Chapter 6 - The Stepmother Behind the Smiles
Denise disappeared before they could confront her.
Her phone was turned off.
Her car was found near O'Hare Airport.
No luggage.
No passport.
Nothing.
Madeline sat in the private office while investigators searched every room.
“Why would she do this?”
Richard looked devastated.
“I don't know.”
Ethan didn't speak.
Madeline turned.
“You know something.”
He hesitated.
“I have a theory.”
“Tell me.”
“Denise may not be working for Preston.”
“What?”
“She may be working for someone above him.”
Richard's face went pale.
“George.”
Madeline looked at him.
“Your brother.”
“He's dead.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Madeline felt the same chill as before.
“Noah said your brother's estate was still active.”
Richard nodded.
“George died three years ago.”
“Then who is controlling it?”
Richard whispered one word.
“His son.”
Madeline frowned.
“Preston?”
“No.”
Another name.
“Adrian Hale.”
The eldest Hale heir.
Preston's older brother.
He had lived overseas for years.
He rarely appeared publicly.
But he controlled the family's investment arm.
And unlike Preston, Adrian was known for being disciplined.
Cold.
Strategic.
Dangerous.
Ethan immediately began searching.
They found Adrian in New York.
He agreed to meet.
Not at a hotel.
At a quiet private club.
Madeline entered with Ethan.
Adrian was waiting.
He was thirty-eight.
Dark hair.
Perfect suit.
No expression.
“You look like your mother.”
Madeline stopped.
“You knew her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She tried to stop my father.”
“From what?”
“Destroying your company.”
Adrian leaned back.
“You think this is about Preston?”
“No.”
“You think this is about Denise?”
“No.”
“What do you think?”
Madeline looked at him.
“You want my trust.”
For the first time, he smiled.
“You're learning.”
“What did you do to Denise?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
Madeline's hands tightened.
“What do you want?”
“Your controlling shares.”
“No.”
“Then your father loses the company.”
“Why?”
“Because I can force the lenders to call their debts.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You don't have that authority.”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Madeline.
“But your CFO does.”
Madeline's blood ran cold.
Victor.
Victor was still working for them.
Or pretending to.
Adrian continued.
“Your father's company has billions in assets and billions in obligations. One wrong move and the stock collapses.”
“You planned everything.”
“The wine incident?”
“Yes.”
“Public humiliation?”
“Yes.”
“The fake video?”
“Yes.”
“The fabricated transfers?”
“Yes.”
Madeline stared.
“Why?”
“Because I needed you to panic.”
“And the marriage?”
“What?”
Adrian paused.
Madeline remembered a rumor.
Preston had once joked at a private party that he could make her fall for him.
Maybe the three men hadn't been acting randomly.
They had been testing her.
Trying to see whether she could be manipulated.
Adrian stood.
“You have forty-eight hours.”
“For what?”
“Sign the trust away.”
“Or?”
“Your father goes to prison.”
Madeline froze.
“What?”
He smiled.
“You think your father is innocent?”
“He didn't steal.”
“No.”
Adrian slid a file across the table.
Inside were documents.
Payments.
Offshore accounts.
Signatures.
Richard Carter.
Madeline looked up.
“Fake.”
“Maybe.”
She turned the pages.
Some signatures looked real.
Others didn't.
Ethan leaned over them.
“It's a fabrication.”
Adrian smiled.
“Prove it.”
He walked away.
Madeline remained seated.
She whispered, “We're trapped.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He made one mistake.”
“Which?”
“He told us too much.”
They returned to Chicago.
Ethan called the FBI.
Richard called the board.
Madeline prepared to fight.
Then came the worst news.
The stock market opened twenty-three percent lower.
Carter International was collapsing.
News reports blamed Madeline.
Investors panicked.
Banks demanded assurances.
The board scheduled an emergency vote.
At the center of the storm stood Denise.
She appeared on television.
She accused Richard of hiding financial problems.
She accused Madeline of manipulating the public.
She claimed the Carter family had been unstable for years.
Madeline watched.
“I trusted her.”
Ethan sat beside her.
“She knew that.”
“What do I do?”
“Tell the truth.”
“I've been telling the truth.”
“Then keep doing it.”
The emergency board meeting began.
Seventeen directors.
Nine votes needed.
Adrian's people had six.
Victor had three.
Richard had four.
Madeline had none.
Until the doors opened.
A group of shareholders entered.
Old family investors.
People who had been with her mother since the beginning.
Their spokesperson stood.
“We are voting with Madeline Carter.”
The board erupted.
Madeline looked confused.
The woman smiled.
“Your mother saved our companies twenty years ago.”
One by one, others stood.
More votes.
Adrian's confidence disappeared.
Then the final shareholder entered.
Noah.
He placed a file on the table.
“Your problem is that you thought Carter International belonged to one family.”
He smiled.
“It belongs to its shareholders.”
The document contained proof of Adrian's manipulation.
Offshore transfers.
Bribery.
Forged contracts.
Illegal market activity.
Adrian's scheme began collapsing in real time.
Then the doors burst open again.
Police entered.
Victor had been arrested.
He had agreed to testify.
And he revealed where Denise was.
A private estate in Indiana.
She had been kidnapped.
Not hiding.
Kidnapped.
By Adrian.
Madeline stood.
“We have to go.”
Ethan grabbed his coat.
“Now.”
They drove through the night.
When they reached the estate, they found Denise tied to a chair.
Adrian was gone.
But before police arrived, Denise whispered something.
“You don't understand.”
Madeline looked at her.
“You betrayed us.”
Denise began crying.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Madeline stared.
“From what?”
Denise looked toward the woods.
“Your grandfather.”
Madeline's blood ran cold.
“My grandfather is dead.”
Denise shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She whispered:
“The man who died wasn't your grandfather.”
