Chapter 7 - My Sister’s Second Betrayal
Thirty-eight percent.
Emily read the number twice.
“My grandfather left me thirty-eight percent?”
Nora nodded.
Robert looked furious.
“The amendment was invalid.”
“No,” Nora said. “You tried to make it invalid.”
The amendment had been signed six months before Emily’s grandfather died.
Combined with shares held by an independent trust, Emily would control enough voting power on her thirty-fifth birthday to block any sale or merger.
That birthday was now eleven weeks away.
Caleb swore under his breath.
Emily heard him.
“So that’s what this was.”
Robert said nothing.
“The wedding. Calloway. My shares.”
“Emily—”
“You needed me cooperative until you could transfer them.”
“I was protecting the company.”
“From me?”
“From your inexperience.”
Daniel remained silent.
Emily was grateful.
This was hers.
Robert’s eyes moved toward Daniel.
“And look what happened. You brought a corporate raider into our family.”
Emily laughed.
“You brought Caleb.”
Caleb stepped forward.
“Don’t drag me into—”
“You were sleeping with my sister while preparing documents to take my company rights.”
Vanessa’s voice came from the doorway.
“Yes, he was.”
Everyone turned.
Vanessa entered.
Emily’s heart sank.
She had told Vanessa to stay away.
Vanessa held Caleb’s phone.
Caleb’s face changed.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“What are you doing?”
“For once? Something useful.”
She placed the phone on the table.
“There are messages between Caleb and Dad.”
Robert snapped, “Vanessa.”
She flinched.
Then continued.
“They planned the transfer.”
Emily looked at her sister.
“Why do you have his phone?”
Vanessa’s face crumpled.
“Because he left it unlocked.”
Caleb reached for it.
Daniel’s security chief stepped between them.
Nora copied the messages.
One referenced Emily’s thirty-fifth birthday.
Another referenced the forged transfer.
Then Emily saw a message from Vanessa.
She froze.
VANESSA: She trusts me. I can get her laptop.
Emily looked up.
Vanessa began crying.
“That was before.”
“You helped them?”
“I didn’t know everything.”
“You stole my laptop?”
“I copied files.”
Emily stepped backward.
Vanessa had come to her apartment pretending to warn her.
Maybe the remorse was real.
Maybe it wasn’t.
Emily could no longer tell.
“You knew about the forgery?”
“No.”
“The shares?”
“No.”
“But you helped Caleb steal my work.”
Vanessa whispered, “Yes.”
Emily closed her eyes.
The second betrayal hurt differently.
The first had destroyed trust.
This one destroyed hope.
Security escorted Caleb from the room after he tried to seize his phone.
Robert left voluntarily.
Vanessa remained.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily looked at her.
“I believe you.”
Hope flickered.
“But believing you’re sorry doesn’t make me ready to forgive you.”
Vanessa nodded through tears.
Emily turned away.
That night Daniel found Emily awake beside the living-room window.
“You knew she might have been involved,” Emily said.
“I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because suspicion isn’t evidence.”
She nodded.
Evidence.
It had become their language.
Daniel joined her.
“My accident,” he said, “wasn’t random.”
Emily turned.
“What?”
“The truck that hit me belonged to a subcontractor.”
“Whose?”
“Carter Development.”
Her blood went cold.
“Daniel.”
“I never proved Robert ordered anything. I still can’t.”
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because Nora gave me something after the meeting.”
He handed Emily an invoice.
Vehicle maintenance.
Truck 614.
The same truck involved in Daniel’s crash.
Authorized by an executive.
The signature was illegible.
But beside it was a handwritten notation.
C.M.
Emily whispered, “Caleb Monroe?”
Daniel’s face remained grim.
“He was twenty-eight.”
“He knew my father.”
“Yes.”
Emily remembered Caleb’s obsession with Daniel.
His anger.
His fear when Daniel’s identity became public.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Vanessa.
I FOUND THE ORIGINAL PHONE.
Another message arrived immediately.
CALEB KNOWS I HAVE IT.
Then a third.
HE’S HERE.
Emily called.
Vanessa answered but said nothing.
There was breathing.
A door slammed.
Then Caleb’s voice came through the phone.
“Vanessa?”
Emily stood.
Daniel was already reaching for his keys.
On the line, Vanessa whispered two words.
May you like
“He found me.”
Then the call ended.
