Chapter 6: The Trap Inside the Contract
I picked up the pen.
Grandfather’s hand closed over mine.
“If you sign for my sake, he will own your fear forever.”
Daniel tapped the agreement.
“Eighteen minutes.”
“What would you do?” I asked Grandfather.
“Let the care centers close?”
“I would let every building bearing my name fall before I handed you to him.”
My eyes filled.
“You should have told me about the doctor.”
“I should have sat beside you instead of studying you from a distance,” he said.
“I loved you badly when you needed me most.”
I pressed my lips together, but the tears came anyway.
Grandfather pulled me against his shoulder.
“I am sorry, Evelyn.”
“I thought even you saw me as weak.”
“No.
I saw your pain and behaved like a businessman when I should have behaved like family.”
Vanessa placed a box of tissues beside me.
“Daniel used my worst fear too,” she said.
“He told me no one else would ever choose me.
He was wrong about both of us.”
Daniel struck the table with his palm.
“Are we finished with this little support group?”
I wiped my face and set down the pen.
“Yes,” I said.
“We’re finished doing what you expect.”
The chief technology officer turned the disconnected drive over in his hand.
“The hidden files are gone, but remote deletion leaves a destination address.”
Miriam leaned closer.
“Can you trace it?”
“To a Sterling server installed for the merger team.”
Malcolm’s attorney stood.
“That server is protected by business privilege.”
Grandfather smiled without warmth.
“Not if it is sitting inside my building.”
The security supervisor left with two officers.
Daniel called after him.
“You have no authority to open our files!”
“I own the hardware,” Grandfather said.
“You borrowed it.”
Malcolm pulled Daniel aside.
“We should leave.”
“No,” Daniel snapped.
“She is going to sign.”
Vanessa picked up the merger agreement.
“What are you doing?” Daniel asked.
“Looking at the date.”
She held the final page under the boardroom light.
“There are tiny letters beneath Evelyn’s signature line.”
Miriam took the page.
“This is a document-tracking code.”
Grandfather nodded.
“Every confidential Sterling draft receives one.”
I looked at him.
“You marked the agreement?”
“I marked six different drafts.
Each went to a different member of Malcolm’s team.”
Miriam read the code.
“This one was issued only to Daniel.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“That proves I received a draft.”
“It proves more than that,” Grandfather replied.
“The clause on page nineteen does not appear in any other copy.”
I turned to the page.
The clause stated that any attempt to transfer Sterling funds before final approval would trigger an automatic recall through the receiving bank.
The bank representative grabbed his phone.
“Give me the tracking code.”
Daniel reached for the contract, but Vanessa pulled it away.
“You wanted her signature,” she said.
“Now you can’t even touch the paper.”
The representative spoke rapidly to his security department.
After a long minute, he lowered the phone.
“The overseas account has been frozen.
The transfer is reversing.”
Malcolm seized Daniel’s arm.
“What did you do?”
“What you told me to do!”
“I told you to secure the merger, not leave your name on every document.”
Daniel tore free.
“You designed the whole plan.”
The boardroom door opened.
Security officers carried in Leonard’s laptop and two archive boxes.
Leonard followed with his hands visible at his sides.
“They promised to pay my debts,” he said.
“Then Daniel threatened to blame everything on me.”
Daniel turned on him.
“You forged Evelyn’s signature.”
“Because you gave me the stamp.”
Miriam opened the first archive box.
Inside were printed transfers, private emails and a ledger marked PROJECT BRIDE.
I reached for the ledger, but Leonard shook his head.
“That isn’t the worst file,” he said.
“Daniel prepared another plan in case the wedding failed.”
“What plan?” I asked.
Leonard looked at the dark television screen.
“He scheduled a press conference for noon.
He’s going to accuse you of taking the money yourself.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
A news alert appeared on the screen: STERLING HEIRESS UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER MASSIVE TRANSFER.
Daniel slipped the phone into his pocket.
May you like
“Too late,” he said.
“The world already believes me.”
