CHAPTER 10 The Secret Behind “Regency” Finally Came to Light
CHAPTER 10 The Secret Behind “Regency” Finally Came to Light
The word hung in the air.
“Regency.”
No one spoke.
I looked from Justin to Luke, expecting someone to explain.
Instead, I watched Rebecca slowly lean back in her chair.
The color had drained from her face.
Luke noticed.
“You know that name.”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
“I hoped I would never hear it again.”
I frowned.
“What is Regency?”
Rebecca took a long breath before answering.
“It isn't a company.”
“It isn't a person.”
“It isn't even an official organization.”
My confusion only grew.
“Then what is it?”
She looked directly at me.
“It’s the name insiders use for an unofficial network.”
Luke quietly finished her sentence.
“A network made up of executives, consultants, attorneys, and financial advisers.”
Nathan frowned.
“What kind of network?”
Rebecca answered without hesitation.
“The kind that exists in the shadows.”
“The kind that helps powerful people hide money.”
The room became silent again.
I looked at Justin.
“You were part of it?”
His shoulders dropped.
“I was recruited.”
“That wasn't my question.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The single word hit harder than I expected.
“So everything was true.”
He nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“The affair?”
“Yes.”
“The hidden accounts?”
“Yes.”
“The apartment?”
“Yes.”
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
“You lied about everything.”
Justin looked at me with unmistakable regret.
“I know.”
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“You don't know.”
“You don't know what it felt like holding our daughter while another woman hit me.”
“You don't know what it felt like watching my husband protect her instead of us.”
Justin lowered his head.
“I replay that moment every night.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So do I.”
Neither of us spoke after that.
There was nothing left to say.
Luke finally broke the silence.
“Start from the beginning.”
Justin nodded.
“Three years ago, the company assigned me to oversee several commercial property acquisitions.”
Rebecca listened carefully.
“One of those projects involved outside investors.”
“At first everything looked legitimate.”
“Then invoices started changing.”
“Wire transfers were rerouted.”
“Property values were manipulated.”
Nathan frowned.
“For profit?”
Justin nodded.
“Millions.”
“How much?”
“I never knew the exact amount.”
“But enough that people stopped asking questions.”
Rebecca quietly took notes.
“And Vanessa?”
Justin sighed.
“She worked with the investor relations team.”
“She approached me after one meeting.”
“What did she want?”
“She said I had potential.”
Luke raised an eyebrow.
“To do what?”
“To become useful.”
Justin gave a humorless smile.
“I thought she meant career advancement.”
“She didn't.”
“She meant loyalty.”
I listened without interrupting.
Every answer explained another piece of the puzzle.
Every answer also reminded me that Justin had chosen to stay.
No one had forced him.
No one had threatened him in the beginning.
He had made a choice.
“Why didn't you leave?”
I finally asked.
Justin looked at me.
“Because I was ambitious.”
His honesty caught me off guard.
“I wanted the promotion.”
“I wanted the money.”
“I wanted to provide a better life.”
I shook my head.
“You risked our family.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You cheated.”
He looked away.
“Yes.”
His willingness to admit everything somehow made it hurt even more.
There were no excuses.
Only regret.
Rebecca placed one document on the table.
“The forged approvals.”
Justin nodded.
“I discovered them too late.”
“You signed some of them.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
He closed his eyes.
“Because by then they already had leverage.”
Luke spoke quietly.
“What leverage?”
Justin answered without looking up.
“They recorded private meetings.”
“They documented financial mistakes.”
“They built files on everyone.”
My stomach tightened.
“Like the file they built on me.”
Justin looked at me with guilt.
“Yes.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“They investigated me?”
“They investigated everyone connected to people inside the network.”
“For what?”
“To find pressure points.”
Luke slowly nodded.
“Family.”
“Debt.”
“Health.”
“Anything they could use.”
Nathan folded his arms.
“They weaponized personal information.”
Justin nodded once.
“Yes.”
The conference room door opened.
Detective Harris stepped inside.
He carried another folder.
“We have an update.”
Everyone looked toward him.
“Our forensic team finished examining the burner phone.”
Luke stood.
“And?”
“We identified R.”
Justin immediately looked up.
“You did?”
Detective Harris nodded.
“Yes.”
I held my breath.
“It wasn't a code name.”
Justin frowned.
“What?”
Harris opened the folder.
“Regency wasn't referring to the organization.”
“It was referring to a property.”
Nobody moved.
“What property?”
The detective slid a photograph across the table.
An enormous estate appeared in the picture.
Stone walls.
Iron gates.
Private security.
Rebecca stared at it.
“Oh my God.”
Luke looked at her.
“You've been there?”
She nodded slowly.
“Once.”
“What is it?”
She swallowed.
“It's called Regency House.”
I frowned.
“A mansion?”
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“It's where the network meets.”
Justin's face went completely pale.
“No.”
Detective Harris looked at him.
“You recognize it.”
Justin nodded.
“I've never been inside.”
“But?”
“I drove executives there twice.”
The detective made another note.
“Who?”
“I don't know all their names.”
“But I recognized several board members.”
Rebecca whispered,
“This is bigger than we thought.”
Detective Harris placed another photograph beside the first.
This one showed a security gate.
A black SUV entering the property.
The date stamp was from six months earlier.
He looked at Justin.
“Who's driving?”
Justin stared at the image.
Then closed his eyes.
“I am.”
My heart sank.
There was no denying it.
Justin wasn't just connected to the investigation.
He had physically transported people to the place at the center of it.
Luke leaned forward.
“One last question.”
Justin looked at him.
“Ask.”
“Why write the letter?”
Justin looked at me before answering.
“Because I knew I might not get another chance.”
“To tell the truth?”
He nodded.
“And because...”
His voice faltered.
“I realized too late that the people I was trying to protect...”
He looked at Maya sleeping peacefully in her stroller.
“...were the same people I had already hurt.”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
For the first time since this nightmare began, I believed Justin was truly remorseful.
But remorse couldn't erase what he had done.
It couldn't erase the lies.
It couldn't erase the affair.
It couldn't erase the fear Maya and I had lived through.
Forgiveness and accountability were not the same thing.
Just as Detective Harris began gathering the files, his phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“Yes?”
His expression changed in an instant.
“What happened?”
The room grew still.
He listened for nearly thirty seconds.
Then he slowly lowered the phone.
Luke stood.
“What's wrong?”
Harris looked directly at Justin.
“Someone broke into your office last night.”
Justin frowned.
“My office?”
“They didn't steal your computer.”
“They didn't touch the company records.”
“What did they take?”
The detective's answer sent a chill through every person in the room.
“They removed exactly one item.”
Justin swallowed hard.
“What?”
“A framed family photograph.”
I stared at Harris in disbelief.
“A picture?”
He nodded.
“The only photograph in your office that included you…”
“…your wife…”
“…and your daughter.”
Justin's face turned ghost white.
He whispered one sentence almost to himself.
“They know.”
Luke narrowed his eyes.
“They know what?”
Justin looked at me with unmistakable fear.
“That I'm no longer protecting them.”
Before anyone could respond, every phone in the room buzzed at the same time.
A breaking news alert flashed across each screen.
FEDERAL AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE MULTI-STATE INVESTIGATION INTO A SUSPECTED REAL ESTATE FRAUD NETWORK.
But that wasn't what caught my attention.
Below the headline was a single surveillance photograph released to the public.
The image showed several executives entering the gates of Regency House.
One face was blurred.
One face was circled in red.
And when I looked closer...
I realized the circled person wasn't Justin.
It wasn't Vanessa.
It was someone I knew.
May you like
Someone I had trusted.
Someone who had been standing beside me since the very beginning.
