Chapter 7 - CALLUM FINALLY LIED TO MY FACE
Callum turned his phone over too late.
I had already read it.
He saw that I had read it.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked:
“What false admission?”
His face became unreadable.
“Claire.”
“What false admission?”
He exhaled slowly.
“Please sit down.”
I almost laughed.
“I am sitting.”
He looked toward the windows.
Then the doors.
A surgeon assessing exits.
“You opened the drive.”
Not a question.
“Yes.”
His face tightened.
“Mara gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
“You have no idea what she’s involved in.”
“I know you forged access to my money.”
“I did not forge your signature.”
“Did you use the false hospital admission?”
Silence.
That was enough.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
The word barely came out.
Something inside me broke quietly.
“Why?”
“Because I was trying to keep everything contained.”
“My identity?”
“Northbridge.”
“My foundation?”
“Claire—”
“My money?”
“I was replacing it.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Callum stood.
“I made decisions I’m not proud of.”
“Did you alter Caroline Mercer’s record?”
“Yes.”
“Did you threaten Elise Vale?”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“Did you plant narcotics in her locker?”
His eyes flashed.
“No.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was trying to remove them.”
I stared.
“What?”
“When I arrived, the medication was already there.”
“Who put it there?”
“Julian.”
My breathing stopped.
Callum continued.
“Not personally. Security did it.”
“And you said nothing?”
“If I exposed what was happening then, Nathan went to prison.”
“For what?”
His eyes filled with something I had never expected.
Shame.
“My brother helped Northbridge hide device failures before the Hawthorne trial.”
“How?”
“He was corporate counsel.”
“Nathan falsified regulatory documents?”
“He approved submissions he knew were incomplete.”
“And Julian knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why protect Nathan?”
“He threatened to kill himself.”
That stopped me.
Callum sat down again.
“He called me the night Elise reported the trial.”
His voice cracked.
“He said if Northbridge collapsed, everything would come out. He had signed documents. Approved language. He was terrified.”
I understood the emotion.
I did not understand the choices.
“So you destroyed Elise instead.”
Callum closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No manipulation.
Just yes.
For some reason that hurt worse.
“And the consulting money?”
“I never spent it.”
“Two point four million.”
“It’s sitting in an account.”
“Why take it?”
“To create a trail Julian believed made me equally guilty.”
I stared.
“You intentionally made yourself look bribed?”
“I needed him to believe I couldn’t turn on him.”
That sounded almost noble.
Then I remembered the forged foundation transactions.
“But you still moved my money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep Northbridge funding flowing while I built evidence.”
“For five years?”
His answer came quietly.
“I kept telling myself one more file.”
“One more audit.”
“One more witness.”
“One more month.”
I looked at him.
“And every month Elise lived with a destroyed career.”
His eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
Then he said:
“There’s something on that USB Mara doesn’t know about.”
“What?”
“A second archive.”
“Where?”
He looked toward Hawthorne Ridge.
“Inside the old surgical records room.”
“What’s in it?”
“Everything Julian thinks I destroyed.”
Before I could answer, Callum’s phone rang.
Nathan.
Callum answered.
His brother was shouting.
Then Callum’s face went white.
“What do you mean she’s there?”
He stood.
“Don’t touch anything.”
The call ended.
“Who?”
“Elise.”
My heart jumped.
“What happened?”
Callum grabbed his coat.
“Elise went back into Hawthorne Ridge.”
“Why?”
“To get the second archive.”
“And?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Julian knows she’s there.”
