Chapter 6 - Bridget's SecretI had spent years learning not to react too quickly.
It was one of the reasons Stonebridge survived.
But seeing Bridget's name nearly broke that discipline.
“Find her.”
Lydia was already dialing.
“She isn't answering.”
“Track the filing.”
“Already doing it.”
I stared at the forged signature.
“Why would Bridget do this?”
Lydia looked at me.
“Maybe she isn't doing it.”
“It was filed under her credentials.”
“Credentials can be stolen.”
I looked at the timestamp.
“Where is she?”
“We don't know.”
My phone rang.
A message.
Come to the old Meridian archive building. Alone.
Attached was another photograph.
Bridget.
Standing outside.
No security.
No visible threat.
Just Bridget staring directly at the camera.
I knew the expression.
She was terrified.
“I’m going.”
Lydia shook her head.
“This is turning into a trap.”
“Probably.”
“You aren't going alone.”
“Not physically.”
She understood.
Ten minutes later, three security cars waited two blocks away.
I entered the archive building through the side door.
Bridget stood in a dark hallway.
She looked like she'd aged ten years overnight.
“Where is Nina?”
“Safe.”
“That's not an answer.”
“She wasn't hurt.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you file the receivership petition?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Lydia was right.
Bridget had done it.
“Why?”
“Because they said they would kill my father.”
I froze.
“Your father?”
“He's alive.”
“Heloise told everyone he was dead.”
Bridget nodded.
“He disappeared when I was nineteen.”
“Why?”
“Because he tried to expose Heloise.”
I didn't know what to say.
Bridget took out her phone.
“He discovered the accounts.”
“The same ones tied to Alec?”
“Yes.”
She showed me a series of documents.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Private loans.
But something else appeared.
A much older file.
Nine years old.
I recognized the formatting immediately.
My old company.
My old invoices.
My old partner.
Daniel.
“You have this?”
“I found it three years ago.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Heloise?”
“Yes.”
“Of Alec?”
She shook her head.
“Of Marcus.”
I remembered Daniel's warning.
“Who is Marcus Vale?”
Bridget looked at me.
“The man who bought influence over my family.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“He owns the debt.”
“What debt?”
“All of it.”
She whispered the number.
“Twenty-six million dollars.”
I stared at her.
“The Wentworth family owes Marcus twenty-six million?”
“More.”
“Then why are they still pretending to be wealthy?”
“Because the assets aren't theirs.”
“What?”
Bridget swallowed.
“The family properties are collateral.”
“For Marcus?”
“Yes.”
I suddenly understood.
Heloise wasn't protecting a fortune.
She was protecting a collapsing shell.
Bridget continued.
“Alec borrowed against future Meridian compensation.”
“He doesn't own Meridian.”
“He thought he would.”
“How?”
Bridget looked away.
“Through Nina.”
I went still.
“Explain.”
“He was supposed to marry her, add her to the investment structures, transfer the liability into her name, and use the resulting capital to satisfy Marcus.”
“What capital?”
“Nina's.”
“She doesn't have enough.”
“She does.”
I stared at her.
Bridget shook her head.
“You never told your sister.”
“Told her what?”
“The trust.”
I felt my heartbeat stop.
“What trust?”
Bridget whispered.
“Your grandmother didn't leave Nina a bracelet.”
“She left her a trust.”
I stared at her.
The bracelet.
Fourteen charms.
A tiny silver clasp.
My grandmother had always said it was sentimental.
Bridget opened an old document.
At the bottom was my grandmother's signature.
The trust had been established twelve years ago.
Beneficiary:
Nina Bennett.
Value:
$11.8 million.
I couldn't breathe.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because your grandmother wanted Nina protected.”
“Protected from whom?”
Bridget looked at me.
“From anyone who knew about the money.”
She stepped closer.
“Heloise found out six months ago.”
“And Alec?”
Bridget nodded.
“He found out five months ago.”
That explained the accelerated wedding.
The pressure to merge finances.
The unusual questions about Nina's employment.
The urgency.
Everything.
I looked at Bridget.
“Where is Nina?”
She opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
Her phone rang.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A voice spoke from the other end.
Bridget's face drained of color.
She handed me the phone.
I heard Marcus Vale.
“Bring her sister to the house.”
“Why?”
“Because tonight,” he said, “we stop pretending this is about money.”
The line went dead.
Bridget looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I already knew.
It meant they had something worse than Nina's trust.
May you like
They had discovered my connection to Meridian.
And now they wanted both sisters.
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