A cold, bitter sneer curled Jayden's lips. He uttered a harsh, disbelieving laugh, shaking his head in absolute disgust as he hardened his jaw line.
Suddenly, the murky pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, forming a hideous, undeniable picture. The sudden administrative block. The silent execution. The precise timing.
Keith Vanderbilt.
That manipulative bastard hadn't given up at all. The court trial was just the opening act; this was his desperate, scorched-earth retaliation.
"Did Keith Vanderbilt report this to you himself?" Jayden demanded, cutting straight through the diplomatic fluff, his voice laced with venom. "Did he crawl to your office with fabricated claims?"
A heavy, awkward silence stretched over the phone line for several agonizing seconds. When Arthur Parker finally spoke again, his tone was uncomfortably measured.
