However, if Langston were to accept payment, he would in fact transfer the note, not nullify or forgive the note. However, Katherine, no new instrument has been negotiated to my knowledge, and it has been more than forty-eight hours. The same stipulation applies here. The new holder of the note would now be the legal holder of the property if you cannot meet the terms.”
“Thieving bastard. He stole the ranch right out from under me! And I trusted him,” she almost cried. First, because she knew she was in a deep hole, but more because she had trusted Robert.
You would think she would have learned after her disastrous marriage never to trust a man who looked as good as Robert and had sharp brains to match. He was as shrewd as he was eye candy. She should have known better. No one is that nice. No one is that unselfish. Just because she knew him fifteen years ago did not mean she knew him still. Kyle going to Langston and not Robert should have tipped her off. Her trust was foolish, stupid, and costly. Well, never again.
“Are you talking Langston?” Lyles asked surprised, interrupting her train of thought. “Katherine, unless you are a fool, no one actually trusts Dallas Langston. At least anyone who has ever had dealing with him never trusts him.”
Yet, Katherine was nobody’s fool as far as he knew. He had done some digging once Kyle’s state of affairs became open. He knew she would be the sole person to inherit, both the good and the bad, from the Brandenburg estate.
She had done very well in the financial community until the vicious allegations were levied against her by her vindictive ex-husband. His jealousy had abounded in that relationship. As a financial planner, he continued to lose clients left and right giving bogus and high risk advice while she on the other hand had prospered. Careful investing and cultivating her contacts, coupled with knowledge of the booming Asian economy, had made her clients and her firm millions. It all came crashing down around her ears, amassing tens of thousands of dollars of debt in attorney costs to defend her innocence against charges that could not be substantiated. The watchdogs eventually went on to bigger and better trails to sniff out, but poor Katherine was left to mop up the mess left behind.
Once all the criminal charges were dropped and her record cleansed of any federal indictments, the civil charges just kept coming. Clients sued her for breach of confidentiality. Daniel, her ex, had pilfered her files using the confidential information of her clients to blackmail some and financially bring the ruination of others. It did not matter that she was not the one who gave him access to all the sensitive information. Katherine’s intern had had an affair with Daniel Masterson, Katherine's ex, and had given him access to Katherine’s files. The twenty-two-year-old senior at NYU was expelled from school and was now doing jail time for the part she played in the extortion.
Eventually, the mess was settled. Her clients were not any more understanding, but at least she did not have to go to jail, and as far as he knew there was no probation time either.
“Not Dallas, Mr. Lyles. It was Robert I trusted.”
“Katherine, what is going on?" He saw her hesitate. "I’m your attorney, Katherine. You must tell me. It is the only way I can help you.”
Kate sighed. “Robert paid Langston in full. He now owns the Golden Circle. And I have no recourse?”
“Robert, huh? It could be worse, Katherine. But no there is no recourse, I’m afraid, not as it stands. However, better Robert than Dallas Langston, my dear. Trust me. Robert was looking out for your and Kyle’s interests. I would bet my license on his actions being honorable.”
“Mr. Lyles, how can you say that? He did not even give me a chance. I trusted him,” she repeated.
“He had a very small window of time in which to react, Katherine. Keep that in mind before you place him on trial and convict him
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