Chapter 5 - Brother at the Table
Claire remembered the last dinner she had eaten with Ryan before Victor died.
It had been Thanksgiving.
Ryan had carved the turkey because Victor’s hands had begun trembling.
At one point their father had looked down the table and said, “Never confuse access with ownership.”
Everyone assumed he was talking about politics.
Now Claire was not sure.
Two days after Naomi’s call, Claire entered Cole Development headquarters for the first time since the incident.
Evan went with her.
The receptionist looked uncomfortable.
Employees knew something had happened.
They did not know what.
Ryan’s office door was closed.
Because of the protective order, arrangements had been made through attorneys so Claire would not encounter him.
Martin Vale was waiting in the conference room.
He stood when Claire entered.
“Claire.”
She did not shake his hand.
“You created documents with my signature.”
Martin’s expression barely shifted.
“I don’t accept the premise.”
“Naomi Park traced the PDFs to your system.”
“Metadata is not always reliable.”
“Did I authorize Harbor Row?”
“You attended numerous family business discussions.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Martin folded his hands.
“There were consents.”
“Did I sign them?”
“You approved restructuring.”
Evan leaned forward.
“She asked a yes-or-no question.”
Martin looked at him with open dislike.
“This is a family matter.”
Evan answered calmly.
“I am her family.”
Claire raised one hand.
“Did I sign them?”
Martin’s eyes returned to her.
“I believed Ryan had proper authority.”
“Did I sign them?”
Silence.
Claire felt something inside her settle.
She had hoped to hear an explanation.
Instead she heard evasion.
That was worse.
“Where is the original?”
Martin said, “There may not be a wet-ink original.”
“Then what authenticated the signature?”
“Claire—”
She stood.
“You were my father’s attorney.”
“I still represent the company.”
“No.”
Martin frowned.
“No?”
“Not anymore.”
“You cannot terminate corporate counsel unilaterally without—”
“I own fifty-one percent of voting shares.”
“That structure is more complicated than you understand.”
Claire froze.
Martin realized his mistake immediately.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“What structure?”
“Your father amended several agreements.”
“When?”
Martin looked toward Evan.
“Claire, do not let marital tension become corporate policy.”
She smiled faintly.
It frightened him.
“My marriage is none of your business.”
She placed a letter on the table.
It suspended Vale & Finch from further access to company systems pending independent review and instructed the company’s IT director to preserve all email, server logs and accounting records.
Martin read it.
Then he looked up.
“Ryan was right.”
“About what?”
“You’re trying to take everything.”
Claire heard Lily’s voice in her memory.
Mommy would take everything.
She stared at Martin.
“That’s what he told Lily.”
Martin said nothing.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Nothing.
Evan saw it too.
Claire leaned across the table.
“You know what he took from my father’s house.”
Martin stood.
“This meeting is over.”
“No, Martin.”
She blocked the door.
For the first time, his composure slipped.
“You should think carefully before accusing people who spent decades protecting your family.”
Claire stepped aside.
“I’m starting to think protection is what created this.”
Martin left.
Ten minutes later, Cole Development’s IT director, Mason Patel, entered carrying a sealed laptop.
“I was told to preserve Ryan’s workstation.”
Claire nodded.
Mason placed it on the table.
“I also found something unusual.”
“What?”
“Someone remotely wiped a folder from Ryan’s network account forty minutes ago.”
Evan looked at the hallway where Martin had disappeared.
“Can you recover it?”
“Probably.”
“What was the folder called?”
Mason turned the laptop around.
The deletion log showed a directory name.
VICTOR_PRIVATE
Claire stopped breathing.
Someone had tried to erase her dead father’s files while she was in the building.
May you like
The conspiracy was no longer historical.
It was still active.
