Chapter 9 - What Scott Didn't Tell MeThe betrayal was bigger than money
Naomi read the email twice.
Then she read it a third time.
I can get her to sign.
That was the first sentence.
Below it:
She trusts me more than anyone.
Naomi felt something inside her crack.
She kept reading.
Once the deal is done, we can work around the trust.
Then:
I just need you to make sure Lauren doesn't panic.
At the bottom:
Mom won't suspect us if she thinks we're protecting her.
Naomi closed the document.
She didn't cry.
She didn't shout.
She simply asked Mitchell one question.
“When was this sent?”
“December 11.”
Christmas had not been the beginning.
It had been the final step.
She called Scott.
He answered after one ring.
“Mom.”
“Did you write it?”
Silence.
“Scott.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I can explain.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“You have one minute.”
“I thought the deal was going to fall apart.”
“So you made a plan.”
“I thought if I helped resolve the claim, everyone would be protected.”
“Everyone.”
“Yes.”
“You mean you.”
Scott's voice shook.
“I made a mistake.”
“You made a decision.”
“I was scared.”
“You were greedy.”
He went silent.
Naomi looked at the rain outside her office.
“I need you to answer one question.”
“What?”
“Did Lauren know?”
“Yes.”
“Did Arthur know?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Richard had nothing to do with ownership?”
“I didn't know.”
“You had the documents.”
“I didn't understand them.”
“You knew enough to write ‘work around the trust.’”
Scott didn't answer.
Naomi closed her eyes.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Scott began crying.
She almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Then he said:
“Mom, I wasn't the person who started it.”
Naomi opened her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“Arthur was.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Scott's breathing became uneven.
“You don't know who Arthur was working for.”
Naomi stiffened.
“Who?”
“I never met him.”
“Met whom?”
“The person above him.”
Naomi's blood ran cold.
“Scott, what are you talking about?”
“Arthur said he had an investor.”
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
“Then give me the company.”
Scott hesitated.
“Palisade.”
Naomi's eyes widened.
The same company that had paid Lauren $250,000.
“What was the money for?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
“Scott.”
“I heard Arthur talking once.”
“What did he say?”
Scott took a breath.
“He said the acquisition couldn't happen until you were emotionally isolated.”
Naomi sat motionless.
“He said what?”
“He said your strongest defense was your belief that family would never betray you.”
Naomi's throat tightened.
“So Christmas…”
“Yes.”
“Was planned?”
“I don't know.”
“Scott.”
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“Arthur told Lauren to do it.”
Naomi felt sick.
“She told you to uninvite me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make you desperate.”
“For what?”
Scott cried.
“To come to us.”
Naomi stared at the phone.
The plan was not about humiliation.
It was about pressure.
Isolate Naomi.
Make her feel abandoned.
Then approach her as family.
Convince her to sign.
Break the trust.
Control what happened afterward.
It was cold.
Patient.
Almost elegant.
And it had nearly worked.
“Where is Arthur now?” Naomi asked.
“Seattle.”
“What is he doing?”
“I don't know.”
“Where exactly?”
Scott whispered an address.
Naomi wrote it down.
Then Scott said:
“Mom, there is something else.”
“What?”
“Lauren wasn't paid for the Christmas thing.”
Naomi froze.
“Then what was the $250,000?”
“I don't know.”
A pause.
“But I think it was for something she did earlier.”
“What?”
“I think she gave them access to your house.”
Naomi's stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Your files.”
“How?”
Scott whispered:
“She used the password you gave her for emergencies.”
Naomi went still.
“What password?”
“The one for your old laptop.”
She knew immediately.
The birthday.
The only password Lauren had ever asked for.
She had trusted her.
“Scott.”
“Yes?”
“You should not contact me again.”
“Mom…”
“You made your choice.”
She hung up.
Nina entered the room.
“What happened?”
Naomi gave her the address.
“Find Arthur.”
Nina stared.
“You're going there?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Naomi picked up her phone.
She called Meridian's lead counsel.
“Send your forensic team.”
The attorney hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because the person behind this may have had access to my personal files.”
Naomi paused.
“And I want to know what they took.”
That night, the forensic team found something.
Not in Naomi's laptop.
Not in Clear Path's servers.
Inside an old external drive stored in her garage.
A file had been copied eight months earlier.
The file contained the original algorithm notes.
But the copy had been altered.
One line of code had been inserted.
Naomi recognized it.
It was an access key.
A hidden door.
The terrifying part wasn't that someone had stolen her work.
It was that someone had left a way back in.
And when Nina traced the key's activation history, there was one recent entry.
Christmas Eve.
8:03 p.m.
Thirty-six minutes before Scott uninvited Naomi from Christmas.
May you like
The key had been used again.
From inside Naomi's house.
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