Chapter 17 - Everyone Turns
Victor Hale called Rebecca before noon.
She declined.
He called Caroline.
Caroline answered.
Victor wanted immunity from civil claims in exchange for cooperation.
Rebecca refused.
Northstar called next.
They suddenly wanted a “constructive settlement.”
Rebecca refused again.
Then Eric Sloan’s attorney called.
Eric wanted to talk.
That surprised everyone.
The meeting occurred at a law office under strict conditions.
Eric entered alone.
He looked exhausted.
Rebecca had expected a threatening man.
Instead, she saw someone who had realized too late that loyalty to Daniel came with no protection.
“My name is in the archive.”
Eric said.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know the full plan.”
Caroline looked unimpressed.
“You helped execute parts of it.”
“I performed security work.”
“You followed Rebecca.”
“Yes.”
“You intimidated witnesses.”
Eric looked down.
“Sometimes.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Eric looked at her.
“Daniel told me you were trying to steal the company.”
Rebecca almost laughed.
“You believed him?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Eric hesitated.
“Later, I didn’t care.”
It was ugly.
But at least it was truthful.
“What do you want?”
Rebecca asked.
“To cooperate.”
“In exchange for what?”
“A chance to avoid prison.”
Caroline leaned back.
“We cannot promise that.”
“I know.”
Eric removed a small notebook.
“Daniel keeps a second phone.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Where?”
“Usually in a safe.”
“Which safe?”
“Hotel.”
“Room?”
Eric gave them the details.
Caroline immediately contacted investigators.
Hours later, a warrant was executed.
The second phone contained more than messages.
It contained Daniel’s hidden financial life.
Accounts.
Debt agreements.
Threats from lenders.
Instructions to Eric.
Conversations with Marcus Vane.
And dozens of messages about Rebecca.
One message stood above the others.
If she won’t leave voluntarily, create a situation she can’t survive socially.
Adam read it.
“What does that mean?”
Caroline opened the surrounding conversation.
Marcus had proposed exposing Rebecca as financially incompetent.
Daniel suggested planting evidence of unauthorized withdrawals.
Rebecca stared at the screen.
“He was going to frame me.”
“Yes.”
Adam looked sick.
Daniel had not merely wanted divorce.
He wanted Rebecca publicly disgraced.
Financially isolated.
Legally weakened.
Then Chloe called.
Daniel had contacted her again.
This time by email.
He accused her of stealing company money.
He threatened to report her unless she retracted her statements.
Caroline asked Chloe to forward everything.
She did.
By evening, nearly everyone Daniel had used was turning against him.
Paul Medina.
Chloe.
Eric Sloan.
Victor Hale.
Even Northstar’s attorneys were preparing to distance themselves.
Rebecca should have felt victorious.
Instead, she felt tired.
Adam noticed.
“Mom.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
Rebecca sat near the window.
“I spent twenty-three years thinking I knew who I married.”
“You knew part of him.”
“Maybe.”
Adam sat beside her.
“Do you still love him?”
Rebecca looked at her son.
The question surprised her.
She thought carefully.
“I love who I believed he could be.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Adam leaned back.
“Do you hate him?”
Rebecca looked through the glass.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because hate keeps you connected to someone.”
She took a slow breath.
“I’m trying to become free.”
Across town, Daniel sat alone in his hotel room.
The safe was open.
The second phone was gone.
He knew exactly what that meant.
His attorney called.
“Daniel, the authorities have requested an interview.”
Daniel stared at the wall.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
He ended the call.
Then he opened his laptop.
There was one remaining card he could play.
One Daniel had hoped never to use.
A document concerning Rebecca’s father.
A secret buried before their marriage.
Daniel believed it could destroy her trust’s legitimacy.
He smiled for the first time all day.
May you like
If he could not keep the company, he would burn the foundation beneath Rebecca’s claim to it.
And the next morning, he sent the document to every board member.
