Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at Victor as though he'd been struck.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I were.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Cole ordered him to sit.<\/p>\n
Victor obeyed.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother's people found me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeatrice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who still work for the network.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat across from him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me about my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor placed a folded document on the table.<\/p>\n
Arthur recognized it immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't my signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Cole examined the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho signed this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor said, \u201cArthur Vega.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never ordered anyone to harm Julian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The document contained instructions to terminate my inheritance claim.<\/p>\n
Below that was a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
If necessary, eliminate the heir.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would my father write this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe person who controlled the files.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel.<\/p>\n
The thought came immediately.<\/p>\n
But Victor shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the order was written?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why I know the documents were manipulated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Cole looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor told us that the network had used old signatures for years.<\/p>\n
They created orders after people died.<\/p>\n
They altered dates.<\/p>\n
They inserted pages into existing files.<\/p>\n
The purpose was simple.<\/p>\n
If anyone challenged the system, the paperwork made it appear that someone else had authorized the crime.<\/p>\n
No one knew where the original documents ended and the forged ones began.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo my father may be innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at Arthur.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf this, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut not everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe signed the first transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father eventually tried to reverse it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Evelyn disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at Evelyn.<\/p>\n
She said nothing.<\/p>\n
Victor told us my father had secretly moved money into the children's trust.<\/p>\n
He also arranged for the original ledger to be hidden.<\/p>\n
But someone discovered the plan.<\/p>\n
The children were separated again.<\/p>\n
The trust was frozen.<\/p>\n
And my father became afraid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe waited.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor you to become old enough to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does when the alternative was killing you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Victor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho wanted me dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandmother's successor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at Jonah.<\/p>\n
Jonah's face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus Ellis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he's dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Victor explained that the man who had died under Marcus Ellis's name was an impostor.<\/p>\n
The real Marcus had been operating under another identity.<\/p>\n
He had inherited Catherine's network.<\/p>\n
And he had spent years manipulating everyone around us.<\/p>\n
I remembered the recent death certificate.<\/p>\n
The hidden account.<\/p>\n
The message.<\/p>\n
The fingerprints.<\/p>\n
It all pointed toward someone who had never truly disappeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Marcus?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNear enough to hear this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sound came from upstairs.<\/p>\n
We all froze.<\/p>\n
Detective Cole moved toward the stairs.<\/p>\n
Jonah whispered, \u201cHe's here.\u201d<\/p>\n
We followed.<\/p>\n
The upstairs hallway was empty.<\/p>\n
A window stood open.<\/p>\n
On the sill was a note.<\/p>\n
You are almost ready.<\/p>\n
Victor took one look.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you found the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
We returned to the cellar.<\/p>\n
Detective Cole asked Victor what he wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gave her a small flash drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
She took it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is on it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPayments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be enough to expose the network.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot if Marcus gets there first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trust account.\u201d<\/p>\n
We drove to the bank.<\/p>\n
The account required three signatures.<\/p>\n
Mine.<\/p>\n
Clara's.<\/p>\n
And Jonah's.<\/p>\n
The bank manager brought the documents into a private room.<\/p>\n
I stared at the papers.<\/p>\n
The trust had been dormant for decades.<\/p>\n
The balance was enormous.<\/p>\n
But there was another clause.<\/p>\n
If any beneficiary signed under coercion, the trust would be invalidated.<\/p>\n
Clara's signature mattered.<\/p>\n
Jonah's mattered.<\/p>\n
Mine mattered.<\/p>\n
Marcus had separated us because he needed control over those signatures.<\/p>\n
But now we were together.<\/p>\n
The bank manager asked whether we wished to proceed.<\/p>\n
I looked at Clara.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
Jonah looked at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought I'd get to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither did I.<\/p>\n
We signed.<\/p>\n
The account unlocked.<\/p>\n
A second file appeared.<\/p>\n
Digital records.<\/p>\n
Names.<\/p>\n
Payments.<\/p>\n
Dates.<\/p>\n
And one final instruction.<\/p>\n
Release all records to the public archive upon activation.<\/p>\n
Detective Cole stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's automatic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe records become accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we're done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The system showed a pending authorization.<\/p>\n
One more signature.<\/p>\n
Arthur.<\/p>\n
He needed to confirm that the trust had been activated lawfully.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
He signed.<\/p>\n
The screen changed.<\/p>\n
Access granted.<\/p>\n
For a moment, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Then every phone in the room vibrated.<\/p>\n
News alerts.<\/p>\n
Government notices.<\/p>\n
Court filings.<\/p>\n
The records were going public.<\/p>\n
The network couldn't bury them anymore.<\/p>\n
But Victor looked terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat transfer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone moved the final account.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverseas.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Cole called the financial crimes unit.<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn't over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonah stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus took the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara squeezed my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we find him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before we could leave, a new message appeared on the screen.<\/p>\n
You opened the door.<\/p>\n
Now come see what is behind it.<\/p>\n
Below the words was an address.<\/p>\n
My mother's old house.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
I looked at Detective Cole.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're not going alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
But Victor stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Marcus is there, he won't be trying to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe'll be trying to make you choose which person in your family dies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke. Arthur looked at Victor as though he'd been struck. \u201cYou're lying.\u201d Victor shook his head. \u201cI wish I were.\u201d Detective Cole ordered him to sit. Victor obeyed. He … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16068,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16034\/revisions\/16068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}