Chapter 8 - THE DEAD MEN WERE DOING BUSINESS
Luca called three people.
None answered.
Then he called someone named Martin in Zurich.
That conversation lasted less than a minute.
When it ended, Luca looked different.
I had seen him negotiate hostile takeovers without losing composure.
Now his hand was shaking.
“My father’s death certificate was filed through a private Swiss clinic.”
I stared at him.
“So?”
“The clinic closed eleven years ago.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No.”
He looked toward the security image.
“But his body was cremated before I arrived.”
Exactly like Eleanor.
No body.
A story.
Paperwork.
Grief built on documents.
Chloe whispered, “What is wrong with our families?”
Nobody answered.
Luca’s director tracked the SUV south.
Then lost it.
Rebecca and Daniel were gone.
Dad seemed calmer now.
Too calm.
I turned toward him.
“You knew Daniel was alive.”
Arthur shrugged.
“I knew rumors.”
“Stop.”
He looked at me.
“You knew.”
His mouth tightened.
“Yes.”
Luca stepped forward.
“When?”
“Years.”
“How many?”
“Eight.”
I thought Luca might hit him.
He did not.
That was not Luca.
Instead, he asked:
“Why did my father fake his death?”
Arthur smiled.
“You should ask him.”
“Why were you doing business with him?”
“I wasn’t.”
“Then why know?”
Silence.
Eleanor answered.
“Because they were all part of the same investment group.”
Luca looked at her.
“Who?”
“Arthur. Marcus. Daniel.”
She paused.
“And me.”
My stomach tightened.
“What group?”
“Sterling Strategic Holdings.”
The name from my trust.
The company I apparently owned part of.
Eleanor continued.
“It began as a private investment partnership thirty-five years ago.”
“What did it own?”
“Minority stakes. Distressed assets. Private loans.”
Marcus added quietly, “And information.”
Luca looked at him.
“What information?”
“Corporate vulnerabilities.”
The phrase made my skin crawl.
Eleanor nodded.
“We invested before restructurings, mergers, bankruptcies.”
I understood.
“Inside information?”
“No,” Eleanor said.
Marcus looked away.
That meant sometimes yes.
Dad laughed.
“Spare us the sainthood, Mother.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“I left when it became criminal.”
“When?”
“Twenty-three years ago.”
The year she disappeared.
Of course.
“What happened?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“I found evidence that Daniel Vance and Arthur were using private legal information to manipulate acquisitions.”
Luca’s face became stone.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
Luca looked away.
For the first time in four years, I saw him struggle to breathe.
I touched his arm.
He covered my hand with his.
Two children of powerful liars, standing in the ruins of a wedding.
Eleanor continued.
“I threatened to expose them.”
“So Arthur made you disappear?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“Then why?”
“I chose to disappear.”
Dad laughed.
“Finally.”
“But Arthur made sure I could never safely come back.”
“How?”
“He used Jessica.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“He threatened to drain your trust completely if I surfaced.”
Dad said, “That is not true.”
She ignored him.
“For years, staying dead was the only way I knew to keep the remaining assets intact.”
I wanted to be angry with her.
I was.
But the anger had too many targets.
Then Luca’s phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Rebecca and Daniel sitting at a table.
Between them was a folder marked MERIDIAN.
Under the image:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.
Luca’s face hardened.
I looked at the sender.
Another message arrived.
JESSI COMES TOO.
Then a third.
SHE IS THE REASON MERIDIAN EXISTS.
I stared at Luca.
“What does that mean?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Dad laughed softly.
I turned.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“You still think your career happened by accident?”
My chest tightened.
“I earned my career.”
“I’m sure you did.”
The condescension made me want to slap him.
“What are you saying?”
He leaned forward.
“Sterling & Vance Capital.”
He let the name sit.
Sterling.
Vance.
I had always assumed the overlap with my maiden name was coincidence.
A legacy surname from the founders.
But suddenly—
“No.”
Dad smiled.
“You joined a firm carrying both family names and never wondered why?”
I looked at Luca.
He looked genuinely confused.
Dad continued.
“Your grandmother and Daniel founded it.”
The room disappeared around me.
My entire adult life.
My career.
The place where I met Luca.
Had been built by people our families told us were dead.
May you like
Arthur whispered:
“You two didn’t meet by chance.”
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