Chapter 17 - The Man Everyone Blamed
The video began in Eleanor's hospital room.
She looked thinner than Claire remembered.
Her dark hair was covered by a soft scarf.
The carved wooden cane rested beside the bed.
Julian Cross sat in a chair near the window.
He was younger by eight years, but his expression was the same.
Tired.
Guarded.
Eleanor looked directly into the camera.
"Julian has agreed to do something that may make everyone hate him."
Claire glanced at Naomi.
Naomi looked stunned.
On the video, Julian rubbed both hands over his face.
"That's not exactly new."
Eleanor smiled faintly.
Then she became serious.
"Someone has been changing the Hale Meridian books."
"Richid thinks Samuel began it."
"Samuel thinks Richid continued it."
"Both are partly right."
Julian looked toward Eleanor.
"You should rest."
"I can rest when I'm dead."
Claire covered her mouth.
It was exactly the kind of dark joke her mother had made near the end.
Eleanor continued.
"Julian moved twenty-seven million dollars tonight into North Vale Holdings."
Rebecca leaned forward.
Naomi whispered, "So he did move it."
The video answered.
"He did it because I instructed him to."
Claire stared at the screen.
"The transfer creates a false trail."
"Anyone altering the books will eventually find it and try to use it."
"When they do, Julian will know who they are."
Julian spoke.
"And if they don't?"
"Then Claire inherits a boring company and never hears about any of this."
Eleanor smiled.
"That is my preferred outcome."
Claire almost cried again.
Eleanor reached toward Julian.
"If someone does find the trail, you are to move close to them."
"Even if that means they think you betrayed Richid."
Julian's expression tightened.
"He will think I did."
"Probably."
"Naomi too."
"Definitely."
Naomi let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
Eleanor continued.
"Do not contact Claire directly if she is being watched."
Claire's skin prickled.
"Leave mistakes."
"Small ones."
"The kind a careful person will see only when she is ready to look."
Rebecca turned toward Claire.
"The dead notary."
Claire nodded slowly.
Julian had not made the proxy carelessly.
He had made it fail loudly.
He had placed a dead man's seal on a document he knew would be presented at the board meeting.
It guaranteed scrutiny.
Eleanor looked into the camera again.
"If Julian appears to betray you one day, Claire, consider the possibility that he is standing exactly where I asked him to stand."
The video ended.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Naomi sat back.
"He let me hate him for eight years."
Rebecca looked at her.
"Maybe that kept you safe."
Claire picked up the red flash drive.
"This is the original archive."
Naomi nodded.
Under prosecutor supervision, they connected it to an isolated computer.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Original partnership agreements.
Eleanor's purchase records.
Samuel's private ledger scans.
Richid's internal memos.
Julian's transaction records.
And a folder named CURRENT RISK.
The most recent file was only eleven days old.
Claire opened it.
It contained emails between Matthew and Victor Sloan.
Matthew had proposed the four-hundred-million-dollar loan.
Victor had arranged the lender.
A consultant had offered to disable Hale Meridian's boardroom systems for fourteen minutes.
The blackout had been planned in writing.
Rebecca's name appeared in one email chain.
Claire turned toward her.
Rebecca went pale.
"I can explain."
Claire opened the message.
Victor had written:
REBECCA WILL KEEP CLAIRE FOCUSED ON THE OLD LEDGER UNTIL THE LOAN CLOSES.
Claire looked at her half-sister.
"You were part of it."
Rebecca stood.
"Not the loan."
"Your name is here."
"I was working with Victor to get the ledger into the board's hands."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted Richid removed."
"And Matthew installed."
Rebecca shook her head.
"At first, yes."
Claire laughed bitterly.
"Everybody had a phase where they thought Matthew should control my life."
Rebecca's eyes filled.
"I didn't know what he was doing to you."
"You knew he was manipulating me."
Rebecca said nothing.
Claire remembered the burner message.
IF YOU HURT HER, I'M OUT.
Rebecca had drawn a line only after helping Matthew walk toward it.
"You helped him isolate me."
"I helped him research you."
"That's not better."
"I know."
Rebecca's voice broke.
"I know that now."
Claire wanted to hate her.
But hatred had become too easy in this family.
She looked back at the archive.
Another file caught her attention.
It was an audio message recorded by Julian three days earlier.
Claire pressed play.
Julian's voice filled the room.
"Eleanor, if this protocol still works, I found the person who resumed the old manipulation."
A pause.
"It isn't Richid."
Another pause.
"It isn't Matthew either."
Claire frowned.
Julian continued.
"Matthew thinks the Voss grievance is his plan."
"He doesn't realize someone has been feeding it for years."
Rebecca went still.
Naomi leaned closer.
Claire's stomach tightened.
May you like
Julian spoke the final sentence.
"The person who recruited Matthew into Hale Meridian was Victor Sloan."
