Chapter 7 - The Payment Scheduled for TomorrowThe number on the screen refused to make sense.
Tomorrow.
Nathan had scheduled a twelve-million-dollar transfer to Julian Voss.
Marcus stared at it.
“Could be fake.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“The file contains encrypted banking metadata.”
Marcus studied the document.
“Then Nathan planned to pay Voss.”
“Unless someone used his account.”
A message appeared beneath the transaction.
AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED: HEIR ACCESS
Isabella's stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor whispered,
“The child.”
The account was linked to the Hartwell Trust.
It could only be accessed by Isabella or her unborn heir.
Which meant Nathan had somehow arranged a transaction that required Isabella's authorization.
Isabella looked sick.
“He was going to make me sign.”
Marcus nodded.
“That was the point of the wedding setup.”
She understood now.
The humiliation wasn't just about taking control of her fortune.
It was about getting her to authorize the payment.
Twelve million dollars.
To Voss.
“And what happens after the payment?”
Eleanor looked at her.
“They activate the next stage.”
“What stage?”
“The ledger.”
Isabella's eyes narrowed.
“What is inside it?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Names.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone.”
Political donors.
Bankers.
Judges.
Executives.
People who had used Eclipse to manipulate corporations.
Isabella stared at the encrypted file.
“If this ledger gets out, they all fall.”
Eleanor nodded.
“And some of them will kill to stop it.”
A car approached the estate.
Marcus raised his weapon.
The headlights stopped.
Nathan stepped out.
Blood covered his shirt.
Isabella froze.
“Nathan.”
He slowly raised his hands.
“I came alone.”
Marcus aimed at him.
“Stay where you are.”
Nathan looked at Isabella.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Your baby?”
“She’s okay.”
Nathan closed his eyes briefly.
Relief crossed his face.
Then Isabella held up her phone.
“Did you schedule twelve million dollars to Julian Voss?”
Nathan froze.
“Yes.”
Her heart broke.
“Why?”
“Because Voss has the only thing keeping you alive.”
“What?”
Nathan stepped closer.
“A recording.”
“Of what?”
“Your father.”
He explained.
Before her father died, he recorded a confession.
He admitted that Eclipse had been involved in a massive financial scheme.
But he also admitted something worse.
He had hidden the ledger.
And only Nathan knew where the final key was.
Nathan believed Voss had the recording.
So he scheduled the payment.
To buy it.
Isabella stared.
“You were protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would never believe me.”
“You could have tried.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I watched them surround you tonight.”
His voice cracked.
“I had to stand there.”
“You let them hurt me.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you hated me.”
“I know.”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
Nathan swallowed.
“I thought if I kept Voss convinced that you were still under my control, he would delay the next step.”
“You were wrong.”
“Yes.”
A long silence followed.
Then Isabella asked,
“Where is the ledger?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Marcus said,
“Tell her.”
Nathan looked at the burned house.
“Your father hid it in the city.”
“Where?”
Nathan whispered,
“Inside the place where your mother died.”
Isabella's blood chilled.
“My mother died at the hospital.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“That's what Eclipse wants everyone to believe.”
“She didn't die there.”
“Then where?”
Nathan looked directly into her eyes.
“Your childhood home.”
Isabella couldn't breathe.
“The fire?”
“Yes.”
She remembered the night.
She had been twelve.
Her mother had sent her away.
Her father had told her the house was unsafe.
She had never returned.
Nathan continued.
“The fire was staged.”
“Your mother survived it.”
Isabella stared.
“No.”
Nathan's voice lowered.
“Your mother was alive for three days after the fire.”
“Where?”
“Underground.”
“Why?”
“Because she had the ledger.”
Isabella's knees weakened.
“My mother was alive?”
“For three days.”
“What happened to her?”
Nathan looked away.
“That's the part I never learned.”
Isabella stepped toward him.
“Then find out.”
Nathan nodded.
“I will.”
Suddenly Marcus's radio crackled.
“Sir, we have movement.”
“Where?”
“The old Hart residence.”
Isabella looked at Nathan.
“What?”
Marcus lifted his head.
“Someone's there.”
They drove immediately.
When they arrived, the house stood in darkness.
The front door was open.
Inside, dust covered the floor.
Then they saw something.
A trail of fresh footprints.
Leading downstairs.
The basement door was locked.
Nathan broke it open.
A hidden corridor appeared.
At the end stood a steel door.
Nathan entered a code.
Nothing.
He tried another.
Nothing.
Isabella stepped forward.
She placed her hand on the door.
A biometric scanner lit up.
HEIR DETECTED.
The door unlocked.
Inside was a small room.
A chair.
A desk.
A tape recorder.
And on the desk...
A wedding photograph.
Isabella picked it up.
Her parents.
But standing behind them in the photograph was someone else.
Nathan's father.
And beside him...
Julian Voss.
A note sat beneath the photograph.
Isabella read it.
Your mother didn't die because she knew too much.
She turned it over.
She died because she trusted the wrong person.
May you like
Below that, written in fresh ink:
And so did you.
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