Chapter 5 - MY MOTHER’S LAST FILE
Evan was found tied to a chair but physically unharmed. Whoever took him wanted fear, not a murder charge.
He told us Chief Nolan had ordered him to change the server logs. Nolan claimed it was necessary for “institutional security.”
Nolan denied everything.
By sunset, three versions of the story were spreading online.
In Veronica’s version, I had staged the assault to attract my billionaire father’s attention.
In Voss’s version, I was a corporate spy who had infiltrated Westbridge.
In the university’s official statement, there had been “an altercation involving multiple students.”
They would not even call it an attack.
My father brought me to the Sterling Global offices downtown. From the top floor, Westbridge looked small enough to fit in my palm.
“You should have told me about Mom,” I said.
He poured coffee but didn’t drink it.
“Elaine discovered that Voss and Hale were using scholarship programs to hide illegal payments. She planned to expose them at a board meeting.”
“She died before the meeting.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed it was an accident?”
“At first. Then her files disappeared.”
I understood the shame in his face.
“You stopped investigating.”
“I chose you. Voss sent me a picture of you leaving school. You were twelve.”
The truth hurt, but I could see the exhausted father behind the billionaire everyone feared.
“You could’ve trusted me when I grew up.”
“I wanted you to have a life untouched by our enemies.”
“That worked out well.”
He almost smiled.
Marcus brought us my mother’s old laptop from a Sterling archive. Most files had been wiped, but one protected folder remained.
The password hint read: What Amelia taught me.
I remembered sitting with my mother at the kitchen table, teaching her a simple rule from a children’s puzzle.
“Look where nobody else looks.”
The password opened the folder.
Inside was a video dated the night before her death.
My mother appeared on-screen, tired but determined.
“If Nathan is watching this, I failed. If Amelia is watching, then she grew into the brave woman I hoped she would become.”
My throat tightened.
She explained that Red Harbor Strategies was not her company. Voss had stolen her identity to create it. The firm was being used to drain millions from Westbridge.
Then she leaned closer to the camera.
“Richard Hale is involved, but he isn’t in charge. The person running everything is someone Nathan trusts.”
The video flickered.
A second voice spoke behind her.
“You shouldn’t be recording this, Elaine.”
My father went pale.
May you like
I knew that voice too.
It belonged to Dana Brooks—our family attorney.
