Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN IN THE BLACK CARSix months after Arthur Sterling was taken away in handcuffs, I finally believed my life had become quiet.
I was wrong.
The morning began peacefully.
Sunlight poured through the windows of my new office at Sterling Holdings, illuminating the enormous glass conference table that had once belonged to Arthur.
Six months earlier, I had been the invisible wife sitting at home while my husband took credit for an empire I had inherited.
Now every executive in the building knew exactly who I was.
I wasn't Arthur's wife anymore.
I was the controlling shareholder.
The chairwoman.
The person whose signature could move millions of dollars with a single stroke of a pen.
But none of that mattered as much as the small framed photograph sitting on my desk.
Chloe.
Three years old.
Messy blonde curls.
A missing front tooth.
That enormous smile that made her entire face glow.
I touched the frame every morning.
"Good morning, baby."
Then I worked.
That day, I had just finished a meeting with the pediatric research foundation when Julian entered my office.
He had become CFO permanently after the board unanimously approved his appointment.
He placed a folder on my desk.
"You need to see this."
I looked up.
"What is it?"
"An acquisition proposal."
I opened the folder.
A private medical technology company was seeking investment from Sterling Holdings.
Their research involved rapid bacterial infection detection.
My eyes stopped on the final page.
"This could help emergency rooms identify meningitis faster."
Julian nodded.
"That's why I thought you'd want to see it."
I studied the proposal.
The technology was promising.
Very promising.
"We'll fund the clinical trials."
Julian smiled.
"I thought you might say that."
"How much?"
"Twenty-eight million."
I signed the preliminary authorization.
"Do it."
Julian stood.
Then he hesitated.
"There is something else."
"What?"
"Someone has been asking questions about you."
I looked up.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
"What kind of questions?"
"Your personal schedule. Your foundation. Your voting shares."
I leaned back.
"Competitor?"
"Maybe."
"Arthur?"
Julian shook his head.
"Arthur can't access anything from prison."
"His mother?"
"Possibly."
Margaret had disappeared after Arthur's arrest.
She had sold her house and moved to another state.
I hadn't heard from her in months.
I didn't particularly care.
But Julian's next sentence changed everything.
"There's a car."
"What car?"
"A black Mercedes."
My stomach tightened.
"Where?"
"Outside your house."
"When?"
"Every morning."
I stared at him.
"How long?"
"Three weeks."
Three weeks.
Someone had been watching me for three weeks.
That evening, I drove home with two security vehicles behind me.
The black Mercedes wasn't there.
I entered my house.
Locked the door.
Checked the alarm.
Everything was normal.
Then I noticed something on the kitchen counter.
A small white envelope.
My security system hadn't registered anyone entering.
I picked it up carefully.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
YOU THINK ARTHUR WAS THE WORST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU.
My fingers tightened around the envelope.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Chloe.
My heart stopped.
It wasn't a funeral photograph.
It wasn't one I had ever seen.
It showed Chloe sitting on the playground outside our old house.
She was wearing the yellow dress she loved.
The photograph had been taken two days before she became sick.
I turned it over.
There was handwriting on the back.
HE DIDN'T KNOW EVERYTHING.
I immediately called Marcus.
He answered on the first ring.
"Eleanor?"
"Someone broke into my house."
"What?"
I sent him the photograph.
Silence.
Then:
"Where did you get this?"
"Someone left it on my kitchen counter."
"Don't touch anything else."
"I already did."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Lock yourself in a room."
I heard movement outside.
A car door slammed.
I froze.
Then came three slow knocks on my front door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
I didn't move.
The doorbell rang.
Once.
Then again.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
OPEN THE DOOR, ELEANOR.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT CHLOE.
My blood ran cold.
Because whoever was standing outside didn't know just about my business.
May you like
They knew my daughter.
And suddenly, six months of silence felt like the calm before a storm.
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