Chapter 3: A Signature from the Past
The woman shoved the phone into her purse.
Her boyfriend caught her wrist before she could walk away.
“Vanessa, answer him.”
“Let go of me, Marcus.”
Marcus Hale released her, but he moved between Vanessa and the ballroom exit.
Adrian Brooks picked up his glass.
“My office.
Now.”
Vanessa laughed, though her voice shook.
“You don’t order me around anymore.”
“No,” Adrian said.
“But as CEO, I can order an investigation into confidential company documents.”
Marcus stared at her.
“You told me Adrian Brooks was a different man.”
“I didn’t know his surname!”
“You knew exactly who I was,” Adrian said.
“You saw my photograph in the annual report.”
Vanessa’s eyes flicked toward the surrounding guests.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Not here.”
Five minutes later, they stood in a private conference room behind the ballroom.
Adrian’s attorney, Naomi Price, placed Vanessa’s phone inside a clear evidence pouch after Vanessa reluctantly unlocked it.
“Open the message thread,” Adrian said.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“That requires a warrant.”
“You brought a confidential contract into a corporate event,” Naomi replied.
“You may cooperate, or we call our investigators.”
Marcus sank into a chair.
“I gave Vanessa access to my laptop last week.
She said she needed to print travel documents.”
“You gave her your password?” Adrian asked.
“She watched me enter it.” Marcus rubbed both hands across his face.
“I never signed a supplier agreement.”
Vanessa leaned over the table.
“Stop acting innocent.
You told me Parallel needed a logistics partner.”
“I discussed it over dinner.
I never authorized you to take anything.”
Naomi pulled a folded document from Vanessa’s purse.
The first page carried the Parallel Group logo and a fourteen-million-dollar figure.
Adrian tapped the supplier’s name.
“Cole Meridian Holdings.”
“My brother’s company is qualified,” Vanessa said.
“Julian’s company has existed for six months,” Marcus replied.
“You told me he worked in property management.”
“He has investors.”
“He has one rented office and no employees,” Naomi said, reading from her tablet.
Vanessa’s lips parted.
“How could you possibly know that?”
“I began checking the moment I saw the message.”
Adrian turned to the signature page.
Marcus’s name appeared at the bottom, but the letters leaned too far to the right.
“That isn’t my signature,” Marcus said.
“Your electronic credentials approved it,” Vanessa shot back.
“Try explaining that to the board.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Was that the plan?
Let Marcus take responsibility after your brother received the first payment?”
“You always thought you were smarter than everyone.”
“No, Vanessa.
I learned to read what people place in front of me.”
Naomi slid the document closer to the light.
“There’s a witness signature beneath Marcus’s.”
Vanessa stopped breathing for a moment.
Marcus read the name aloud.
“Daniel Cole.”
Adrian’s fingers tightened against the table.
Daniel Cole had been Vanessa’s father—and the first person who had believed in Adrian’s company.
“That cannot be authentic,” Adrian said.
“Daniel passed away four years ago.”
Vanessa reached for the contract, but Naomi pulled it away.
“An old authorization was used,” Vanessa said.
“My father gave Julian permission to act for the family.”
“This signature was witnessed last month,” Naomi replied.
Adrian looked at the date, then at Vanessa.
From inside the evidence pouch, her phone began ringing.
The screen displayed one name: Julian.
May you like
Naomi pressed the speaker button.
“Vanessa,” her brother said, “tell me you destroyed the page with Dad’s signature.”
