Chapter 37: Seven Days to Recover

I didn't leave the bank immediately.

The burned photograph remained between my fingers while Nathaniel's letter lay open beside it.

"Damien was chosen because of you."

The sentence refused to leave my mind.

Nothing about my marriage had been ordinary.

I once believed it was love.

Then I believed it was punishment.

Now I wasn't sure it had ever been either.

The bank manager knocked gently on the vault door.

"Mrs. Clarke?"

I looked up.

He smiled apologetically.

"We're closing in fifteen minutes."

"Of course."

I returned the notebook and photograph to my handbag.

The emerald ring stayed in my coat pocket.

It belonged with me now.

Outside, dusk had settled over the city.

Instead of driving back to Verline, I headed toward the cemetery.

Nathaniel's grave overlooked a quiet hill covered in cedar trees.

Fresh flowers already rested against the headstone.

White lilies.

Someone had visited before me.

"You're not the only one who misses him."

The voice came from behind.

I turned.

Elias stood several metres away with his hands buried inside his coat pockets.

"You still come here," I said.

"Every month."

"Sometimes every week."

He walked closer.

"Rose told me you might be here."

"She shouldn't have."

"She was worried."

Neither of us spoke for a while.

The wind carried the scent of damp earth through the cemetery.

"You look exhausted," Elias finally said.

"I found something today."

"About Nathaniel?"

I nodded.

"Enough to know we've all been looking in the wrong direction."

"Does it clear Damien?"

"I don't know."

"Does it condemn him?"

"I don't know that either."

Elias sighed.

"You're beginning to sound like Nathaniel."

"He never accepted easy answers."

"Neither should I."

I placed my hand against the cold granite.

"I owe him better than assumptions."

"Then promise me something."

"What?"

"Don't investigate alone anymore."

"The people behind this already killed once."

"I can handle myself."

"Vivian."

His voice hardened.

"You're carrying pieces of evidence that people have been hunting for three years."

"You're not just investigating anymore."

"You're the investigation."

I looked at Nathaniel's name carved into the stone.

He was right.

Whether I liked it or not.

My phone rang.

Damien.

I ignored it.

Seconds later another message appeared.

"Your lawyer called."

"The board meeting has been moved forward."

"Seven days."

"Be careful."

Only seven days remained before Ashford Holdings voted on its new executive structure.

Seven days before the investigation surrounding Richard Hawthorne became public.

Seven days before everything changed.

The following morning Verline officially reopened.

Employees returned to workshops that had remained silent for nearly a year.

Machines hummed.

Polishing wheels spun.

Sketches covered every drafting table.

For the first time since my marriage, the building felt alive.

Rose entered my office carrying the morning schedule.

"Three suppliers have agreed to return."

"Excellent."

"The press also requested interviews."

"Decline them."

"Not yet."

"And there's one more thing."

She placed a medical envelope on my desk.

"It arrived by courier."

The sender was Dr. Farrow's Clinic.

Inside was a single appointment confirmation.

Recovery Assessment.

Tomorrow.

Nine o'clock.

No explanation.

Only Dr. Farrow's personal signature.

"I never booked this," I murmured.

"Perhaps the doctor did," Rose suggested.

Before I could answer, another knock sounded.

Victor Hayes entered without ceremony.

"We have a problem," he said.

"Someone accessed Hawthorne Logistics' old servers last night."

"Did they find anything?"

"No."

"Because someone erased everything before they arrived."

"Who?"

"We're still tracing it."

"But that's not the urgent part."

He handed me another document.

"Richard Hawthorne has requested an emergency board session."

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"That's impossible."

"The official meeting is next week."

"He moved it."

"Can he do that?"

"With enough proxy votes... yes."

"Why now?"

"Because he knows you're getting closer."

Victor lowered his voice.

"Someone informed him."

"Someone inside our circle."

"Rose?"

"No."

"I trust her."

"Then Elias?"

"He wouldn't."

"Damien?"

Victor didn't answer immediately.

"I honestly don't know anymore."

Silence settled over the office.

Finally he pointed toward Nathaniel's notebook.

"You have seven days."

"Recover every missing page."

"Recover every missing recording."

"Recover every missing witness."

"Because after that..."

"They'll stop hiding."

After Victor left, I opened Nathaniel's black notebook again.

A loose page slipped from the back cover.

I was certain it hadn't been there before.

On the folded sheet someone had written only one sentence in fresh blue ink.

"Meet me where your brother made his last phone call."