Chapter 5 - The Ghost in the Records-5
The sun rose over Chicago the following morning, burning away the lake fog and casting a brilliant gold light across the city's skyline. Inside the high-rise executive suite of Montgomery Real Estate, the air was quiet, smelling of mahogany, fresh coffee, and crisp paper.
I sat in my father’s old leather executive chair, looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the city he had helped build.
Sitting across from me was Marcus and Chloe. The desk was covered with legal filings, asset recovery documents, and court summons. The Vance family—Daniel, Gloria, Vanessa, and Charles—were all currently processed in federal custody, denied bail due to the extreme flight risk and the severity of the charges, which now included capital murder.
"The board of directors held an emergency meeting at seven AM," Chloe reported, sliding a tablet toward me. "With Charles in custody and Daniel stripped of his voting rights, your seventy-two percent share has been fully restored. The stock price actually surged twelve percent after the news broke that the financial corruption had been eradicated."
"What about my father's estate accounts?" I asked, keeping my eyes fixed on the horizon.
"Marcus and the forensic team have traced four point six million dollars so far," Marcus said. "We expect to recover over eighty percent of the stolen assets within sixty days. The Isle of Man entities have already been frozen by international court orders."
I let out a long, quiet breath. It was over. The justice was absolute. The villains were bound for prison, my fortune was secure, and my father’s name had been cleared of any tragic illness narrative.
Yet, a tiny, persistent knot remained in the back of my mind.
"Chloe," I said, turning back to face her. "Bring up the initial audit file from last night. The one from the Isle of Man."
Chloe frowned slightly, tapping her tablet screen. "The Erebos Holdings file?"
"Yes," I said, leaning forward. "When we were at the airport, Charles said something strange. He said he deserved a share because he helped my father build the empire. But when I checked the early formation documents of Montgomery Real Estate from thirty years ago, Charles wasn't a partner. He was just a junior closing attorney."
Chloe brought up the scanned documents from three decades ago, zooming in on the original founding charter.
"Look at the third signature on the original charter, Chloe," I instructed.
Chloe zoomed in on the faded, fountain-pen signature at the bottom of the page. Beside my father’s signature and the company seal was a third name that had been heavily crossed out with black ink, accompanied by an official corporate seal stating REDACTED BY COURT ORDER - 1996.
"I ran a spectral analysis on that redacted ink last night," I said softly.
Marcus sat up straighter, his sharp eyes narrowing. "You found a third founder?"
"Not just a founder," I said, pulling a yellowed, faded photograph from my pocket and laying it on the mahogany desk.
The photograph showed my father thirty years ago, standing on an empty construction site, his arm draped around a tall, dark-haired woman with striking green eyes and a fierce, confident smile. Standing behind them, holding a rolled-up blueprint, was a young Gloria Vance.
"Who is the woman, Claire?" Marcus asked, leaning in to look at the photo.
"Her name was Victoria Sterling," I said, my voice heavy with a new, terrifying realization. "She was my father's first business partner. And according to municipal birth records I pulled two hours ago... she was also Daniel's real mother."
Chloe gasped, dropping her stylus onto the desk. "What?"
"Gloria isn't Daniel's mother," I revealed, the final, horrific layer of the puzzle clicking into place. "Gloria was Victoria Sterling's personal assistant. Thirty years ago, Victoria mysteriously vanished while pregnant with Daniel. Three months later, Gloria surfaced in Chicago married to an unknown man, claiming Daniel as her son, while my father and Charles bought out Victoria’s controlling shares for pennies on the dollar."
Marcus stood up slowly, a dark realization dawning in his eyes. "Gloria didn't just steal your money out of greed, Claire. She was executing a thirty-year revenge plot."
"Daniel didn't know," I said, shaking my head. "Gloria raised Daniel to believe he was a prince who had been robbed of his birthright. She pushed him to marry me, trained him to abuse me, and manipulated Charles into poisoning my father... all because she believed my father had murdered Victoria Sterling thirty years ago to take the company."
The air in the office went completely cold.
"Did he?" Chloe whispered, her voice trembling. "Did your father kill her?"
May you like
I looked at the yellowed photograph, looking into the eyes of my father and the long-lost woman standing beside him.
"I don't know," I whispered. "But I’m going to find out."
