Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Claire spent the night in a hotel registered under a different name.
Samuel arrived before sunrise.
He brought two attorneys and a forensic accountant.
“We need to freeze everything,” he said.
“My accounts?”
“All accounts connected to Northbridge.”
Claire nodded.
Then she handed him the microchip.
Samuel looked at it.
“This could change everything.”
“How do we access it?”
“We don't.”
“Why?”
“Because your father designed it to open only under specific conditions.”
“What conditions?”
Samuel looked at the pendant.
“Your identity.”
They connected it to an isolated computer.
The screen remained blank.
Then Claire placed her thumb on the reader.
The archive opened.
Thousands of files appeared.
Contracts.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Emails.
Court filings.
The entire history of Meridian Circle.
Claire stared.
“This is enormous.”
Samuel nodded.
“Your father was building a case.”
“Against whom?”
Samuel opened a folder labeled:
BENNETT FAMILY.
Inside were documents proving Mark's family had received money from Meridian Circle.
Claire's stomach tightened.
“Mark knew.”
“Yes.”
“But he wasn't the leader.”
“No.”
Samuel opened another folder.
PATRICIA BENNETT.
Inside were communications between Patricia and an unknown person.
Every message ended with the same initials.
R.M.
Claire stared.
“Who is R.M.?”
Samuel didn't answer.
He opened another folder.
The initials appeared everywhere.
R.M.
Payments.
Instructions.
Threats.
Northbridge transfers.
Hospital records.
Even the forged documents.
Claire suddenly remembered someone.
Her father's longtime financial adviser.
Richard Morgan.
He had attended every family event.
He had helped her father manage his estate.
He had comforted Claire at the funeral.
He had told her Mark was "a good man."
Claire whispered:
“Richard.”
Samuel looked at her.
“You know him?”
“My father trusted him.”
Samuel's expression changed.
“Then we may have found the person above them.”
They searched the archive.
Richard Morgan appeared repeatedly.
He had received payments from Meridian Circle for fourteen years.
But there was something stranger.
His payments stopped one month before Claire's father died.
Claire asked:
“Why would they stop paying him?”
Samuel opened the final transaction.
A payment had been made to a new recipient.
Claire's name.
Her blood ran cold.
Someone had opened a secret account in her name.
Money was being deposited into it.
Millions.
Samuel stared at the screen.
“This is a setup.”
“For what?”
“To make it look like you received stolen funds.”
Claire understood.
They weren't just trying to steal her inheritance.
They were building a criminal case against her.
If the money was discovered, she would appear to be part of the fraud.
Then Mark could claim she was financially irresponsible.
Patricia could petition for control.
And the Northbridge shares could be transferred.
Claire looked at Samuel.
“When did the account open?”
“The day your father died.”
Claire closed her eyes.
They had planned everything.
The inheritance.
The account.
The forged documents.
Even her grief.
Then another file appeared.
VIDEO_07.
Samuel opened it.
Security footage showed Claire's father entering a parking garage.
Mark was there.
Richard Morgan was there.
And Patricia.
Claire watched her father hand Mark an envelope.
Then Richard stepped forward.
The video stopped.
Samuel frowned.
“Corrupted.”
Claire noticed something.
The timestamp jumped eleven minutes.
“What happened during those eleven minutes?”
“We need the original file.”
“Where?”
Samuel checked the metadata.
“Northbridge's private server.”
Claire looked at him.
“Then that's where we're going.”
They arrived at the company's headquarters that afternoon.
The building looked deserted.
Northbridge employees had been told to work remotely.
The security desk was empty.
Claire entered her father's old executive office.
Everything had been cleared.
Except one drawer.
Inside was a handwritten note.
The same handwriting.
Claire opened it.
Richard is not the final answer.
Her heart sank.
Another note followed.
If you trust anyone, trust the person who has nothing to gain.
Claire looked at Samuel.
“You have nothing to gain.”
Samuel shook his head.
“I represent your estate.”
“Then you have something to gain.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
They heard footsteps.
Someone was coming down the hall.
Samuel turned off the lights.
The door opened.
A woman entered.
Claire recognized her immediately.
Lauren.
Mark's sister.
She closed the door behind her.
“Claire?”
Claire stepped into the light.
Lauren jumped.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Neither should you.”
Lauren looked terrified.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Mark didn't quit his job because of your inheritance.”
Claire stared.
“Then why?”
Lauren swallowed.
“He was fired.”
“Why?”
“Because the company discovered he had been stealing.”
“From Northbridge?”
“No.”
Lauren looked toward the hallway.
“From Meridian Circle.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
Lauren whispered:
“Mark was trying to get out.”
“Out of what?”
“The organization.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Who runs it?”
Lauren's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
Lauren shook her head.
“I only know what they call him.”
“Who?”
Lauren whispered:
“The Architect.”
Before Claire could ask another question, the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed somewhere downstairs.
Lauren screamed.
Samuel grabbed Claire.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Claire.”
She recognized it.
Richard Morgan.
May you like
And he said:
“You were never supposed to find the archive.”
