Chapter 13 - Northstar Children's Foundation looked innocent from the outside.Scholarships.
Youth programs.
Medical donations.
Holiday drives.
The perfect charity.
Except the bank account records told another story.
Millions had flowed through it.
Money from my trust.
Money from Northstar.
Money from shell companies.
Then transferred to offshore accounts.
I stared at the screen.
“Why?”
Michael answered.
“To hide ownership.”
“Of what?”
He opened a property map.
Hotels.
Factories.
Commercial buildings.
Private residences.
All controlled through layers of shell companies.
At the center was Northstar.
But there was another name.
Orion Development Group.
I had seen it before.
Project Orion.
I looked at Michael.
“Who's behind Orion?”
He said:
“Tom.”
Jessica covered her mouth.
“No.”
Michael nodded.
“He built the network while your father took the blame.”
I looked at the files.
My father had not been the mastermind.
He had been a partner.
Tom had been the architect.
Then why had Grandpa targeted Dad?
Because Dad was the visible part.
The person controlling the family.
The person who could be exposed.
Tom operated in the shadows.
I opened a folder.
Inside were surveillance photographs.
My grandfather.
My father.
My mother.
Me.
Emma.
Everyone had been monitored.
For years.
One photo showed me leaving work.
Another showed Emma at school.
A third showed me entering the house.
I felt sick.
“How long?”
Michael answered.
“Since you were seventeen.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because they needed to know whether you remembered the accident.”
I looked at the old photo of myself.
Bruised.
Confused.
Alive.
Then I remembered something.
A fragment.
The lake.
Headlights.
Someone yelling.
A man's hand pulling me from the wreck.
I hadn't fallen.
Someone had pushed me.
I looked at Michael.
“You were there.”
He froze.
“You rescued me.”
He didn't answer.
Jessica looked at him.
“Michael?”
He finally nodded.
“I found you.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your grandfather told me not to.”
I understood.
He had kept me alive in secret.
My father thought I had amnesia.
Tom thought the accident had succeeded.
And Grandpa had quietly waited.
For years.
Until Emma turned seven.
Until the family finally revealed themselves.
My phone rang.
Mom.
I answered.
“Elizabeth…”
Her voice was faint.
“Tom is coming for me.”
“What?”
“I found the original medical file.”
“Where?”
“In your father's office.”
I looked at Michael.
He shook his head.
“Don't go there.”
I ignored him.
Mom continued.
“He knows I have it.”
“Leave the house.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
She whispered:
“He locked the doors.”
My blood ran cold.
Then we heard a scream through the phone.
“Mom!”
The call dropped.
Jessica grabbed my arm.
“Elizabeth.”
I looked at her.
“We need to go.”
We rushed to my father's office.
The building was dark.
Security cameras had been disabled.
We found my mother tied inside the executive conference room.
She was alive.
Barely conscious.
I cut the ropes.
“Mom.”
She looked at me.
“Tom has the original file.”
“Where?”
She looked terrified.
“He's going to the Christmas house.”
“What?”
“The family home.”
I froze.
That was where Dad and Mom were supposed to celebrate Christmas.
Where the Disney tickets had been handed out.
Where it had all started.
I turned.
“We're going back.”
Michael stopped me.
“Why?”
“Because that's where Tom wants us.”
Michael stared at me.
Then smiled.
“He wants you there.”
“Exactly.”
Jessica looked confused.
I took out my phone.
“Then let's give him what he wants.”
I opened the family group chat.
And sent one message.
We're coming home.
Three dots appeared.
May you like
Then Tom replied.
Good. Bring Emma.
