Chapter 8 - The First MillionMy father disappeared that night.

No one knew where he had gone.

At eight the next morning, his lawyer called me.

"Mr. Vale wants you to meet him."

"Where?"

"At the old warehouse."

The warehouse had been empty for years.

I arrived alone.

My father was sitting on a folding chair beneath a broken ceiling light.

He looked exhausted.

"You've been looking for the first ten million."

"Yes."

He nodded.

"I put it there."

I stared.

"You?"

"Before ValeCore existed."

"Why?"

"Because I knew what you had built."

"Then why didn't you support me?"

"I wanted to."

"That's not the truth."

He looked at me.

"No."

His voice cracked.

"The truth is that I was terrified."

"Of me?"

"Of what you could become."

I said nothing.

He continued.

"You were fifteen. You built software that could detect attacks before they happened. I knew investors would tear you apart if they found out."

"So you tried to control it."

"Yes."

"By using Mom?"

He closed his eyes.

"Your mother and I were both involved."

"Northbridge."

He nodded.

"We created Northbridge as a shell to hide your ownership."

"Then why did you later try to take ValeCore?"

"Because I made a mistake."

"What mistake?"

"I borrowed against the trust."

"For what?"

"To save the firm."

My hands clenched.

"You used my future to rescue your business."

"I thought I could repay it."

"Could you?"

"No."

"What happened next?"

"Victor found out."

My blood ran cold.

"How?"

"I hired him to manage the financial structure."

"Why would you hire him?"

"Because he was brilliant."

I almost laughed.

"He was dangerous."

"I know now."

"What did he do?"

My father looked at the floor.

"He started moving money."

"How much?"

"More than forty million."

"So Mom wasn't stealing."

"Not alone."

I stared at him.

"Where did the money go?"

He pulled out a flash drive.

"Take this."

I didn't move.

"What is it?"

"Everything."

I took it.

"What everything?"

"Every transfer. Every shell company. Every payoff."

"Why didn't you go to the police?"

He looked at me.

"Because one of the names on those files..."

He stopped.

"Whose?"

He swallowed.

"Someone inside ValeCore."

I opened the drive.

A list appeared.

Employees.

Lawyers.

Investors.

Government contractors.

Then one name near the bottom.

Mara Collins.

I stared.

"No."

My father nodded.

"She received money."

I felt like the floor had disappeared beneath me.

"You're lying."

"I wish I were."

"Mara would never..."

He handed me another file.

A bank transfer.

Recipient: Mara Collins.

Amount: $2.4 million.

Date: six months after she joined ValeCore.

I couldn't breathe.

Then my phone rang.

Mara.

I answered.

"Where are you?"

"At headquarters."

"Don't move."

She paused.

"Why?"

I said nothing.

She understood.

"Ava."

Her voice dropped.

"Your father told you."

"Tell me he is lying."

Silence.

Then:

"He is."

I exhaled.

Relief.

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