Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the Curtain
Richard walked toward the greenhouse surrounded by armed men.
Arthur stood between him and Norah.
Daniel remained to the left.
For the first time in their lives, the two brothers stood shoulder to shoulder.
Richard smiled.
“Look at my sons.”
Arthur's voice was cold.
“You lied to me for years.”
“I protected you.”
“You destroyed people.”
“I built an empire.”
Daniel laughed.
“Listen to him. He still thinks that's a compliment.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“You should be dead.”
“I was.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“That's the point.”
Richard's gaze moved to Norah.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Norah didn't answer.
Arthur did.
“You're not touching her.”
Richard smiled.
“You don't understand the situation.”
“No.”
Arthur's fingers tightened around the gun.
“I understand it perfectly.”
Richard nodded to one of his men.
A folder was handed over.
He opened it.
“Norah has a prenatal file.”
Arthur's face changed.
Richard continued.
“Her hospital records.”
Another document.
“Her apartment lease.”
Another.
“Her work schedule.”
Norah felt sick.
“You've been watching me.”
“Of course.”
Arthur moved forward.
Richard's men raised their weapons.
Daniel grabbed Arthur's arm.
“Not yet.”
Richard smiled.
“Your brother understands.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“What does he mean?”
Daniel whispered:
“They don't want to kill us.”
“Then what?”
“They want the ledger.”
Richard answered for him.
“The ledger proves everything.”
Arthur held the microfilm.
“Then why don't you destroy it?”
“Because I need the complete copy.”
Arthur understood.
“Half is not enough.”
“Correct.”
Richard looked at Norah.
“The other half is inside your memory.”
Norah frowned.
“What?”
“You saw documents before you left.”
“I don't remember.”
Richard smiled.
“You don't have to.”
He turned toward one of his men.
A man opened a laptop.
On the screen was a photograph from seven months earlier.
Norah in Arthur's penthouse.
Standing in the study.
Holding a file.
She looked horrified.
Arthur stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Security cameras.”
Norah's breath caught.
“I erased those.”
Richard smiled.
“My dear, you never had access to the real system.”
Arthur looked at her.
“You found the ledger.”
“I found paperwork.”
“You found evidence.”
Norah remembered.
The numbers.
The names.
The coded shipping routes.
She had not understood all of it.
But she'd known something was wrong.
Richard continued.
“You photographed several pages.”
Norah's face went pale.
“On my old phone.”
Arthur looked at her.
“The phone you threw away.”
Silence.
Daniel spoke.
“That phone was recovered.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Everything clicked.
The attackers were not searching for Norah.
They were searching for the phone.
Richard smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“You could have taken the phone.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“But the photographs were encrypted.”
Arthur looked at Norah.
“You had a password.”
She nodded slowly.
“My mother's birthday.”
Daniel laughed.
“Dad never knew.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“Because the girl took the secret to another device.”
Arthur looked at Norah.
“Where?”
Norah suddenly remembered.
Her old laptop.
Broken.
Stored in a unit.
She whispered:
“Storage locker 312.”
Richard smiled.
“Exactly.”
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
“You knew.”
Richard shrugged.
“Eventually.”
Then Daniel looked at Arthur.
“It's a trap.”
Arthur understood.
The locker did not matter.
The location mattered.
Someone had leaked it.
Arthur turned toward Richard.
“You wanted us to go there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Richard's eyes turned cold.
“Because the person running this operation isn't me.”
The greenhouse went silent.
Daniel's face changed.
“Who?”
Richard looked at Arthur.
“Your fiancée's father.”
Arthur froze.
Camille's father.
Elliot Sterling.
The freight king.
The man Arthur had almost married into.
Daniel whispered:
“He's been buying control of the ports.”
Richard nodded.
“Your father isn't the only monster.”
Norah's stomach turned.
Arthur thought of Camille.
Her carefully chosen words.
Her insistence on the engagement.
The business merger.
The convenient timing.
Maybe she didn't know.
Maybe she did.
Before anyone could move, an explosion shook the greenhouse.
Glass shattered overhead.
Everyone dropped.
Smoke filled the room.
Arthur grabbed Norah.
Daniel pulled Richard down.
A second explosion tore through the far wall.
When the smoke cleared, the men who had surrounded them were gone.
So was Richard.
Only one thing remained.
A phone on the floor.
Arthur picked it up.
A video was already playing.
Camille stood on screen.
Her face was pale.
Her voice trembled.
“Arthur, I didn't know.”
The video ended.
A second message appeared.
COME ALONE.
OR NORAH DIES.
Arthur's blood went cold.
Norah stepped beside him.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
Arthur looked at her.
“I won't.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“We go together.”
Arthur nodded.
For the first time, Norah realized something had changed.
Arthur wasn't trying to control the situation anymore.
He was trusting people.
His brother.
Her.
And maybe himself.
The three of them left the greenhouse before dawn.
But none of them noticed the black SUV parked across the road.
Inside, Camille lowered her phone.
A man beside her asked:
“Did he believe it?”
Camille shook her head.
“No.”
The man smiled.
“Then we'll use something he does believe.”
He opened a folder.
May you like
Inside was a hospital photo of Norah's unborn child.
And beneath it was a birth certificate application bearing a name Norah had never seen.
