Chapter 13 - The Meridian CircleThe explosion had been designed to create chaos.
Richard escaped through an underground tunnel.
The charter was gone.
But Detective Morgan still had photographs.
Not enough.
According to the prosecutor, the Circle had already activated legal pressure.
Judges.
Attorneys.
Bank executives.
Within hours, every case connected to the Voss family began disappearing.
Evidence requests were denied.
Search warrants were challenged.
Witnesses stopped answering calls.
The system itself seemed to bend.
Then Victor contacted me.
He had been moved to protective custody.
"I know where the charter is."
I stared at him through the video screen.
"Where?"
"Richard never took it."
"What?"
"He took a copy."
"Then where is the original?"
Victor looked terrified.
"The Circle has it."
"Who?"
He swallowed.
"I don't know their names."
"You worked for them."
"Not directly."
"Then how?"
Victor hesitated.
"There was always someone above Richard."
"Who?"
Victor finally said:
"The Chairman."
"Name."
"I never knew."
I wanted to scream.
"Then what do you know?"
Victor looked down.
"He isn't a Voss."
"Then who is he?"
Victor whispered:
"He's a Hale."
My heart stopped.
"A Hale?"
"Your family."
The room tilted.
"My family had no connection."
Victor shook his head.
"Your mother knew."
"Who is he?"
Victor stared at the camera.
"Your uncle."
I laughed bitterly.
"I don't have an uncle."
"You did."
"Who?"
Victor's eyes filled with fear.
"Michael Hale."
My mother's older brother.
The man everyone said had died before I was born.
I remembered seeing his photograph once.
My mother had told me he was killed in a car accident.
But Victor said:
"He survived."
I couldn't speak.
"He's the Chairman."
The Meridian Circle wasn't controlled by Richard.
It was controlled by my uncle.
My own blood.
Detective Morgan immediately reopened the death certificate.
It was forged.
Michael Hale had disappeared twenty-four years ago.
The day my grandfather died.
The day Richard gained control.
And now he was back.
Nadia stared at the screen.
"So he built the entire system."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Victor looked at me.
"Because your grandfather chose your mother instead of him."
My mother's inheritance had never been just money.
It had been control of the company.
Michael had been disinherited.
He built the Meridian Circle to take it by force.
Richard was merely his weapon.
And I was the last obstacle.
That night, my hospital room phone rang.
I answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Hello, Elena."
I knew immediately.
Michael.
My uncle.
"I've been watching you."
I sat upright.
"What do you want?"
"Your daughter."
"No."
"You misunderstand."
"I understand perfectly."
He chuckled.
"You have your mother's stubbornness."
"She knew what you were."
"She knew too late."
"What happened to her?"
Silence.
Then:
"She chose death."
My fists clenched.
"You killed her."
"No."
"I don't believe you."
"You shouldn't."
His calmness frightened me more than shouting.
Then he said:
"Victor told you the truth."
I looked at the door.
Police stood outside.
My uncle continued.
"Richard was never the final threat."
"Then why send him?"
"To keep you distracted."
My stomach twisted.
"From what?"
A pause.
"From me."
Then the call ended.
Seconds later, my monitor began beeping.
The nurse rushed in.
My blood pressure had dropped.
I clutched my stomach.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Then I felt it.
Pain.
Sharp.
Sudden.
The nurse shouted for help.
Doctors rushed into the room.
I heard Alex yelling.
"What's happening?"
A doctor shouted:
"We're losing the baby's heart rate!"
I looked at the monitor.
The line was slowing.
No.
No.
Please.
Then, across the glass wall, I saw a man standing in the hallway.
Dark suit.
Gray hair.
Watching me.
He smiled.
My uncle.
May you like
And he mouthed:
"Goodbye."
