Chapter 6 - Charles arrived at the hospital before sunrise.
Grant was waiting.
“You have two daughters.”
Charles stopped walking.
His face changed.
Grant laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
“Grant.”
“How many children do you have that I don’t know about?”
Charles lowered his head.
“Two daughters.”
“Names.”
“Diane had twins.”
Grant froze.
“Twins?”
“Celeste and Dana.”
Grant thought of Dana’s surname.
Mercer.
She had used her mother’s surname.
“Which one did I hire?”
“Dana.”
“Where is Celeste?”
Charles looked exhausted.
“I don’t know.”
Grant stepped closer.
“Wrong answer.”
“It is the truth.”
“You hid them.”
“Yes.”
“You abandoned them.”
Charles flinched.
“Yes.”
“And Rachel found them.”
“Yes.”
Grant’s anger tightened around his chest.
“Did Rachel meet Celeste?”
Charles nodded.
“Once that I know of.”
“Did she work with her?”
“Apparently.”
Grant thought of Rachel’s video.
She said Celeste helped her uncover fraud.
The woman who had stolen the trigger might not be the enemy.
Or she might be.
Grant had learned not to confuse usefulness with goodness.
Martin recovered enough to speak later that morning.
He explained the twins.
Dana was volatile.
Resentful.
Obsessed with what the Holloway family owed her.
Celeste was different.
“Different how?” Grant asked.
“She wanted proof.”
“Of the inheritance?”
“Of everything.”
Martin swallowed.
“Charles’s father stole Diane Mercer’s company.”
Grant looked at his father.
Charles remained silent.
“Company?”
Martin nodded.
“Diane’s family owned a software-security firm in the 1980s.”
Grant frowned.
“Holloway Systems.”
Charles closed his eyes.
Grant knew that name.
It became the technology division that later financed Holloway Global’s expansion.
Martin continued.
“Diane’s father developed the patents.”
“And my grandfather took them.”
“With forged assignments.”
Grant laughed in disbelief.
Another fortune built on theft.
“So Celeste had a legitimate claim.”
“Yes.”
“Why hide it?”
Charles answered.
“My father threatened Diane.”
Grant stared.
Charles’s voice cracked.
“I was a coward.”
That was the first clean truth Grant had heard from him.
“I let my father send them away.”
Grant looked at the hospital floor.
“And Rachel decided to fix it.”
Martin nodded.
“She discovered the original patents.”
“Where?”
“In Margaret Holloway’s estate files.”
Grant’s mother had known.
Martin continued.
“Rachel contacted Celeste.”
“Dana found out?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Celeste told her.”
Grant cursed quietly.
“Rachel trusted the wrong twin.”
“Not exactly.”
Martin looked uneasy.
“Dana wanted revenge.”
“Celeste?”
“Restitution.”
Grant almost smiled at the difference.
“What did Rachel offer?”
“A settlement.”
“How much?”
“Ownership rights worth roughly nine hundred million.”
Charles stared.
Martin continued.
“Celeste agreed.”
“Dana didn’t.”
“No.”
“She wanted seventeen percent.”
“More.”
Grant frowned.
“What could be more?”
Martin looked at him.
“She wanted the entire Holloway family exposed.”
Grant thought of Rachel’s archive.
“She wanted the files.”
“Yes.”
“So Dana used the housekeeper job to get them.”
“Yes.”
“Did she deliberately hurt Emma to create guardianship evidence?”
Martin looked shocked.
“What?”
Grant stared carefully.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
Martin looked genuinely disturbed.
“Rachel would have destroyed Dana if she knew.”
Grant’s chest tightened at Rachel’s name.
“Who told Dana to build the custody case?”
Martin shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Grant turned to Charles.
His father denied it.
Robert denied it.
Eleanor claimed through her lawyer that she requested documentation of Grant’s absence but never instructed Dana to mistreat Emma.
Grant believed none of them completely.
Then Melissa found something.
“Grant.”
She had been examining the guardianship petition.
“The photographs were uploaded through Eleanor’s legal account.”
“That points to Eleanor.”
“Except the login originated from Holloway Tower.”
Grant frowned.
“Which floor?”
Melissa turned the laptop.
Executive level.
Grant’s office floor.
Someone inside his company.
Again.
Leo pulled access records.
Only six people had been on that floor at the time.
Grant’s executive assistant.
Two cleaners.
CFO Thomas Blake.
Charles.
And—
Grant stared.
“Megan?”
Melissa nodded.
Megan Holloway.
Grant’s younger sister.
The sister he did know.
Age thirty-four.
Runs the Holloway Foundation.
Emma’s favorite aunt.
Grant’s mind rejected it immediately.
“No.”
Leo remained professional.
“She accessed the floor at 8:42 p.m.”
“Why?”
“No scheduled reason.”
Grant called Megan.
She answered sleepily.
“Grant?”
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“Stay there.”
“What happened?”
“Stay there.”
He hung up.
Thirty minutes later he entered Megan’s townhouse.
She stood in pajamas holding coffee.
“What is wrong with you?”
Grant showed her the login record.
She stared.
“So?”
“You were on my office floor when evidence against me was uploaded.”
Megan went still.
“That is not what happened.”
“Then tell me.”
She put down the mug.
“Dad asked me to get documents from his office.”
Charles again.
“What documents?”
“An old voting agreement.”
“Did you log into Eleanor’s legal portal?”
“No.”
“Did you see anyone?”
Megan hesitated.
Grant noticed.
“Who?”
“Dana.”
Grant stared.
“At Holloway Tower?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“That night.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought she worked for you.”
Grant’s patience snapped.
“She worked in my house.”
Megan flinched.
“I didn’t know.”
“What was she doing?”
“Talking to Thomas.”
Grant’s CFO.
Thomas Blake had worked with Grant for fourteen years.
Best man at Grant’s wedding.
Godfather to Emma.
Grant felt sick.
“Thomas?”
Megan nodded.
“They were arguing.”
“About?”
“I heard one sentence.”
“What?”
Megan looked frightened.
“Dana said, ‘You promised the girl would never reach five with control intact.’”
Grant stopped breathing.
Thomas Blake.
His closest friend in business.
Emma’s godfather.
He had motive if her shares threatened management control.
Grant immediately called security.
“Find Thomas.”
Leo checked.
His corporate phone was off.
Home empty.
Private jet records showed no departure.
Then a ping.
Company car.
Heading toward the coast.
Grant’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Thomas.
“Grant.”
His voice was calm.
Grant stared at Megan.
“Where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“You used Dana.”
“Yes.”
The admission came so easily Grant almost missed it.
“You staged the guardianship case.”
“I designed it.”
Grant’s blood chilled.
“Why?”
“You were destroying everything.”
Grant laughed.
“My daughter is four.”
“It was never about Emma personally.”
“That sentence does not make it better.”
Thomas sighed.
“Rachel discovered the company was insolvent.”
Grant froze.
“What?”
“Holloway Global has been hiding debt for six years.”
Grant felt the floor move.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I sign the audits.”
“You sign summaries.”
Grant’s anger rose.
“Why would Emma’s trust matter?”
“Because her seventeen percent becomes independent at five.”
Grant understood.
“If her trustees inspect the books—”
“They uncover everything.”
“Fraud?”
“Enough accounting manipulation to destroy the company.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Twenty-seven thousand employees.
Pensions.
Projects.
Debt.
“Rachel found it.”
“Yes.”
“And you killed her?”
Silence.
Grant’s heart pounded.
“Thomas.”
“I did not cause the crash.”
“Did you know someone would?”
Another silence.
Grant whispered:
“You knew.”
Thomas exhaled.
“I knew she had become a problem.”
Grant felt nauseated.
“Where are you?”
Thomas ignored him.
“There’s something you still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Rachel’s archive is not evidence against us.”
“Then what is it?”
“It is the only thing that can save Holloway Global.”
Grant frowned.
“How?”
“She found where the missing money went.”
“What missing money?”
“Four billion dollars.”
Grant stopped breathing.
Thomas continued.
“Your company isn’t insolvent because the money was lost.”
Grant stared.
“It was stolen.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Thomas laughed softly.
“That’s the question Rachel died trying to answer.”
Then he ended the call.
Grant stood silently.
Megan whispered:
“What?”
Grant looked at his sister.
“Four billion dollars is missing.”
Her face changed.
Grant noticed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“Megan.”
She backed up.
“What?”
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You did.”
Megan’s eyes filled.
“Grant.”
“Where did the money go?”
She shook her head.
“I can’t.”
Grant stared at the sister he had protected his entire life.
“Why?”
Megan whispered:
“Because Rachel gave it away.”
May you like
And suddenly the dead woman everyone accused of uncovering theft—
might have been the person who moved the money.
