Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be DeadI didn't sleep.
Neither did Nina.
By six in the morning, my house was quiet except for the sound of the coffee machine.
Nina sat at the kitchen island wrapped in one of my sweaters.
Her ring remained on the counter.
She hadn't put it back on.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Meet him.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“You realize that's exactly what the message says.”
“I know.”
“That sounds like a bad idea.”
“It is.”
She looked at me.
“Then why are you going?”
“Because Daniel is alive.”
That ended the argument.
At 8:43, Lydia arrived.
She carried two phones and a thin envelope.
“I've contacted a private security team.”
“I won't need them inside.”
“They'll be nearby.”
“Fine.”
Lydia studied Nina.
“You're coming?”
“I am.”
“No.”
Nina looked offended.
“He's threatening me.”
“Which is why you shouldn't be anywhere near the meeting.”
I stepped between them.
“Nina stays here.”
She opened her mouth.
I raised a hand.
“This isn't me controlling you.”
She fell silent.
“It’s me refusing to let someone use you as bait.”
Nina looked at me for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
At 8:58, I arrived at the coffee shop.
Daniel was sitting in the back corner.
For a moment I couldn't move.
Nine years ago, he had been thirty-two.
Now his hair was streaked with gray.
His face looked harder.
Older.
But it was him.
He stood when I approached.
“Hello.”
My voice came out colder than I expected.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“I was.”
“That isn't an answer.”
He sat down.
“I couldn't contact you.”
“You disappeared.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked around.
Then he slid an envelope across the table.
“Because they knew.”
“Who?”
“The Wentworths.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Heloise.
Alec.
Bridget.
And a fourth person.
A man I didn't recognize.
Daniel pointed to him.
“That's Marcus Vale.”
The name made me freeze.
“Eleanor Vale's son?”
“Yes.”
I remembered the shell company.
The same surname.
Daniel continued.
“Marcus handled the money.”
“What money?”
“Your money.”
My jaw tightened.
“You're saying he stole from me?”
“No.”
Daniel's eyes met mine.
“I stole for him.”
I stared at him.
“You what?”
“I was threatened.”
“By whom?”
“Heloise.”
Silence.
Daniel looked down.
“She knew about your expansion plans. She wanted to destroy you before you could become a competitor.”
“You sold my clients.”
“I thought they would only take business.”
“And when they demanded the rest?”
“They told me they knew where my daughter went to school.”
I went still.
“You had a daughter?”
Daniel looked away.
“She was five.”
He rubbed his face.
“I made the worst decision of my life.”
I stared at the photographs.
“And Heloise?”
“She had nothing to do with Alec back then.”
“Then why is Alec involved now?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Because Alec wasn't the architect.”
My pulse quickened.
“Who was?”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Bridget.”
I frowned.
“No.”
“She is smarter than people think.”
“Bridget?”
“She created the shell companies.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because Heloise wasn't the one who wanted Nina.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Then who did?”
Daniel's answer came quietly.
“Marcus.”
He pushed another document across the table.
It was a corporate registration.
The company name was Northbridge Private Holdings.
Beneficial owner:
Nina Bennett.
I stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
“It was filed six months ago.”
“I didn't authorize this.”
“Nina didn't either.”
Daniel pointed to the signature.
“Look closer.”
I did.
The signature looked almost perfect.
Except for one thing.
The final stroke.
It curved upward instead of down.
A tiny variation.
Something only a person who knew Nina extremely well might notice.
I whispered, “This is forged.”
“Yes.”
“Why would someone forge a company in Nina's name?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
Because suddenly his face had changed.
Fear returned.
“They weren't planning to steal Nina's money.”
“Then what?”
“They were planning to put their debt inside her name.”
I stood.
“Who signed the filing?”
Daniel shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
He leaned closer.
“They already did.”
My phone rang.
Lydia.
I answered.
Her voice was urgent.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“There was an attempted transfer from Nina's bank account.”
I looked at Daniel.
“How much?”
“$2.1 million.”
Nina didn't have $2.1 million.
At least, she shouldn't have.
Lydia continued.
“And that's not the worst part.”
“What is?”
“The receiving account belongs to Stonebridge Group.”
My blood went cold.
“That's impossible.”
“I know.”
May you like
Then she said the sentence that changed everything.
“Someone is trying to make it look like you and Nina are laundering money through your own company.”
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