Chapter 2 - The Internet Called Naomi a Gold Digger, but Adrien Discovered Someone Had Deliberately Placed Her Inside His Penthouse to Expose a Betrayal Buried for Fifteen YearsBy dawn, Naomi was famous.
Not the kind of famous people dream about.
Her photograph was everywhere.
MYSTERY WOMAN IDENTIFIED AS HOTEL CLEANER.
BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET WIFE WAS WORKING UNDER HIS NOSE.
WHO IS NAOMI CARTER?
Someone had found an old photograph from a charity event fifteen years earlier.
Her father appeared in the background.
The article claimed Samuel Carter had once been a trusted accountant for Vale Meridian.
Then it claimed he had disappeared after accusations of fraud.
Naomi read the article twice.
Her hands went numb.
She called her mother.
“Mom.”
“I know.”
“Did Dad steal from them?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
Her mother's voice broke.
“Your father was never a thief.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
“Then why did he disappear?”
“I told you.”
“You told me he left.”
“He did.”
“Why?”
Her mother hesitated.
“Because powerful people were afraid of what he knew.”
Naomi sat down.
“What did he know?”
“I don't know.”
“You know something.”
“I know enough to tell you to stay away from that man.”
“Adrien?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because his father ruined your father's life.”
Naomi's breathing slowed.
Adrien had heard only one side of the story.
He stood across the room, listening.
Naomi didn't know.
“What happened to Dad?”
“He was accused of stealing money.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he told me.”
Naomi laughed bitterly.
“That's not proof.”
“He left evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“I don't know where it is anymore.”
The call ended.
Adrien watched her.
“What did she say?”
Naomi looked up.
“You knew my father.”
“I knew of him.”
“She says your father ruined his life.”
Adrien didn't deny it.
“That may be true.”
Naomi stared.
“May be?”
“My father's records are incomplete.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“I found out last night.”
“After you saw my wrist.”
“Yes.”
She studied him.
“Do you believe my father was a thief?”
“No.”
That answer came too quickly to be polite.
“Why?”
“Because I know enough about my father's business to know when the numbers don't add up.”
Naomi frowned.
Adrien continued.
“Your father disappeared after a large internal transfer.”
“How large?”
“Four hundred million dollars.”
Her face went pale.
“My God.”
“There was an internal audit.”
“And my father was blamed.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the money?”
Adrien looked at her.
“It was never recovered.”
“And you think someone framed him?”
“I think someone wanted him blamed.”
Naomi stood.
“Why?”
“That is what I'm trying to find out.”
Before she could answer, the penthouse door opened.
Adrien's mother entered.
Vivienne Vale was elegant, seventy-two, and intimidating.
Her eyes immediately landed on Naomi.
“So this is her.”
Naomi swallowed.
“Mrs. Vale.”
Vivienne studied her.
“You're Samuel Carter's daughter.”
Naomi nodded.
Vivienne's expression changed.
“I wondered when this would happen.”
Adrien stepped forward.
“Mother.”
“You should have told her.”
“Told me what?”
Vivienne looked at Naomi.
“Your father did not steal the money.”
Naomi froze.
Adrien stared at his mother.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“For fifteen years?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you say anything?”
“Because your father threatened everyone who tried.”
Adrien's face hardened.
“Why?”
Vivienne lowered her voice.
“Because he wasn't alone.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
Vivienne looked at the door.
“Someone inside the family.”
Adrien's phone rang.
His chief of security.
He answered.
“What?”
“Sir, your board member Richard Vale just left the building with two executives.”
“Where are they going?”
“Your father's old storage facility.”
Adrien looked at Naomi.
Vivienne whispered:
“They're looking for the ledger.”
“What ledger?” Naomi asked.
Adrien's mother answered.
“The one your father hid.”
Naomi felt dizzy.
“What ledger?”
Vivienne looked directly at her.
“A record of every illegal payment your father's department found before he disappeared.”
Adrien's voice was cold.
“Why would they think Samuel gave it to Naomi?”
“Because he trusted his daughter.”
Naomi shook her head.
“He never gave me anything.”
Vivienne's eyes narrowed.
“He may have given you something without telling you.”
Naomi immediately remembered her mother's words.
He left evidence.
Then another memory surfaced.
A wooden music box.
Her father had given it to her on her thirteenth birthday.
She hadn't opened it in years.
There had always been a strange brass emblem on the bottom.
The same symbol as the mark on her wrist.
She looked at Adrien.
“My mother kept an old box.”
“Where?”
“Baltimore.”
“We're going.”
“You're not coming to my mother's house.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is already looking for it.”
“How do you know?”
Adrien showed her the security footage.
A man had approached Naomi's mother's house twenty minutes earlier.
The man was wearing a Vale Meridian security uniform.
Naomi's heart stopped.
“That isn't one of your guards.”
“No.”
“Then who is he?”
Adrien looked at the screen.
“I don't know.”
For the first time, fear replaced anger.
Naomi grabbed her coat.
“Let's go.”
They traveled under heavy security.
On the private plane, Naomi sat by the window.
Adrien sat across from her.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Then Naomi said:
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because my family destroyed yours.”
“You don't know that.”
“My mother just admitted it.”
“Your father did.”
“My name is still Vale.”
She looked at him.
“You're not your father.”
Adrien looked away.
“No.”
“But?”
“But I benefited from what he built.”
That honesty surprised her.
“Does that bother you?”
“Every day.”
The plane was quiet.
Naomi leaned back.
“I don't believe you're a bad man.”
Adrien smiled faintly.
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because most people who aren't bad men don't end up with armed security teams.”
“Maybe.”
She looked at him.
“But most bad men don't look this tired.”
He smiled.
“That may be the worst compliment I've ever received.”
“I'm not very good at those.”
“I noticed.”
When they arrived in Baltimore, Naomi's mother was waiting.
She hugged her daughter tightly.
Then looked at Adrien.
Her face hardened.
“You shouldn't have brought him.”
“I need answers.”
Adrien stepped back.
“I'll stay outside.”
Naomi's mother looked surprised.
“That might be the first sensible thing a Vale has done in years.”
Adrien accepted the insult without reaction.
Inside, Naomi found the music box.
She opened the hidden compartment.
Nothing.
Then she turned it over.
The brass symbol was slightly raised.
Adrien entered.
“Let me see.”
He pressed the emblem.
A panel clicked.
Inside was a tiny key.
Naomi stared.
Her father had hidden a key inside her childhood music box.
And attached to it was a handwritten note.
When the truth becomes dangerous, find the room nobody remembers.
Adrien read the sentence.
“Your father knew he was in danger.”
Naomi looked at him.
“Where is the room?”
Her mother whispered:
“His old office.”
Adrien shook his head.
“The office was demolished twelve years ago.”
“No,” her mother said.
“He never worked in the office they demolished.”
She looked at Naomi.
“Your father had another office.”
“Where?”
Her mother's eyes filled with tears.
“Under the old Vale shipping terminal.”
Adrien went silent.
Because that terminal no longer belonged to Vale Meridian.
It had been sealed after a fire fifteen years earlier.
And according to company records, nobody had entered it since.
Except one person.
May you like
The person who had just spent the last fifteen years pretending Samuel Carter stole four hundred million dollars.
Richard Vale.
Related Stories
