Chapter 5 - The Woman Behind Northstar
Evelyn Hart wasn't related to me.
She was an attorney specializing in corporate investigations.
Five years earlier, my mother had hired her through Thomas.
“You knew all of this?”
I asked.
Evelyn nodded.
“Not all of it.”
“What did you know?”
“That Daniel was preparing to restructure the company.”
“Why?”
“To make himself the sole owner.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn't Mom tell me?”
“Because she believed you would confront him too early.”
“Maybe I should have.”
“Perhaps.”
Evelyn opened a document.
“Your mother also suspected Daniel wasn't working alone.”
I looked at Thomas.
“Who?”
“Someone inside the company.”
“Rebecca?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn slid over a photograph.
I knew the man immediately.
Frank Miller.
Daniel's chief financial officer.
Frank had worked with us for eleven years.
He had attended Noah's birthday parties.
He had eaten Thanksgiving dinner in our home.
He had watched me struggle through the early years.
He had called me “family.”
I stared at the photograph.
Frank was meeting Daniel at a private club.
Another photograph showed Frank meeting someone else.
The same man who appeared in the Northstar paperwork.
“Who is he?”
Evelyn said:
“Victor Lane.”
I had never heard the name.
“He's an investor.”
“In what?”
“Real estate.”
“Why would he want our landscaping company?”
“He doesn't.”
Thomas leaned forward.
“He wants the properties.”
My stomach turned.
“Our properties?”
“All of them.”
Over twenty years, Hartwell & Sons had expanded.
We owned warehouses.
Equipment lots.
Several commercial properties.
Two landscaping supply businesses.
A nursery.
And a development parcel near the river.
The land alone was worth millions.
Victor Lane had been planning to acquire those properties by pushing us into debt.
Then, when the company failed, Northstar would buy the assets.
Daniel would receive money.
Frank would receive money.
Rebecca would receive money.
And I would lose everything.
“Rebecca knew?”
“We don't know,” Evelyn said.
“But she must.”
“Maybe.”
Then Evelyn placed another document in front of me.
It was a contract.
Daniel had promised Rebecca a house.
A new company position.
And a percentage of future profits.
I stared.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
I felt sick.
“Then why was she wearing my mother's ring?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“That's the question.”
That evening, I called Rebecca.
She answered after three rings.
“Claire.”
“Why were you wearing my mother's ring?”
Silence.
“I didn't know it was hers.”
“Daniel told you it was yours?”
“He said it belonged to someone important.”
I closed my eyes.
“He told you what?”
“He said it was a family ring.”
I could hear her crying.
“He told me your marriage was over.”
“You believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he showed me documents.”
“Fake documents.”
“I know that now.”
I softened despite everything.
“Rebecca, tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
“Did you know about Northstar?”
“What?”
“Victor Lane.”
She was silent.
“Rebecca?”
“I met him once.”
“Why?”
“Daniel introduced us.”
“What did he say?”
“That Victor was helping the company expand.”
“Did you sign anything?”
“Yes.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“A confidentiality agreement.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“Rebecca, please.”
She started crying.
“Claire, I swear I didn't know about the fraud.”
I believed she was telling the truth.
Not because I trusted her.
But because fear sounded different from deception.
“Can you meet me?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
We met in a quiet café outside the city.
Rebecca arrived without makeup.
She looked younger.
Smaller.
Not like the woman from the gala.
She placed a folder on the table.
“I kept this because I was scared.”
Inside were emails.
Daniel promising her everything.
Daniel threatening employees.
Daniel discussing the property plan.
And one email from Frank.
“We need Claire out before the river parcel closes.”
I stared.
Another message.
“Her son shouldn't know.”
My hand tightened around the paper.
“They knew about Noah.”
Rebecca nodded.
“What did they plan to do?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
“I don't know.”
She wiped her eyes.
“Daniel said Noah would stay with him.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“He said you were unstable.”
I almost stood.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
He had been preparing to paint me as an unfit mother.
Everything became clear.
The fake divorce.
The forged documents.
The affair.
The financial fraud.
The ring.
It wasn't simply betrayal.
It was a takeover.
A carefully constructed plan to erase me.
But there was one thing Daniel hadn't calculated.
My son.
That night, Noah sat beside me on the couch.
“Are we going to be okay?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
He leaned against me.
Then he whispered:
“Mom, Grandma didn't leave only those papers.”
“What else?”
He reached into his backpack.
He pulled out an old cassette tape.
“She said there was one thing Dad never knew about.”
I stared.
“What?”
Noah looked at me.
“Grandma said you should listen to this with Mr. Harris.”
I called Thomas.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
He inserted the tape into an old player.
Static filled the room.
Then my mother's voice.
But this time, she sounded frightened.
“Daniel believes the Northstar agreement gives him control.”
A pause.
“It doesn't.”
Another pause.
“Because there is another owner.”
Thomas stopped the tape.
“Who?”
My mother continued.
“You will know his name.”
The tape clicked.
Then silence.
Thomas looked at me.
“Claire, there's something we need to discuss.”
“What?”
He looked at the door.
“Your father.”
I froze.
“My father died seventeen years ago.”
Thomas nodded.
“I know.”
“Then what does he have to do with this?”
May you like
Thomas lowered his voice.
“Everything.”
