Chapter 2 - The Engagement That Was Never RealBy midnight, the Sterling estate looked abandoned.
The flowers arranged for the engagement celebration had been removed.
The champagne glasses were still stacked in silver trays.
Hundreds of white roses remained in the ballroom, their fragrance hanging in the air like evidence from a crime scene.
Meredith stood at the long dining table, examining the black drive.
Julian paced behind her.
Their private security team had searched the entire property.
Nothing.
No unfamiliar vehicles.
No trespassers.
No forced entry.
Whoever had placed the drive in the greenhouse had entered the estate without triggering the security perimeter.
That meant only one thing.
They had access.
Meredith plugged the drive into an encrypted laptop.
A single folder appeared.
PASSWORD PROTECTED.
Julian leaned over her shoulder.
“Can you break it?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Depends on the password.”
Meredith tried several combinations.
None worked.
She studied the screen.
“This was designed by someone who knew our family.”
Julian’s expression darkened.
“Why?”
“The encryption pattern.”
She pointed to a string of digits.
“This isn’t random.”
“What is it?”
“The dates of family events.”
Julian stared.
Birthdays.
Anniversaries.
Funerals.
Acquisitions.
Even his father’s retirement.
Meredith tried their father’s death date.
The folder opened.
Julian went silent.
There were forty-three files.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
Property documents.
Medical records.
Emails.
And one folder labeled:
JULIAN VANCE STERLING.
Meredith clicked it.
The screen filled with photographs.
Julian as a child.
Julian at university.
Julian at business meetings.
Julian at parties.
Then the photographs changed.
Julian meeting Genevieve.
Genevieve meeting a man outside a hotel.
Genevieve entering a private clinic.
Genevieve speaking to an unfamiliar woman.
Julian frowned.
“Who is that?”
Meredith zoomed in.
The woman wore sunglasses.
But she recognized the coat.
“That’s Helena Vance.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“Genevieve’s mother?”
“Yes.”
They continued scrolling.
There were financial transfers between Helena and an offshore company.
Then a message.
PHASE TWO COMPLETE.
Julian sat down.
“What the hell is phase two?”
Meredith opened another file.
A scanned document appeared.
It was a marriage agreement.
Not theirs.
A secret agreement between Genevieve and an unnamed legal representative of another corporation.
Meredith read the first paragraph.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Julian looked at her.
“Read it.”
She handed him the document.
His face changed as he scanned it.
The agreement stated that if Julian married Genevieve, ownership of specific Sterling assets would gradually transfer to a holding company.
Julian felt cold.
He turned the page.
There was a condition.
Upon the death of Meredith Sterling, the remaining restrictions on the trust shall be considered void.
Julian stared.
His sister stared back.
“They weren’t trying to marry me,” he whispered.
“No.”
“They were trying to get around you.”
Meredith’s voice was quiet.
“And eliminate me.”
Neither spoke.
Then the security alarm exploded through the house.
Red lights flashed.
Julian stood.
“Where?”
“North wing.”
They ran.
The security team followed.
The hallway was empty.
A window stood open.
Curtains moved in the cold air.
Julian rushed to the glass.
Outside, a black SUV accelerated away from the estate.
A guard shouted.
“License plate obscured!”
Meredith walked toward the window.
Something lay on the floor.
A small envelope.
Her name was written on it.
MEREDITH STERLING.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed her father.
Alive.
Meredith stopped breathing.
Her father had supposedly died three years earlier.
But the photograph was dated six months after his funeral.
On the back, someone had written:
YOUR FATHER DIDN’T DIE WHEN THEY TOLD YOU HE DID.
Meredith’s fingers began to shake.
Julian looked over her shoulder.
He went pale.
Because behind their father, visible through the photograph, stood a man Julian knew.
A man who had attended the funeral.
A man who had cried beside the coffin.
A man who had publicly spoken about the tragedy.
Their uncle.
Richard Sterling.
Julian whispered one sentence.
“Uncle Richard knew.”
Meredith looked toward the dark grounds.
“No.”
Her eyes hardened.
“He didn’t just know.”
She turned the photograph over again.
May you like
There was one final line.
ASK HIM WHY HE NEEDED YOUR FATHER TO DISAPPEAR.
