Chapter 5 - Midnight
Vincent did not respond immediately.
Every person around him seemed to stop breathing.
Anthony Moretti waited on the other end.
Then chuckled.
“You were always stubborn.”
Vincent’s grip tightened around the phone.
“You’re in the building.”
“Close.”
“What do you want?”
“What should have been mine thirty years ago.”
“The company?”
“The family.”
Vincent laughed coldly.
“You kidnapped my wife for a company?”
“I corrected a mistake.”
Sophia flinched.
Vincent’s voice became dangerous.
“You have twenty seconds to tell me exactly where you are.”
Anthony laughed.
“And you have twenty minutes to bring me the trust.”
The call ended.
Vincent immediately looked at the guards.
“Lock down every exit.”
Charles shook his head.
“If Anthony planned this, he has contingencies.”
“Then we remove them.”
Sophia reached for Vincent’s hand.
“Don’t go.”
He turned.
“I’m not signing anything.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Her eyes filled.
“He wants you angry.”
Vincent stared at her.
“He had you locked away for three years.”
“I know.”
“He made me believe you abandoned me.”
“I know.”
“He turned Dominic against me.”
“No,” Sophia said softly. “Dominic chose that.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Sophia looked at him.
“You keep blaming stronger men for decisions you made yourself.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“You always thought you were smarter than everyone.”
“No. I just asked questions.”
“And look where that got you.”
Vincent moved toward him.
Sophia grabbed Vincent’s sleeve.
“Don’t.”
Dominic smiled.
“He needs you calm now, cousin.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Why?”
Dominic shrugged.
“Because if you hurt me, you lose the only person who knows where Anthony keeps his records.”
Charles stepped closer.
“What records?”
Dominic smiled.
“Everything.”
Vincent studied him.
“You want immunity.”
“I want protection.”
“From Anthony?”
Dominic’s smile vanished.
“Yes.”
That was the first truly honest word he had spoken.
Vincent looked toward Sophia.
She nodded faintly.
“Let him talk.”
Dominic exhaled.
“Anthony started moving money through Meridian after your father became ill.”
“My father discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he remove you?”
“Because he never knew I was involved.”
Charles interrupted.
“Antonio’s letter named Dominic.”
Dominic looked at him.
“No. It said he suspected me.”
Vincent frowned.
“How do you know what the letter said?”
Dominic hesitated.
Charles answered.
“He read it.”
Dominic looked at him.
Charles’s face changed.
“You were in my office.”
Dominic said nothing.
“You stole the original.”
“No.”
Charles rushed toward him.
“You stole it.”
A guard stopped Charles.
Dominic smiled.
“I copied it.”
Charles stared at him.
“Then you knew Antonio wanted you removed.”
“Yes.”
“So you accelerated the transfers.”
“Yes.”
Sophia whispered, “And when I found them…”
Dominic looked at her.
“You became inconvenient.”
Vincent took one step forward.
“You say that word again and I will forget she asked me to stay calm.”
Dominic stopped smiling.
He looked toward Emily.
The child stood beside me holding Sophia’s phone.
“There’s a fourth recording.”
Everyone looked at her.
Vincent asked, “Did you hear it?”
Emily shook her head.
I crouched.
“You don’t need to play this one.”
She looked at me.
“Yes, I do.”
“No, sweetheart.”
“It’s why she left the phone.”
Sophia stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
Emily turned the screen around.
The final audio file had a title.
FOR VINCENT.
Sophia covered her mouth.
“I named it?”
Emily nodded.
Vincent crouched.
“May I?”
Emily handed him the phone.
He pressed play.
Sophia’s voice came through.
Calmer than before.
Almost resigned.
“Vince, if you’re hearing this, I probably failed.”
Sophia began crying silently.
Vincent did not look away from the phone.
“I found proof that Anthony is alive and working with Dominic. Charles knows about the trust changes, but I don’t think he understands the rest.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
The recording continued.
“The money isn’t the real reason.”
Vincent frowned.
Dominic’s eyes dropped.
Sophia’s recorded voice said:
“Anthony wants Moretti Biologics.”
Charles looked confused.
Vincent looked at him.
“The pharmaceutical division?”
Sophia continued.
“There’s a patent in development. Project Helix. Anthony believes it will be worth billions.”
Vincent looked at Dominic.
“You tried to steal Helix?”
Dominic said nothing.
Sophia’s recording went on.
“The trust gives whoever controls the family holding company authority over Helix if Vincent is incapacitated or remarried.”
Isabella whispered, “Remarried.”
Sophia’s eyes widened.
She looked at Vincent.
He looked toward the unsigned engagement trust.
Everything finally connected.
Anthony had not only removed Sophia.
He had arranged Vincent’s future marriage.
Isabella had not been the conspirator.
She had been the mechanism.
Dominic had introduced her.
He had encouraged the relationship.
He had pushed the engagement.
Charles had prepared the trust amendment believing it was routine estate planning.
And if Vincent signed it while Sophia remained legally incapable of asserting her rights, Dominic gained temporary control.
Long enough to transfer Helix.
Vincent turned toward Isabella.
She was crying.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t.”
“What?”
“Dominic paid my mother.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Isabella looked at her.
“I found a bank transfer two months ago. She told me it was inheritance money.”
Margaret whispered, “I wanted you safe.”
“You pushed me toward Vincent.”
“I thought marrying him would protect you from Dominic.”
“You let him use me.”
“I was trying to undo what I’d done.”
Isabella stared at her mother.
“You should have told me.”
Margaret broke down.
“I was ashamed.”
Sophia’s recording continued.
“If Anthony realizes I copied the Helix documents, he will come after the research files.”
Vincent looked at Charles.
“Where are they?”
Charles paled.
“Moretti Biologics archive.”
“Physical or digital?”
“Both.”
Dominic laughed quietly.
Everyone turned.
“What?” Vincent asked.
Dominic looked at his watch.
“It’s 11:44.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
“What happens at midnight?”
Dominic smiled.
“Helix transfers.”
Charles stared.
“No. Vincent hasn’t signed.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
Charles went still.
Dominic continued.
“You already authenticated his signature last month.”
Charles looked horrified.
“That was for the preliminary disclosure.”
“And I reused it.”
Vincent took one step forward.
“You forged my execution.”
Dominic shrugged.
“Technically, Charles authenticated the signature.”
Charles grabbed his phone.
“I can revoke it.”
Dominic smiled.
“Try.”
Charles dialed.
Nothing.
“No network.”
Vincent looked toward the hospital windows.
The emergency outage had not been random.
Anthony had cut communications.
Marco spoke.
“There’s a hardline at the security desk downstairs.”
Vincent turned.
“How fast?”
“Three minutes.”
“I’ll go.”
Sophia grabbed his arm.
“Anthony wants you downstairs.”
“I know.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t go.”
Vincent looked at her.
“If that transfer happens—”
“Then let the company go.”
Everyone stared at her.
Vincent frowned.
“Sophia.”
“Let it go.”
“Helix could be worth billions.”
“I lost three years.”
Her voice broke.
“You thought I was dead. Emily’s mother lived scared because of us. Isabella was manipulated. Margaret destroyed herself with guilt. Marco spent three years hiding. Charles buried truth because he thought reputation mattered more than honesty.”
She looked directly at Vincent.
“How much more does this family have to lose for money?”
Vincent stared at her.
For once, the answer did not come easily.
Then Emily whispered:
“Maybe she didn’t hide the phone for the money.”
Sophia looked at her.
Emily pointed at the final recording.
“It keeps going.”
Vincent pressed play again.
Sophia’s voice returned.
“But if everything goes wrong, remember this: Helix was never about money.”
Charles frowned.
Vincent leaned closer.
Sophia’s recorded voice trembled.
“It can save children.”
The room went still.
Dr. Harris looked up sharply.
Sophia continued.
“The trial data is real. The treatment works.”
Vincent stared at the phone.
Then the recording ended with one final sentence.
“Whatever they take from us, don’t let them bury that.”
Silence.
Vincent looked toward the clock.
11:48.
Twelve minutes.
Then Charles’s phone suddenly regained one bar of signal.
A message arrived.
He opened it.
His face drained of color.
“What?” Vincent asked.
Charles held up the screen.
The transfer had already begun.
But that was not the worst part.
The destination account was not in Dominic’s name.
May you like
It belonged to someone Vincent trusted more than anyone else alive.
Dr. Harris.
