Chapter 14 - The Fall He Planned
Matthew’s arm tightened around my neck.
The edge of the unfinished floor was less than three feet away.
Wind tore at my clothes.
Below us, traffic moved through Manhattan like lines of light.
This was the fall Victor had described in his email.
A tragic death from a tower.
A grieving husband.
A two-hundred-million-dollar insurance payment.
Matthew pressed his mouth near my ear.
“You should have stayed grateful.”
I drove my cast into his injured hand.
He screamed.
The cane fell.
I twisted away, but my shoe slid across loose gravel.
My body tipped backward.
For one endless second, there was nothing behind me.
Then a hand closed around my wrist.
Lauren lay on the concrete, holding me with both arms.
Her injured shoulder shook.
“Do not let go,” she cried.
Matthew stepped toward her.
Detective Ruiz fired.
The bullet struck the concrete beside his foot.
“Move again and the next one does not miss.”
Agents surrounded him.
Marcus and another officer pulled me away from the edge.
Lauren collapsed beside Sophie.
The child clung to her.
Victor had escaped through the construction elevator.
The transmitter showed him descending toward the basement.
Agents followed.
They found the elevator empty.
A maintenance tunnel led to a neighboring subway station.
Victor had planned every route.
Matthew was handcuffed.
Even then, he smiled at me.
“You think this ends with me?”
“It ends with you in a cell.”
“No.”
He nodded toward the server.
“When those files reach the government, your father loses everything.”
Federal agents collected the machine.
Sophie was taken to the hospital with Lauren.
Before leaving, the child looked back at me.
“Are you her friend?”
I looked at Lauren.
“No.”
The answer hurt her.
“But I am not her enemy.”
Sophie considered this and nodded.
At sunrise, news organizations published the NexusCore files.
The stolen government data became public.
So did the forged documents, offshore transfers, and Arcadia conspiracy.
NexusCore’s board suspended Matthew unanimously.
Samuel resigned and entered federal custody.
Arcadia denied knowledge of the illegal plan.
Its chief executive was arrested three hours later.
Sterling Capital’s stock fell eighteen percent.
Federal regulators entered my father’s headquarters.
He stood beside me as agents carried boxes from the building.
“I can separate your name from mine,” he said.
“No.”
“Clare, Victor used Sterling accounts.”
“So we tell the truth.”
“The truth may destroy everything.”
I looked at the twenty fading marks across my body.
“Then we build something that deserves to survive.”
My father surrendered temporary control of Sterling Capital.
That evening, he received a video call.
Victor appeared inside a dark room.
Behind him stood my mother.
This time, she was not restrained.
She looked directly into the camera.
May you like
“Adrian,” she said calmly.
“Do not believe anything I am about to tell you.”
