PART 3 — THE SIGNATURE I NEVER WROTE
I stared at the name on the confidential report until the letters blurred.
Then I read it again.
And again.
Because my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
MELANIE CROSS.
My best friend.
The woman who had stood beside me at my wedding.
The woman who had held my hair back while I cried in a hotel bathroom after my first major fight with Aaron.
The woman who knew about the $1.5 billion.
The patents.
My family trust.
My marriage problems.
Everything.
For twelve years, Melanie had been the person I called when I couldn’t call anyone else.
And according to the document glowing on my phone, an executive account registered in her name had authorized the transfer connected to my forged signature.
I felt physically sick.
The SUV continued moving through morning traffic while I stared through the window without seeing anything.
My phone rang.
Dad.
I answered immediately.
“Tell me it’s wrong.”
He didn’t ask what I meant.
“Alyssa—”
“Tell me Melanie’s name is there because of some accounting mistake.”
Silence.
That silence hurt more than an answer.
“Dad.”
“We’re still investigating.”
“Is the account hers?”
“Yes.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“How much?”
“Alyssa.”
“How much money?”
He exhaled slowly.
“The original authorization covered up to four hundred million.”
My stomach dropped.
“Four hundred million dollars?”
“Yes.”
“Where did it go?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“How can you not know?”
“Because it didn’t move as one transfer. It was divided through subsidiaries, consulting agreements, licensing payments and offshore entities.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much is missing?”
“We’ve confirmed two hundred and eighty-seven million so far.”
I stopped breathing.
Two hundred and eighty-seven million dollars.
My best friend’s name.
My forged signature.
And three years of silence.
“Does Aaron know?”
“We don’t know.”
That answer frightened me more than yes would have.
Because if Aaron knew, my husband and my best friend had betrayed me together.
But if Aaron didn’t know…
Then someone had been stealing underneath his nose while using me as the key.
“Where are you?” Dad asked.
“In the car.”
“Come directly to the Whitmore office.”
“I need to see Melanie.”
“No.”
“Dad—”
“No, Alyssa. If she’s involved, you cannot warn her that we found the account.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“Which is exactly why you’re not thinking like yourself right now.”
I looked down at my hands.
He was right.
But being right didn’t make it hurt less.
“I trusted her.”
“I know.”
“She knew everything.”
“I know.”
“She was the only person who knew I secretly funded Aaron.”
My father went quiet.
That silence made my skin crawl.
“Dad?”
“That matters.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever forged those documents needed information that very few people possessed.”
I felt cold.
“How many?”
“Originally?”
“Yes.”
“You. Me. Your mother. Two trustees. Our outside counsel.”
“And Melanie.”
“Yes.”
“And Aaron?”
“No.”
I stared out the window.
Aaron hadn’t even known the money came from me.
But Melanie had.
I remembered the night I told her.
We had been sitting on the floor of my old apartment drinking cheap wine even though I could have afforded bottles worth thousands.
Aaron’s company was collapsing.
He hadn’t slept properly in weeks.
I had already decided to save it.
Melanie had stared at me as if I were insane.
“One point five billion?” she whispered.
“He needs it.”
“No company needs that much from someone who doesn’t even know where it came from.”
“I don’t want him to feel like he owes me.”
She had grabbed my hands.
“Alyssa, promise me you’ll protect yourself.”
I almost laughed now.
She had been warning me to protect myself while learning exactly how unprotected I was.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t contact Melanie.”
“We weren’t planning to.”
“Don’t freeze her account yet either.”
“Alyssa—”
“If she’s involved, I want to know who she calls.”
My father became silent.
Then I heard something in his voice I hadn’t heard since I was a teenager.
Pride.
“Now you’re thinking.”
“I learned from you.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“You always knew how. You just stopped trusting yourself.”
I looked at my wedding ring sitting inside my handbag.
Maybe he was right.
“Track her,” I said.
“We already are.”
“And Dad?”
“Yes?”
“I want everything.”
“Everything?”
“Every transfer. Every shell company. Every email. Every person who touched those documents.”
“You’ll have it.”
I ended the call.
Then I did the hardest thing I had done all morning.
I called Melanie.
She answered on the second ring.
“ALYSSA!”
Her voice exploded through the phone.
“Oh my God, what happened? I’m seeing messages everywhere. Someone said Aaron’s jet was grounded and there’s some kind of emergency board meeting.”
I said nothing.
“Alyssa?”
“I’m here.”
“Are you okay?”
The concern sounded real.
That was the worst part.
“I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
“Jasmine.”
There was a pause.
“What about her?”
“She’s sleeping with Aaron.”
Silence.
Too much silence.
My heart stopped.
“Melanie?”
“Oh, Alyssa.”
Her voice softened.
“I’m so sorry.”
But I had already heard it.
Not surprise.
Sadness.
There was a difference.
“You knew.”
“What?”
“You knew.”
“No.”
“Melanie.”
“I suspected.”
“How long?”
“Alyssa, please.”
“How long?”
She exhaled.
“A few months.”
I shut my eyes.
Another betrayal.
Smaller than two hundred and eighty-seven million dollars.
But somehow more immediate.
“You knew my husband was having an affair.”
“I didn’t know for certain.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I almost laughed.
Everyone who betrayed me seemed to love that sentence.
Protect you.
Aaron humiliated me to protect his company.
Evelyn lied to protect her son.
Melanie kept secrets to protect me.
Apparently protection was simply betrayal wearing perfume.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“At home.”
“Stay there.”
“Why?”
“I’m coming.”
“Alyssa, maybe you should take some time—”
“I need my best friend.”
The words nearly choked me.
Her voice softened immediately.
“Of course.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
I ended the call.
Then I texted Dad.
SHE KNEW ABOUT THE AFFAIR.
His response arrived seconds later.
DO NOT CONFRONT HER ABOUT THE MONEY.
I typed back.
I WON’T.
But I was going to look her in the eyes.
Twenty-five minutes later, the SUV stopped outside Melanie’s townhouse.
I had been there hundreds of times.
Birthday dinners.
Christmas parties.
Movie nights.
After Aaron and I fought.
After my miscarriage two years earlier.
That memory hit me unexpectedly.
I gripped the door handle.
Melanie had been the first person I called from the hospital.
Aaron had been in Tokyo.
He claimed he couldn’t get a flight home until the following morning.
Melanie arrived within forty minutes.
She sat beside my hospital bed all night.
She held my hand while I cried.
She brushed my hair.
She told me I wasn’t alone.
How could that woman steal from me?
How could that woman forge my signature?
Unless…
She hadn’t.
That possibility stopped me.
An account in her name didn’t necessarily mean she controlled it.
Someone could have used her too.
I stepped from the SUV.
The front door opened before I reached it.
Melanie rushed outside.
She wrapped her arms around me.
For one terrible second, instinct took over.
I hugged her back.
Then I remembered the report.
My arms fell.
She pulled away.
“You look exhausted.”
“I’ve had an interesting morning.”
“Come inside.”
Her townhouse smelled like vanilla candles and coffee.
Exactly as always.
Nothing about the room looked like the home of someone hiding hundreds of millions of dollars.
Melanie poured me water.
I watched her hands.
No trembling.
No nervous movements.
Either she was innocent…
Or she was very good.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
So I did.
Almost everything.
I told her about the seat.
Aaron’s words.
Grounding the plane.
Jasmine’s confession.
The divorce lawyer.
The licensing audit.
But I didn’t mention the forged signature.
Melanie listened quietly.
Then she said something strange.
“You contacted Whitmore Legal?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Before or after you called your father?”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“No reason.”
She picked up her coffee.
“I’m just trying to understand the timeline.”
The timeline.
Interesting.
“After.”
“And what exactly did you tell them?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It doesn’t.”
She smiled quickly.
“I’m worried about you.”
I smiled back.
“Of course.”
Her phone buzzed on the counter.
She glanced at it.
Then immediately turned it facedown.
My heartbeat changed.
“Who’s that?”
“No one.”
“Melanie.”
She laughed.
“My realtor.”
“At nine forty in the morning?”
“Realtors work mornings.”
“True.”
I took a sip of water.
Her phone buzzed again.
She ignored it.
Then mine vibrated.
Dad.
One message.
SHE JUST RECEIVED A CALL FROM A NUMBER LINKED TO PRESCOTT TECHNOLOGIES. DO NOT REACT.
I kept my expression neutral.
“Are you going to answer that?” I asked.
“What?”
“Your phone.”
“No.”
“Could be important.”
“It isn’t.”
“How do you know?”
Her eyes met mine.
For half a second, neither of us moved.
Then Melanie smiled.
“Alyssa, what’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re acting strange.”
“My husband cheated on me this morning.”
“You discovered he cheated on you this morning.”
I stared at her.
She realized the mistake instantly.
“What?”
I asked.
“Nothing.”
“No. You corrected me.”
“I was just saying—”
“You said I discovered it this morning.”
She looked away.
I set down my glass.
“You knew more than you suspected.”
“Alyssa.”
“How long?”
“I told you—”
“How long have you known Aaron was sleeping with Jasmine?”
Her face tightened.
“Since December.”
Six months.
Exactly.
“You knew from the beginning.”
“I saw them together.”
“Where?”
“London.”
My chest tightened.
Aaron had gone to London in December for investor meetings.
Melanie had supposedly been visiting her sister.
“Did you confront him?”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
“What did he say?”
“He told me it was a mistake.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you had just lost the baby.”
The room went silent.
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“That happened months earlier.”
“You were still grieving.”
“So you let me share a bed with a man you knew was cheating on me?”
“I was scared of what it would do to you.”
“You don’t get to decide what truth I can survive.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
I stood.
“Alyssa, please.”
“You sat beside my hospital bed.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I remember.”
“You held my hand.”
“I know.”
“You promised me you would never let anyone hurt me like that again.”
“I meant it.”
“Then why did you protect him?”
“I wasn’t protecting Aaron.”
“Then who?”
She froze.
There.
A question she hadn’t expected.
“Who were you protecting, Melanie?”
“No one.”
“You’re lying.”
She stood too.
“You’re emotional.”
“And you’re avoiding my question.”
Her phone buzzed again.
I looked at it.
She grabbed it before I could see the screen.
Too fast.
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.”
“Show me.”
Her face changed.
“Alyssa, no.”
“Show me your phone.”
“You don’t have the right.”
“You’re correct.”
I stepped backward.
“I don’t.”
Then I walked toward the door.
“Alyssa.”
I kept going.
“Alyssa, wait.”
My hand reached the handle.
Behind me, Melanie whispered, “Aaron wasn’t the one who started it.”
I stopped.
Slowly, I turned.
“What?”
She was crying now.
“Aaron and Jasmine.”
“What about them?”
“It wasn’t Aaron.”
My stomach twisted.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jasmine pursued him.”
I stared at her.
“And that somehow makes sleeping with her acceptable?”
“No.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because you don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Then explain it.”
She looked toward the windows.
Actually looked.
As if checking whether someone was outside.
That frightened me.
“Melanie?”
Her voice dropped.
“Did your father tell you anything else?”
My entire body went still.
“About what?”
“The company.”
“What company?”
“Prescott.”
I forced myself to look confused.
“No.”
She studied my face.
Then her shoulders relaxed slightly.
That was all the confirmation I needed.
She knew.
Maybe not everything.
But something.
“Why?” I asked.
“No reason.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I’m just worried.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what you’re afraid of.”
Her eyes filled with something I couldn’t identify.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Before she could answer, someone knocked on the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Melanie went white.
Not pale.
White.
“Who is that?”
She didn’t answer.
“Melanie?”
“Go upstairs.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Now.”
“Who’s outside?”
“Alyssa, please.”
The knocking came again.
Three slow knocks.
Melanie grabbed my wrist.
“You need to leave through the back.”
“What is happening?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Her voice broke.
“They weren’t supposed to know you were here.”
My blood turned cold.
“Who?”
Another knock.
Melanie whispered, “Please.”
Then a man’s voice came through the door.
“Melanie.”
I knew that voice.
But I couldn’t immediately place it.
Melanie’s eyes widened.
“Go.”
I didn’t.
The man knocked again.
“Open the door.”
Then I recognized him.
Victor Shaw.
Prescott Technologies’ chief operating officer.
Aaron’s oldest business partner.
The man who had helped build the company from its first year.
The man Aaron called his brother.
Why was Victor outside Melanie’s house?
And why was Melanie terrified of him?
She pushed me toward the hallway.
“Back door. Now.”
Instead, I stepped behind the wall separating the entryway from the living room.
Melanie stared at me.
I put one finger against my lips.
The knocking stopped.
“Melanie,” Victor called.
“I know you’re inside.”
She wiped her face.
Then she opened the door.
Victor walked in without being invited.
I could only see part of him from where I stood.
Dark suit.
Silver watch.
Black leather briefcase.
He closed the door.
“What happened?” Melanie whispered.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Alyssa contacted Whitmore.”
My heart pounded.
“I heard.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
Victor lowered his voice.
“The audit triggered a historical review.”
Melanie said nothing.
“They found the transfer.”
My fingers curled against the wall.
“What transfer?” Melanie asked.
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Don’t do that with me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The authorization under your executive account.”
Silence.
Then Melanie whispered, “You told me that was gone.”
My heart stopped.
Victor stepped closer.
“It was supposed to be.”
“You promised.”
“And you promised Alyssa would never reopen the Whitmore agreements.”
“I can’t control her.”
“You were supposed to keep her away from her father.”
My stomach turned.
Keep me away from Dad.
Suddenly memories started rearranging themselves.
Every time Dad called and I refused to answer.
Melanie had been there.
“He never respected your marriage.”
“He’s trying to control you.”
“You don’t need your family interfering.”
I had thought those were supportive words.
What if they weren’t?
“What happens now?” Melanie asked.
“We fix it.”
“How?”
Victor opened his briefcase.
Paper rustled.
“You sign this.”
“No.”
“You haven’t even read it.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Melanie.”
“No more signatures.”
My skin prickled.
More signatures?
Victor’s voice became colder.
“You knew what this was.”
“I knew what you told me.”
“And you were compensated.”
“I didn’t take that money.”
“Your account did.”
“You controlled the account.”
There it was.
I nearly stepped out.
But I forced myself to remain still.
Victor had controlled the account.
Maybe Melanie hadn’t stolen the money.
But she knew something.
“How much did you move?” she asked.
“Not your concern.”
“You used my name.”
“You gave me permission.”
“For consulting payments. Not this.”
“You signed the authorization.”
“Because you said it was temporary.”
Victor laughed.
“Temporary fraud?”
Melanie’s voice shook.
“You told me Aaron knew.”
My heart nearly stopped.
Victor became silent.
Then he said, “Aaron knows what he needs to know.”
That answer told me nothing.
And everything.
“Does Aaron know about the forged Whitmore signature?” Melanie asked.
Victor didn’t answer.
My breath caught.
There it was.
Proof.
Melanie knew about the forgery.
“How long have you known?” Victor asked.
“I found out last month.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was trying to figure out how to fix it.”
“There’s nothing to fix.”
“Alyssa could go to prison if this lands wrong.”
My blood went cold.
Me?
Victor scoffed.
“Only if someone makes it look like she authorized it.”
“You already did.”
Silence.
My knees almost weakened.
The forged signature wasn’t merely designed to steal from me.
It was designed to blame me.
Victor lowered his voice.
“And that is why you need to sign this.”
“What is it?”
“A statement confirming Alyssa instructed you to establish the account.”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I said no.”
“You’re already implicated.”
“I’ll tell her everything.”
Victor laughed.
“You think she’ll forgive you?”
Melanie didn’t answer.
“You knew about Jasmine.”
Silence.
“You helped keep Alyssa away from her father.”
Silence.
“You provided access to Whitmore documents.”
My heart shattered.
Melanie had provided access.
“You accepted payments.”
“I told you, I never touched that money.”
“Try explaining that to federal investigators.”
Melanie began crying.
“I trusted you.”
Victor’s answer came without emotion.
“That was your mistake.”
The irony almost made me laugh.
Then Victor said something that changed everything.
“We have until tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because Aaron called an emergency board meeting.”
“When?”
“Four o’clock.”
“And?”
“He’s going to blame Alyssa.”
I stopped breathing.
“For what?” Melanie asked.
“Everything.”
Victor’s voice became quieter.
“The licensing dispute. The missing funds. The compliance irregularities.”
“He can’t.”
“He can if the documents say she authorized them.”
“You said Aaron didn’t know about the forgery.”
“I said Aaron knows what he needs to know.”
Melanie went silent.
Then she whispered, “You’re setting him up too.”
Victor didn’t respond.
And suddenly I understood.
This wasn’t simply Aaron stealing from me.
It wasn’t Melanie.
It wasn’t even necessarily Jasmine.
Someone was building a structure designed to collapse.
And when it did, Aaron and I would both be standing underneath it.
I took out my phone as silently as possible.
I opened the recorder.
Then Victor said, “Sign the statement.”
“No.”
“Melanie.”
“No.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Yes, I do.”
I heard paper tear.
Victor cursed.
“You stupid—”
A crash.
Melanie screamed.
I stepped out.
“Take your hands off her.”
Both of them froze.
Victor slowly turned.
The expression on his face was something I would remember for the rest of my life.
Not shock.
Calculation.
He was calculating how much I had heard.
“Alyssa.”
I held up my phone.
“Keep talking.”
Melanie covered her mouth.
“Oh God.”
Victor’s eyes dropped to the screen.
“Are you recording?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
That smile frightened me more than anger would have.
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“Alyssa, you don’t understand what you’ve walked into.”
“I understand enough.”
“Do you?”
“You forged my signature.”
“No.”
“You moved hundreds of millions through Melanie’s account.”
His expression didn’t change.
“You intend to blame me.”
Still nothing.
“And apparently you’re planning to sacrifice my husband too.”
Victor finally smiled.
“There she is.”
“What?”
“The Whitmore daughter.”
His voice almost sounded impressed.
“I wondered when she’d come back.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you better than Aaron does.”
“Apparently everyone does.”
He stepped toward me.
I raised the phone.
“One more step and this recording goes directly to my father.”
He stopped.
“Your father can’t protect you from this.”
“You seem worried enough about him.”
“I’m trying to protect twelve thousand employees.”
“Everyone keeps using protection as an excuse today.”
“You think this is about money?”
“Two hundred and eighty-seven million dollars usually is.”
Victor laughed.
“That money is nothing.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
He glanced at Melanie.
She looked terrified.
“Tell her,” he said.
“Victor, don’t.”
“Tell me what?”
Melanie shook her head.
“Alyssa, you should leave.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Your best friend knows why those funds moved.”
“Shut up.”
“Melanie?”
She started crying again.
“I didn’t know at first.”
“Know what?”
“The patents.”
“What about them?”
“They weren’t supposed to belong to Whitmore.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Victor leaned against the table as if we were discussing ordinary business.
“The thirteen patents your father’s company transferred to Prescott Technologies?”
“Yes.”
“Ask where they came from.”
“My family acquired them from a research consortium.”
“That’s the official story.”
My pulse quickened.
“And the real one?”
Victor looked directly at me.
“They were developed by three engineers.”
“Who?”
“Two are dead.”
A chill moved through me.
“And the third?”
“Disappeared.”
I stared at him.
“What does this have to do with Aaron?”
Victor smiled.
“Everything.”
Melanie stepped forward.
“Stop.”
“No,” I said.
“Let him talk.”
Victor studied me.
“Your husband didn’t build Prescott Technologies from nothing, Alyssa.”
“I already know that.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You know your money saved it.”
He paused.
“You don’t know what created it.”
The room suddenly felt smaller.
“What created it?”
Victor looked at my phone.
“Turn off the recording.”
“No.”
“Then we’re done.”
He grabbed his briefcase.
I stepped between him and the door.
“You’re not leaving.”
“Move.”
“Tell me.”
“You really want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it destroys the story you’ve been telling yourself about your marriage?”
“That story is already dead.”
He stared at me for several seconds.
Then he laughed softly.
“Fine.”
He put the briefcase down.
“Eight years ago, before Prescott Technologies existed, Aaron and I worked for a company called Halcyon Systems.”
I knew the name.
Everyone in technology did.
Halcyon had collapsed after a catastrophic laboratory fire.
Three researchers had supposedly died.
Victor continued.
“The company was developing an architecture that would have been ten years ahead of the market.”
“The patents?”
He nodded.
“The foundation of them.”
“And Aaron stole it?”
Victor smiled.
“Ask him.”
“You were there too.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Halcyon burned.”
“I know that.”
“No, Alyssa.”
His eyes became cold.
“Halcyon was burned.”
The words hung in the room.
Melanie whispered, “Victor.”
I stared at him.
“Are you saying the fire was intentional?”
“I’m saying your husband became a billionaire using technology that officially died in that building.”
My skin turned cold.
“Who started the fire?”
Victor said nothing.
“Who started it?”
“I wasn’t inside.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
I turned to Melanie.
“You knew this?”
“Not until recently.”
“How recently?”
“Last month.”
“How?”
She looked at Victor.
“He got drunk.”
Victor rolled his eyes.
“I made one mistake.”
“No,” Melanie whispered.
“You made hundreds.”
My phone vibrated.
Dad again.
I looked down.
URGENT. CALL ME NOW.
Victor noticed.
“Something wrong?”
I ignored him and called.
Dad answered immediately.
“Alyssa, where are you?”
“With Melanie.”
“Leave.”
His voice was different.
“What happened?”
“Leave now.”
“Dad—”
“We traced the shell entities.”
I looked at Victor.
He was watching me carefully.
“And?”
“The money wasn’t stolen.”
“What?”
“Not in the way we thought.”
“Then where did it go?”
“Into acquisitions.”
“What acquisitions?”
“Companies.”
I frowned.
“What companies?”
“Small research firms. Data infrastructure. Semiconductor holdings. Defense contractors.”
My confusion deepened.
“Why?”
“Someone has been quietly building a second corporation using Prescott money.”
My eyes moved toward Victor.
He smiled.
My father continued.
“And Alyssa?”
“Yes?”
“The ownership is hidden behind multiple layers, but we broke through the first structure.”
“Who owns it?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“But?”
“There’s something else.”
My father paused.
“One of the shell companies purchased a controlling interest in Halcyon Systems’ remaining assets three years ago.”
I stopped breathing.
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Dad continued.
“Whatever is happening, it started long before Aaron’s affair.”
I looked directly at Victor.
“He knows.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
Silence.
Then Dad said, “Get away from him.”
Too late.
Victor reached into his jacket.
Melanie screamed.
I stepped backward.
But he didn’t pull out a weapon.
He pulled out a second phone.
He tapped the screen.
My phone suddenly lost signal.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing dramatic.”
He slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“Just bought us a few minutes.”
My father’s voice disappeared.
The call ended.
“Move away from the door,” Victor said.
“No.”
“Alyssa.”
“What?”
“You think Aaron is your biggest problem.”
“He isn’t.”
“Correct.”
He stepped closer.
“Neither am I.”
“Then who is?”
Victor looked at Melanie.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.
“The person who paid for Halcyon to disappear.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Liar.”
“I wish I were.”
“Then why move the money?”
“Because three years ago, someone contacted me.”
“Who?”
“They knew what happened at Halcyon.”
“What did they want?”
“The patents.”
“And?”
“I refused.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever controls those patents controls technology worth far more than Prescott.”
“How much more?”
Victor looked at me.
“Trillions.”
I almost laughed.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
He pointed toward my phone.
“Your family spent billions protecting them.”
“My family didn’t know—”
Then I stopped.
Victor smiled.
“Exactly.”
“What?”
“Maybe your father knows less than you think.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Call him and ask why Whitmore acquired thirteen patents connected to a company destroyed in a suspicious fire.”
“He would tell me.”
“Then ask him.”
My signal returned.
Immediately, my phone began ringing.
Dad.
I answered.
“Alyssa?”
“I’m here.”
“Get out of that house.”
“Dad, I need you to answer something.”
“Later.”
“No. Now.”
I looked at Victor.
“Why did Whitmore acquire the Halcyon patents?”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“Dad?”
“Where did you hear that name?”
The room became perfectly still.
“You know Halcyon.”
“Alyssa—”
“Answer me.”
“This is not a conversation we should have over the phone.”
I felt something inside me sink.
“Did you know where the patents came from?”
Another silence.
“Dad.”
“Yes.”
One word.
One devastating word.
I closed my eyes.
“How long?”
“From the beginning.”
I couldn’t speak.
Victor watched me.
Melanie covered her face.
My father continued.
“There are things you don’t understand.”
“Then explain them.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When you’re somewhere safe.”
“Was the Halcyon fire intentional?”
My father didn’t answer.
“Dad?”
“I need you to listen carefully.”
“Was it intentional?”
“Alyssa, leave Melanie’s house.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor Shaw is not who you think he is.”
Victor laughed softly.
My father heard it.
His voice changed instantly.
“He’s there?”
“Yes.”
“Get away from him.”
Victor stepped toward me.
I backed away.
Then my father said something that made Victor stop.
“Alyssa, ask Victor what his real last name is.”
Victor’s face went blank.
I stared at him.
“What?”
Dad repeated it.
“Ask him.”
I lowered the phone slightly.
“Victor.”
He didn’t move.
“What is your real last name?”
Melanie looked confused.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t.”
“Victor Shaw isn’t your real name?”
He said nothing.
My father’s voice came through the phone.
“No.”
“Then who is he?”
“Alyssa, Victor Shaw died eight years ago.”
Every hair on my arms rose.
I stared at the man standing ten feet away.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
My father’s voice trembled.
“The real Victor Shaw was one of the researchers officially killed in the Halcyon fire.”
I looked at Victor.
He wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Then who is standing in front of me?”
My father exhaled.
And when he answered, even Victor closed his eyes.
“His name is Adrian Vale.”
Melanie whispered, “Who?”
I didn’t know.
But apparently my father did.
“Dad?”
“Alyssa, Adrian Vale was the third Halcyon engineer.”
The missing one.
The room seemed to tilt.
I stared at the man Aaron had called his oldest friend for nearly a decade.
“You survived the fire.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You took a dead man’s identity.”
Nothing.
“You helped Aaron build Prescott.”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because I needed Aaron alive.”
My blood went cold.
“For what?”
Before Adrian could answer, my father shouted through the phone.
“Alyssa, GET OUT.”
A violent explosion of glass came from the back of the townhouse.
Melanie screamed.
I dropped behind the kitchen island as the windows shattered inward.
The alarm began shrieking.
Adrian grabbed my arm and pulled me down.
“Stay low!”
“What was that?”
“They found us.”
“WHO?”
Another crash came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Not one person.
Several.
Adrian reached inside his briefcase and pulled out a small encrypted drive.
He shoved it into my hand.
“What is this?”
“The truth.”
“About what?”
“Halcyon.”
My fingers closed around it.
“If I don’t get out, give that to your father.”
“Adrian—”
“Do not give it to Aaron.”
“Why?”
His face changed.
Because for the first time, I saw something beneath the deception.
Grief.
“Because Aaron already knows what happened the night Halcyon burned.”
My heart stopped.
Footsteps thundered above us.
Melanie grabbed my hand.
Adrian moved toward the hallway.
I whispered, “Did Aaron start the fire?”
He looked back at me.
And the answer in his eyes terrified me.
But before he could speak, my phone vibrated.
A message.
From Aaron.
I looked down.
ALYSSA, DO NOT TRUST VICTOR. GET OUT OF MELANIE’S HOUSE NOW.
Then a second message arrived.
HE IS THE MAN WHO KILLED YOUR BROTHER.
I stopped breathing.
My brother.
Nathan.
The older brother my family had buried nine years ago after what I had always been told was a highway accident.
I slowly raised my eyes toward Adrian.
He saw the message on my face.
“Alyssa.”
I backed away from him.
“What did you do to Nathan?”
His expression collapsed.
“Listen to me.”
“What did you do to my brother?”
“Alyssa, Aaron is lying.”
“ANSWER ME!”
Adrian stared at me.
Then he said the one thing I never expected.
“Nathan didn’t die in a car accident.”
My entire body went numb.
“What?”
“He was at Halcyon.”
“No.”
“He was there the night of the fire.”
“That’s impossible. Nathan died almost a year before Halcyon burned.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No, Alyssa.”
His next words shattered everything I thought I knew about my family.
“That’s when your father told you Nathan died.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Adrian pointed toward the encrypted drive in my hand.
“But your brother lived for eleven more months.”
The footsteps upstairs stopped.
Complete silence.
Then Adrian whispered, “And if you want to know who really killed Nathan, don’t ask me.”
He looked toward my phone.
“Ask your husband why Nathan’s blood was found inside Aaron Prescott’s car the morning after the Halcyon fire.”
TO BE CONTINUED — PART 4: THE NIGHT MY BROTHER REALLY DIED
One Comment on “PART 3: My CEO husband took the whole company on a private-jet trip. His secretary took my seat, and he let it happen. I smiled and got off. The crew bowed: “Ma’am, should we cancel the flight?” Seconds later, I made him lose face—and everything…”