The call came through a line Leo didn't recognize, which meant it had already passed three filters that should have stopped it."It identified itself as a request for direct contact," Leo said, setting the transcript on the desk. "Not a solicitation. Not a cold approach. Whoever placed it knew exactly which number to use and exactly who would answer."Ethan read the transcript once. "Who is he.""Calls himself Julian Reyes. London-based. The number traces to a boutique advisory firm that doesn't list clients publicly, which usually means the clients don't want to be found by anyone without the right introduction.""And he has the right introduction.""He referenced the succession arbitration by case number," Leo said. "Not the public version. The sealed filing number, Ethan. That's not something you get from reading the financial press."Ethan set the transcript down. "Get him on the line."Reyes answered on the first ring, his voice unhurried in the particular way of a man who billed

The filing became public record at nine the next morning, the moment Catherine's office submitted it to the court clerk's office rather than keeping it sealed within the cease-and-desist exchange."You didn't have to file it publicly," Leo said. "The retraction already happened. The threat's resolved.""The retraction resolved the article," Catherine said. "It didn't resolve the underlying claim. If Preston repeats this anywhere else, a sealed complaint does nothing. A public filing means the next person who hears his version can find the documented one in the same search."By noon, three business journalists who'd been following the succession conflict had already pulled the filing from the public docket. None of them ran a sensational piece. What they found didn't lend itself to sensation.It was a schedule.Three years, broken into recurring entries, dated and cross-referenced against household records the legal team had assembled from financial statements, staff schedules, and cor