Chapter 4 - What Elena Had Been InvestigatingAdrian returned to headquarters before noon.
He entered through the private underground garage.
No press.
No employees.
No family.
Only silence.
Daniel Cross was already waiting in the executive lounge.
"You look tired."
Adrian dropped the document onto the table.
"Did Elena investigate the company?"
Daniel looked at the paper.
His face changed for less than a second.
Then he recovered.
"After all these years?"
"Answer me."
Daniel poured himself water.
"She was worried about internal accounting."
"Accounting?"
"That's what she called it."
Adrian leaned forward.
"She found money moving through subsidiaries."
Daniel did not respond.
"How much?"
"Adrian."
"How much?"
Daniel finally looked at him.
"Enough."
Adrian felt something twist inside him.
"Who was involved?"
"I don't know."
"You've been CFO for eighteen years."
"That doesn't mean I know everything."
Adrian walked toward the window.
The entire city stretched below him.
He had built this tower.
He had built the company.
He had trusted men like Daniel because trust was faster than verification.
That had been his first mistake.
"Why did Elena think I was involved?"
Daniel remained silent.
Adrian turned.
"Answer."
"Because you were."
Adrian stared at him.
Daniel sighed.
"Not in the criminal activity."
"Then what?"
"You had instructed legal to create a private acquisition structure."
"Yes."
"For the subsidiaries Elena was investigating."
Adrian frowned.
"I planned to restructure them."
"Without informing the board."
"Because someone inside was leaking information."
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
Adrian approached slowly.
"Then Elena thought I was covering it up."
"She thought you were preparing to take control before the truth became public."
"Was she wrong?"
Daniel did not answer.
Adrian's jaw clenched.
"Where is the original accounting file?"
"Destroyed."
"By who?"
"I was told it was part of the archive purge."
Adrian stopped.
The archive purge.
His signature.
The same order he couldn't remember.
He pulled out his phone.
"Get me every internal authorization I signed during that period."
Daniel hesitated.
"Adrian."
"Now."
Three hours later, Adrian sat alone in a conference room surrounded by documents.
Then he found it.
A second authorization.
It had been signed twelve days before Elena died.
It gave Daniel permission to access private family assets.
Adrian stared at the signature.
His signature again.
But something was wrong.
The handwriting was identical.
Too identical.
Every stroke.
Every pressure mark.
Adrian called his legal counsel.
"You have forensic signature records?"
"Yes."
"Could someone have copied my signature?"
A pause.
"It is possible."
Adrian looked at the document.
"How possible?"
"With enough access, very."
He hung up.
At that moment, his phone buzzed.
An incoming video file.
No sender.
Adrian opened it.
The footage showed the resort.
The exact terrace.
The exact moment Lily approached the pool.
But this video angle was different.
The camera was hidden behind a decorative planter.
Adrian watched.
Vanessa spoke to Lily.
Grant stood beside her.
Then Vanessa pushed Lily.
There was no ambiguity.
Adrian's fist tightened.
But then the video continued.
Someone entered the frame seconds before Adrian arrived.
A man wearing a dark security uniform.
He crouched near the camera.
He looked directly into the lens.
Adrian paused the video.
Enlarged the frame.
His stomach dropped.
The uniform belonged to Voss Meridian security.
But the man's face was unfamiliar.
Then the man raised one hand.
A silver ring caught the light.
Adrian knew that ring.
He had seen it for years.
On Daniel Cross.
The video ended.
A message appeared.
This was only the warning.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then Lily's nanny called.
Her voice was trembling.
"Mr. Voss?"
"What happened?"
"I found something under Lily's pillow."
"What?"
"A photograph."
"Of what?"
The nanny hesitated.
"Of your wife."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"Send it to me."
The image arrived.
Elena was standing beside a car.
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On the back of the photograph were four words.
SHE NEVER DIED ALONE.
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