Chapter 9 - What Adrian Needed Gone
James finally agreed to speak through an encrypted video call.
His face appeared on Emily’s laptop.
“You two look strange together.”
Ryan did not smile.
“Tell us what happened.”
James glanced over his shoulder.
“Adrian discovered the investigation three days before your divorce filing.”
Emily’s hands tightened.
“How?”
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I contacted one of the shell companies directly.”
Ryan leaned closer.
“Meridian?”
James nodded.
“The registered officer called Harrison Energy.”
“And Adrian answered,” Emily said.
“Yes.”
James looked ashamed.
“He offered me money.”
Ryan’s face hardened.
“How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
“Did you take it?”
“No.”
“Then why disappear?”
James looked at Emily.
“Because he threatened my daughter.”
Silence.
James continued.
“He knew her school.”
“Her schedule.”
“Her medical history.”
“I had no idea what he was capable of.”
Emily’s anger faded into horror.
“So you left.”
“Yes.”
“And you never warned me.”
“I tried.”
Emily stared.
“When?”
“I sent a package to your apartment.”
“I never received it.”
James closed his eyes.
“Then he intercepted that too.”
Ryan stood and paced.
“What was Adrian stealing?”
“Not just money.”
James opened a file.
“Patents.”
Emily froze.
James continued.
“Adrian created subsidiaries that licensed technologies developed by Harrison Energy researchers.”
“Then he redirected royalty payments through Meridian.”
Emily whispered.
“My filtration membranes.”
“Yes.”
Ryan turned.
Those membranes had become the foundation of several products.
Emily had developed the original process.
James continued.
“Emily’s name was supposed to be listed as co-inventor on three major patents.”
Ryan stared at Emily.
She looked equally shocked.
“I was removed?”
“Your signature was forged.”
Ryan stopped moving.
“How much did Adrian make?”
“At least sixty million.”
James paused.
“Probably more.”
Emily suddenly understood.
“This is why he needed me gone.”
James nodded.
“You were the only person inside Harrison Energy reviewing research attribution and licensing records.”
Ryan’s face twisted with guilt.
“And I helped him.”
Nobody corrected him.
James leaned toward the camera.
“There’s something else.”
Ryan looked up.
“The divorce wasn’t Plan A.”
Emily’s pulse quickened.
“What was?”
James hesitated.
“Adrian originally planned to convince Ryan that you were leaking technology to a competitor.”
Ryan frowned.
“Corporate espionage.”
“Yes.”
“But when he discovered the messages between you and Emily, jealousy was easier.”
James looked at Ryan.
“He knew you.”
The sentence landed brutally.
Adrian had not merely forged evidence.
He had weaponized Ryan’s greatest weakness.
His fear of betrayal.
James continued.
“And there’s one more file you need to see.”
He uploaded a document.
Emily opened it.
The title read:
PARKER MATERNITY COMMUNICATION.
Ryan stopped breathing.
The date was five years earlier.
Three days after Emily sent the pregnancy letter.
Adrian had not only received it.
He had scanned it.
Saved it.
May you like
And marked it with a single instruction.
DO NOT FORWARD TO R.H.
