. Her parents’ lives reduced to paper and clauses and ink.
She straightened in her chair.
“I’ll keep digging,” Derek said quietly into the heavy silence. “Ancient property law. Demonic contract loopholes. Precedents for voiding soul-debt under duress.” He met her eyes, and she saw determination beneath his fear. “There has to be something. Give me time.”
Fifteen days.
The countdown timer on Lilith’s phone flickered in Ava’s memory: crimson numbers ticking toward destruction.
“Then we’d better work fast.”
CHAPTER 15
Ava sat in Conference Room Three at 1:47 AM, surrounded by Peterson Holdings files that told her nothing useful.
Her eyes burned from hours of reading. Her coffee had gone cold three cups ago. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead with that particular frequency that made everything feel slightly unreal, slightly desperate.
Corporate shells within shells. Delaware LLCs hiding Cayman Islands trusts hiding Luxembourg holding companies. Every time she thought she’d found a crack in the structure, the trail looped back on itself, disappearing into another layer of legal obfuscation.
Fifteen years of meticulous construction. Lilith had been thorough.
Victor was sleeping—finally, reluctantly, after she’d insisted he go home. His presence was a distant warmth at the edge of her consciousness, steady and slow. She’d told him she was leaving too. She’d lied.
The countdown timer in her mind ticked relentlessly. Thirteen days now. Thirteen days until her parents lost everything.
Her phone buzzed. Cassandra:Still here?
Always.
