Chapter 44: Two Things on the Table

I read the anonymous letter twice.

The wording was simple.

No signature.

No fingerprints.

Just one clear message.

"Accept Paris."

"Leave the country."

"Or you'll die exactly like your brother."

I folded the page neatly.

Fear would only cloud my judgment.

Whoever sent it had made one mistake.

Threats only appeared when someone was running out of options.

I placed the letter inside a transparent evidence sleeve.

Then I called Victor Hayes.

"Don't touch anything else," he said after listening quietly.

"I'm already on my way."

Twenty minutes later he arrived with Arthur Collins.

Arthur photographed the paper from every angle.

"No prints," he muttered.

"Gloves."

"Professional."

Victor examined the paper beneath a portable light.

"Office-grade stock."

"Common printer ink."

"Nothing obvious."

"But the wording tells us enough."

"Meaning?" I asked.

"They're afraid of what happens if you stay."

"Which means we're hurting them."

Before anyone could continue, Rose knocked gently.

"Mr. Ashford asked if everyone could meet in the conference room."

"He says it's urgent."

Victor exchanged a glance with me.

"Let's hear him out."

Five minutes later we entered the conference room.

Damien was already waiting.

His laptop projected dozens of financial records onto the large screen.

His tie had been loosened.

Dark circles rested beneath his eyes.

He looked as though he hadn't slept.

"I found something," he said.

"Actually... two things."

Victor closed the door.

"Show us."

Damien enlarged a spreadsheet.

"After Nathaniel's recording, I ordered a complete audit of executive authorisations."

"Most transactions matched company policy."

"Except one account."

He highlighted a series of transfers.

"Every payment eventually disappeared into Raven Capital."

"Through Hawthorne Logistics," Victor observed.

"Exactly."

"But that's not the interesting part."

Damien opened another document.

"Every transfer required my digital approval."

"Except... I never approved them."

"Someone cloned your credentials," Victor concluded.

"Years ago."

"Which means Nathaniel was right," I whispered.

"Someone inside your company was using your name."

Damien nodded slowly.

"And I never noticed."

"Because they wanted you looking somewhere else," Victor replied.

"At me," I finished.

Nobody argued.

The silence itself became the answer.

Damien switched to the second file.

"This is the other thing."

A personnel record appeared.

"Colette Martin."

"Employment history."

"She joined the estate eighteen months ago."

"Except... she lied."

"About what?" Rose asked.

"Everything."

He enlarged the application form.

"The references don't exist."

"The address belonged to an empty building."

"Even her previous employer is fictional."

"Someone created an entirely new identity."

Victor leaned closer.

"Who authorised her hiring?"

Damien's jaw tightened.

"I did."

"Based on a recommendation letter."

"From whom?"

He hesitated.

"My mother."

The room became perfectly still.

"Eleanor?" Rose whispered.

"She said Colette had worked for friends overseas."

"I never questioned it."

"Have you confronted her?" Victor asked.

"Not yet."

"Don't," Victor replied immediately.

"If Eleanor is innocent, warning her helps no one."

"If she isn't... she'll destroy evidence before sunrise."

Damien slowly nodded.

"Understood."

My phone vibrated.

A new email.

Maison Étoile.

The employment contract had arrived.

I opened it quietly.

Three years.

A private design studio.

Creative ownership.

A salary that would allow Verline to expand internationally.

Everything I had dreamed about before marriage.

Damien noticed the email.

"Paris?"

"Yes."

"Have you decided?"

"Not yet."

"Good," Victor interrupted.

"Because none of us are deciding anything until this case ends."

He removed the anonymous threat from his briefcase.

Then he placed it carefully onto the centre of the conference table.

"Now," he said.

"I'll add something beside it."

From another folder he removed Nathaniel's final photograph.

The one Arthur Collins had hidden for three years.

Victor placed it beside the threatening letter.

Two objects.

Side by side.

One represented the past.

The other threatened the future.

"Look carefully," Victor said.

"These are the two things our enemies fear most."

Damien frowned.

"A photograph and a letter?"

"No."

"Truth..." Victor said, tapping Nathaniel's picture.

"...and survival."

His finger moved onto the anonymous threat.

"The photograph proves someone lied."

"The letter proves they're still lying."

"Both together create motive."

I looked from one item to the other.

For the first time the entire investigation seemed connected.

Nathaniel.

The shell companies.

My stolen designs.

Colette.

Raven Capital.

Every path led toward the same hidden figure.

Someone powerful enough to manipulate companies.

Police.

Media.

Even the Ashford family itself.

"Victor," I asked quietly.

"If we know all this... why haven't they attacked again?"

He didn't answer immediately.

Instead he looked directly at Damien.

"Because until now..."

"They believed the two of you would destroy each other."

"Now you've stopped."

"Which means they'll have to do it themselves."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

Then every light inside Verline suddenly went out.

Darkness swallowed the conference room.

Only the emergency exit signs remained glowing red.

Somewhere downstairs...

A woman screamed.