Chapter 6 - THE MAN SHE HAD JUST DESTROYED
Marcus called the next morning.
Alive.
Terrified.
“Stop looking for me.”
Isabella closed her office door.
“You have the ledger.”
Silence.
“How do you know?”
“My father.”
Marcus laughed weakly.
“Your dead father is becoming inconvenient.”
“Where are you?”
“No.”
“Marcus.”
“I said no.”
“Then why call?”
“Because Camille is looking for me.”
“She has been for years.”
“Not like this.”
He sounded exhausted.
“She wants the ledger.”
“Do you have it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father gave it to mine.”
That stopped her.
Marcus Hale rarely spoke about his father.
Jonathan Hale.
Banker.
Dead seventeen years.
“Explain.”
“My father worked for Soren.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
Of course.
“Everyone worked for Soren.”
“Not everyone tried to betray him.”
Marcus told her Jonathan discovered the ledger.
He helped Isabella’s father copy portions.
When Jonathan died, Marcus inherited a sealed storage key.
He never understood its purpose.
Three weeks before the boardroom collapse, Soren finally explained.
“He told me the storage box contained evidence that your father stole from Cross Dominion.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
That was Marcus at his most honest.
Soren had told him Isabella’s family built Cross Dominion using stolen assets.
He promised Marcus he could expose her.
Take control.
Become something larger than a CEO.
He opened the box.
Found the ledger.
Then realized the truth.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Marcus laughed.
“After six years of treating you like furniture?”
He paused.
“What was I supposed to say?”
“Try the truth.”
“I didn’t know how.”
She almost felt sympathy.
Almost.
“Then you humiliated me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Camille told me if I pushed you publicly, Soren would protect Hale Meridian.”
“So you chose yourself.”
“Yes.”
Again.
Honest.
Ugly.
Useful.
“Where are you now?”
“I’ll exchange the ledger.”
“For what?”
“Protection.”
“No.”
Silence.
“What?”
“You don’t get to buy innocence.”
“I’m not asking for innocence.”
“Then what?”
“Time.”
“For what?”
“To testify.”
Isabella’s expression changed.
Marcus continued.
“Soren has judges.”
“Regulators.”
“Bankers.”
“People inside Cross Dominion.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“You don’t.”
Then he named one.
Rebecca Shaw.
Cross Dominion’s general counsel.
Isabella stared through the glass wall at the conference room.
Rebecca was inside.
Reading files.
Talking to Arthur.
Marcus whispered,
“She works for Soren.”
The call ended.
Isabella did not move.
Rebecca had served Cross Dominion for twelve years.
She knew the trust.
Ownership.
Board structure.
Emergency clauses.
Everything.
Isabella walked into the conference room.
Rebecca smiled.
“We found another way to challenge the Geneva filing.”
Isabella returned the smile.
“Good.”
She placed one hand on Rebecca’s shoulder.
“Show me.”
For the next three hours, Isabella behaved as though nothing had changed.
Then Rebecca left.
Arthur locked the door.
“You believe Marcus?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I believe verification.”
They audited Rebecca’s communications.
Nothing.
Accounts.
Nothing.
Travel.
Nothing.
Then one old photograph surfaced.
Zurich.
Eight years earlier.
Rebecca walking beside Victor Soren.
Arthur whispered,
“She told us she had never met him.”
Isabella stared.
A lie.
One lie was enough.
They searched deeper.
At midnight, Isabella found the payment.
Not money.
A scholarship.
Rebecca’s son had attended a private Swiss academy.
Tuition anonymously covered for seven years.
The foundation paying it was controlled by Soren.
Arthur looked devastated.
“Do we confront her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Marcus is still missing.”
She turned off the screen.
“And Rebecca may be the only person who can lead us to him.”
Twenty minutes later, Rebecca left Cross Dominion headquarters.
Security followed.
She drove to a parking garage beneath an abandoned hotel.
Another car waited.
Camille stepped out.
Then a third person emerged from the shadows.
Victor Soren.
May you like
Alive.
And holding a photograph of Marcus tied to a chair.
