Chapter 11 - The BetrayalRichard's disappearance destroyed the last illusion of safety.
Frank survived the shooting.
Helena was missing.
Genevieve stayed beside her father.
Meredith stood alone on the deck.
Julian approached.
“He wouldn't betray us.”
“He did.”
“You saw him.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't prove why.”
Meredith looked at him.
“Then find him.”
They returned to the estate.
By sunrise, Richard's identity had vanished from every financial database.
He had emptied several accounts.
Sold multiple properties.
And purchased a private aircraft.
He was gone.
Julian slammed his phone onto the desk.
“It's over.”
Meredith shook her head.
“No.”
She opened the photograph from the harbor.
“Look.”
Richard was holding something in his hand.
A small black drive.
Julian stared.
“The archive.”
“No.”
Meredith zoomed in.
“That isn't the archive.”
“What is it?”
“A decoy.”
Julian stared at her.
“Then why steal it?”
“To make Meridian believe he betrayed us.”
Julian slowly understood.
“He's undercover.”
Meredith nodded.
“Then we let them believe it.”
Later that night, a message arrived.
From Richard.
Do not trust Genevieve.
Meredith frowned.
A second message arrived.
She doesn't know what her mother plans.
Then:
The real archive is inside the trust vault.
Julian read the message.
“The vault.”
Meredith nodded.
Her father had mentioned it.
The original trust key.
The necklace.
The hidden floor.
Everything pointed toward the same place.
They opened the vault at midnight.
Inside were thousands of documents.
But one object sat alone in the center.
A glass box.
Inside was a wedding photograph.
Julian picked it up.
Meredith froze.
It showed their parents.
But Genevieve's mother stood beside them.
And beside her stood Meredith's mother.
All four were smiling.
At the bottom of the photograph was a handwritten note.
THE FOUR FOUNDERS.
Julian turned pale.
“Our mother helped build Meridian.”
Meredith stared.
“No.”
A second photograph lay beneath it.
This one showed Richard.
He was younger.
Standing with all four founders.
And a fifth person.
The senator who had supposedly been murdered.
Julian whispered:
“He survived.”
Meredith read the note beneath the photo.
THE SENATOR WAS NEVER THE VICTIM.
She looked at Julian.
“Then who died?”
A sound came from behind them.
Footsteps.
They turned.
Genevieve stood in the vault entrance.
Her face was wet with tears.
“I know.”
Meredith stared.
“Know what?”
May you like
Genevieve whispered:
“The body buried in the senator's grave was my father's.”
