Chapter 11 - The SignatureWe barely escaped.
Samuel had outplayed us.
The document carried my mother's signature.
It looked genuine.
Even I couldn't tell the difference.
But my mother could.
She stared at the image.
“I never signed that.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then someone forged it.”
“No.”
My mother shook her head.
“It's not forged.”
I stared.
“What?”
She touched the screen.
“That is my signature.”
“How?”
She looked at me.
“Because I signed it.”
Silence.
My heart sank.
“Why?”
She finally told me.
Years ago, Samuel had blackmailed her.
He had proof that Daniel was alive.
He threatened to expose him.
My mother signed a preliminary transfer agreement to protect my father.
But she never expected Samuel to activate it.
“He waited eleven years.”
Daniel looked furious.
“He manipulated the trust.”
My mother nodded.
“And he needed Charlotte alive.”
“Why?”
“Because the contract isn't valid without her.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your signature is required.”
I suddenly understood.
Samuel didn't want to kill me.
He needed me.
He needed me to sign.
That changed everything.
He had kidnapped Amelia because he knew I would trade anything to save her.
My mother reached for my hand.
“We have one advantage.”
“What?”
“He has the paperwork.”
“But we have the archive.”
Daniel smiled.
“The original digital ledger.”
We returned to the hidden archive.
Inside the deepest cabinet was an encrypted server.
My mother entered a code.
Records appeared.
Every ownership transfer.
Every signature.
Every modification.
Then we found it.
Samuel's transfer.
It had been created two years earlier.
Before my mother's supposed death.
And beside it was another name.
The person who authorized the transaction.
Richard Vale.
I turned.
“Uncle Richard.”
Richard lowered his head.
“I had no choice.”
I stared at him.
“You always say that.”
He looked broken.
“Because it was true.”
“You signed away my inheritance.”
“I signed away mine.”
He explained.
Samuel threatened his children.
He believed cooperating would keep them alive.
Instead, Samuel used the signature against him.
Richard had been trapped ever since.
I wanted to hate him.
But I couldn't ignore what he had done.
Then Amelia's voice came from behind us.
“He's lying.”
We spun.
Amelia stood in the doorway.
Alive.
Free.
Victoria lay unconscious behind her.
I ran to her.
“How did you escape?”
She looked toward Richard.
“He helped me.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“You're welcome.”
Amelia shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at him.
“He helped me because he needed me to come here.”
Richard's expression changed.
Everyone stopped.
Amelia held up a small device.
“Because I found the real ledger.”
She pressed a button.
The screens lit up.
Every transaction appeared.
Every name.
Every crime.
And at the center was one final account.
An account controlled by Samuel.
But the account wasn't empty.
It held twelve billion dollars.
Then Amelia whispered:
“There's one transfer scheduled for tonight.”
I looked at the screen.
The destination was a private island.
The recipient name was:
CHARLOTTE VALE.
My blood ran cold.
“They're transferring everything into my name.”
My mother stared.
“Why?”
Amelia answered.
“Because they need you to become the public face of the crimes.”
Samuel wasn't trying to steal my empire anymore.
May you like
He was trying to make me the criminal.
And he had already started.
