Chapter 4 - THE SIGNATURE THAT COULD DESTROY ME -
Nathan arrived at the apartment before sunset.
He carried two laptops, a portable scanner, and the expression of a man who had already found something dangerous.
Mara joined us through an encrypted video call.
Elena sat beside me at the kitchen table while Nathan displayed the transfer records.
“The electronic signatures are valid,” he said.
“I never approved these.”
“I believe you.”
“That won’t matter to the board.”
“No.”
Nathan enlarged the authentication logs.
“Each approval came from a device registered to you.”
I studied the list.
My office computer.
My tablet.
My phone.
“This is impossible.”
Mara shook her head on the screen.
“Not impossible.”
She highlighted the dates.
“Look at when the transfers occurred.”
I examined the first transaction.
It had been approved while I was speaking at a conference in Boston.
The second happened during a flight to London.
The third occurred while I was recovering from surgery.
“Someone accessed my devices when I was away.”
“Or cloned your credentials,” Nathan said.
Elena leaned forward.
“Lucas knows Daniel’s passwords.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
“Your mother gave him access to your study whenever you traveled.”
I remembered coming home and finding papers moved.
I remembered Lucas borrowing my tablet for company presentations.
I had dismissed each incident as carelessness.
My trust had given them everything they needed.
Nathan closed one file and opened another.
“There is a second issue.”
A legal complaint appeared on the screen.
My mother had filed an emergency petition claiming that I was mentally unfit to manage Blackwood Holdings.
The petition accused Elena of manipulating me.
It described our sudden departure as evidence of emotional instability.
“She filed this today?” I asked.
“Forty-three minutes after you left the estate.”
Mara looked stunned.
“She already had it prepared.”
“Yes,” Nathan answered.
“She expected Daniel to resist eventually.”
My mother had planned for this moment long before I walked through the front door.
She had built financial evidence against Elena.
She had created fraudulent approvals under my name.
She had prepared medical records questioning my judgment.
The abuse in the foyer had not been a loss of control.
It had been a test.
She wanted to know whether I would choose my wife.
When I did, she activated the rest of the plan.
My phone began ringing.
Board members.
Reporters.
Business partners.
A news alert appeared on Mara’s screen.
BLACKWOOD HEIR ACCUSED OF MISMANAGING FAMILY EMPIRE.
The article claimed that I had transferred millions of dollars to secret accounts controlled by Elena.
It quoted an unnamed family source who said I had become irrational since her pregnancy.
Elena turned pale.
“They’re making me the criminal.”
Nathan’s phone vibrated.
He read the message and swore under his breath.
“What happened?”
“The court granted your mother temporary control of the company accounts.”
“For how long?”
“Until the hearing.”
“When is the hearing?”
“Friday morning.”
It was Wednesday night.
We had less than thirty-six hours to prove that my mother had stolen five million dollars.
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Then Mara leaned closer to her camera.
“Daniel, someone just tried to delete the company’s entire accounting archive.”
