Chapter 7 - The Presentation Julian Planned to Steal
I called Margaret before anyone could speak.
“Where is Sophie?”
“With me.”
“Put her on.”
A second later:
“Mom?”
Relief hit so hard it hurt.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s your school backpack?”
“At home.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. I used my blue one today.”
The backpack in Helen’s car was old.
Possibly planted.
Possibly irrelevant.
But Helen was not.
She had access to my house.
My office.
Julian’s devices.
And she had walked out of Archive 4 beside Caleb.
Rebecca contacted police again.
I contacted Marcus.
“Find Helen before Gregory.”
“We’re already searching.”
Julian stared at the security still.
“She’s worked for us eight years.”
“Yes.”
“She loves Sophie.”
“People can care about one person while betraying another.”
He looked at me.
We both understood the sentence applied to more than Helen.
Back at the hotel, the gala continued without us.
The anniversary program moved forward.
Employees received awards.
A charity fund was announced.
Life went on outside our crisis.
That mattered.
The company was bigger than the people trying to manipulate it.
At 11:14, security found Caleb.
He was in a conference room on the hotel’s seventeenth floor.
Alone.
The archival box was gone.
Caleb requested an attorney immediately.
Smart.
Helen remained missing.
Gregory remained missing.
Vanessa agreed to stay and cooperate.
Julian’s attorney advised him to leave.
He refused.
“I want to help.”
I looked at him.
“You’ve helped enough.”
“Clara.”
“No.”
“I made mistakes.”
I laughed quietly.
“Mistakes?”
“Yes.”
“You had an affair.”
He looked down.
“You stole confidential work.”
“I thought—”
“You planned to use forged documents to take control of my family’s company.”
“I didn’t know they were forged.”
“You did know you had never asked me whether any of it was true.”
He had no answer.
I stepped closer.
“You know what your real mistake was?”
He swallowed.
“What?”
“You needed me to be small so badly that every lie confirming it became believable.”
His face tightened.
“You think this is because I was threatened by you?”
“I think you never bothered to find out who I was.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“No.”
I smiled sadly.
“It isn’t.”
Rebecca entered.
“We found the missing box.”
“Where?”
“Loading dock.”
“Contents?”
“Most founding certificates are inside.”
“Most?”
“HM-00117 is missing.”
Of course.
The one forged certificate Julian believed belonged to Eleanor.
“Watermarks?”
“Authentic certificates have a diagonal fiber mark. The photographed certificate doesn’t.”
Forgery confirmed.
Julian sat.
“So Gregory lied.”
“Yes.”
“He used me.”
“Yes.”
The truth seemed to hurt his pride more than losing me.
That realization extinguished whatever sympathy remained.
Margaret called.
“Helen contacted me.”
I took the phone.
“What did she say?”
“She wants to meet you.”
“Where?”
“She won’t tell me until you agree.”
“Tell her yes.”
“Clara—”
“Yes.”
Thirty seconds later, Helen texted an address.
A twenty-four-hour diner near the interstate.
Rebecca objected.
Marcus objected.
Police objected.
So I did not go alone.
Helen sat in the back booth when we arrived.
No dramatic disguise.
No suitcase.
Just coffee.
She looked exhausted.
When she saw me, she began crying.
I sat opposite her.
Marcus remained nearby.
Rebecca sat beside me.
“Helen.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Tell me why.”
“My son.”
I knew Helen had a son.
Nathan.
Thirty-four.
Struggled financially.
“What about him?”
“He borrowed money.”
“From Gregory?”
She nodded.
“How much?”
“One hundred twenty thousand.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
“A business.”
“And Gregory threatened him?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
Helen wiped her face.
“He offered to erase the debt if I helped.”
“With my safe?”
Her eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“You stole the backup token.”
“I copied it.”
“How?”
“Caleb told me how.”
“So Caleb recruited you?”
“Gregory recruited Caleb.”
“Why?”
“He wanted your credentials.”
“Did you know what for?”
“At first, no.”
“At first?”
She cried harder.
“I found out.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“What did you do in Archive 4?”
“Caleb asked me to carry the box.”
“Why?”
“He said cameras were watching him.”
“So he wanted them to see you instead.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the missing certificate?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about the box?”
“We left it at the loading dock.”
“Why?”
“Caleb got a call and panicked.”
“From Gregory?”
“I think so.”
Rebecca asked, “What did he say?”
Helen closed her eyes.
“He said, ‘The presentation failed. Move to the second plan.’”
My skin went cold.
“What second plan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Helen.”
“I swear.”
“Think.”
She gripped the coffee cup.
“Caleb said something about the morning.”
“What?”
“A filing.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
“Court?”
“Maybe.”
Julian’s attempt at public legitimacy had failed.
So Gregory would move legally.
Not because he could win.
Because a filing could create delay.
Freeze transactions.
Disrupt Northlight.
Damage our acquisition.
We left immediately.
Rebecca called litigation counsel.
At 11:52, she received confirmation.
A petition had been prepared seeking an emergency injunction against Halcyon’s planned ownership disclosures.
Filed on behalf of—
She stopped reading.
“Who?” I asked.
Her face changed.
“Julian.”
He had not filed it.
At least, I did not believe he had.
But his electronic signature was attached.
The petition claimed a marital interest in Halcyon.
It also alleged I had hidden assets from him.
Enough to trigger headlines.
Enough to slow deals.
Enough to create exactly the chaos Gregory wanted.
I called Julian.
He answered.
“Clara?”
“Did you authorize a lawsuit?”
“What lawsuit?”
“Against me.”
Silence.
Then:
“No.”
“Your signature is on it.”
“I didn’t sign anything.”
“Did Caleb have your electronic signature?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Rebecca whispered:
“Ask about the presentation.”
“Julian, why did you move your presentation earlier tonight?”
“Caleb told me the chairwoman had approved it.”
There it was.
Caleb had controlled Julian’s schedule.
His files.
His signature.
Perhaps Gregory never needed Julian to understand the entire plan.
He only needed Julian arrogant enough to follow instructions.
Rebecca’s phone buzzed.
She read the alert.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“The petition was filed.”
“When?”
“Thirty seconds ago.”
“Where?”
“County court electronic system.”
I stood.
“Can we challenge it tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Do it.”
Then another notification appeared.
Rebecca frowned.
“There’s an attachment.”
“What attachment?”
She opened it.
A sworn declaration supposedly signed by Eleanor Vance.
Julian’s mother.
Claiming she owned founding shares.
Rebecca looked at me.
The notarization was dated that afternoon.
And the notary was someone we both knew.
Someone who had been sitting at my head table less than two hours earlier.
May you like
Elaine Porter.
My CFO.
