Chapter 8 - Suite 1804
Police reached Regency Tower before Emily.
That did not stop her from going.
Daniel protested.
Nathaniel protested louder.
Even the doctor threatened to have security stop her.
Emily left anyway.
“This woman helped destroy our father,” Nathaniel said in the elevator.
“And she may know where your daughter is.”
That ended the argument.
Suite 1804 was open when they arrived.
Two detectives stood outside.
The room had been torn apart.
Cushions ripped open.
Drawers emptied.
A television shattered.
No Vanessa.
No body.
No obvious blood.
One detective approached.
“Mrs. Harrington?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know Ms. Caldwell?”
Emily almost laughed.
“She was wearing my jewelry while my husband forced me to clean her shoes three hours ago.”
The detective blinked.
“That’s complicated.”
“You have no idea.”
Nathaniel moved toward the bedroom.
A detective stopped him.
“Sir.”
“My daughter was kidnapped.”
The officer recognized the name from the alert.
He stepped aside.
Emily entered the bedroom.
Vanessa’s suitcase lay open.
Clothing everywhere.
Emily noticed something.
“Her passport is gone.”
Daniel looked around.
“So is her purse.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“She might have left voluntarily.”
Emily remembered the scream.
“No.”
Then she saw a silver heel beneath the bed.
The same shoes Vanessa had worn at the ballroom.
Emily crouched carefully.
Something was inside the shoe.
A memory card.
Daniel stared.
“She hid it.”
Michael arrived ten minutes later with a laptop.
They inserted the card.
Twenty-three files appeared.
Most were audio recordings.
One was video.
Emily clicked it.
Dr. Bell appeared on screen.
He was sitting inside an office.
The date showed six weeks earlier.
Vanessa’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Say it again.”
Bell looked terrified.
“Preston knows Arthur’s medication is being increased.”
Emily stopped breathing.
Bell continued.
“Margaret arranged the prescriptions.”
“Lawson handled access to the house.”
“What about Arthur?”
“He figured it out.”
“When?”
“February.”
“And then?”
“He threatened to go to federal authorities.”
Vanessa asked,
“What did Preston say?”
Bell looked away.
“He said Arthur wouldn’t live long enough.”
Emily paused the video.
Nathaniel walked away.
His fists were clenched.
Daniel looked sick.
Emily forced herself to continue.
Vanessa asked another question.
“What about Emily?”
Bell closed his eyes.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What wasn’t?”
“The pregnancy.”
Emily’s hand went instinctively to her stomach.
Bell continued.
“Preston had been preparing to leave her.”
“But then Arthur changed Meridian.”
“He learned a grandchild was coming.”
“He changed the trust.”
Emily whispered,
“How?”
Daniel looked confused.
“I don’t know.”
Bell continued.
“The child becomes the primary successor.”
Nathaniel stared.
Emily turned to Daniel.
“You said I owned seventy percent.”
“You do.”
“But after my child is born?”
Daniel suddenly understood.
He opened the trust documents.
His face changed.
“Arthur amended it.”
“What does it say?”
Daniel read silently.
Then looked at Emily.
“Your child receives controlling succession rights.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“Meaning?”
“If Emily dies after the child is born, Preston does not control Meridian.”
“The child does.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“So the forged spousal clause became useless.”
“Yes.”
Nathaniel looked back at the screen.
“Unless the baby never inherits.”
The room became silent.
Emily felt cold.
They resumed the video.
Vanessa’s voice trembled.
“Does Preston know?”
Bell nodded.
“Yes.”
“What is he going to do?”
Bell looked directly into the camera.
“I don’t know.”
Then he whispered,
“But he asked me what happens legally if a baby is born and the mother is declared incompetent.”
Emily shut the laptop.
Enough.
Nathaniel stared at her.
“We need protection around you twenty-four hours a day.”
Emily nodded.
For once, she did not argue.
Michael examined the other files.
“There are bank records.”
“Medical records.”
“Messages.”
“This could be enough.”
“For what?”
“To have Preston arrested.”
Emily looked at him.
“Then do it.”
Michael called the detective.
While he spoke, Emily walked toward the window.
City lights stretched below.
Her husband had spent months planning to strip away her credibility.
Her inheritance.
Possibly her freedom.
And maybe worse.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A video call.
Emily answered.
Preston appeared.
Behind him was darkness.
“You look tired,” he said.
Emily’s face remained still.
“You look unemployed.”
His smile disappeared.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
“I think it’s over.”
“You have Bell’s files.”
Emily did not answer.
“That was Vanessa’s insurance policy.”
“Where is she?”
“Not with me.”
“Where is Sophie?”
Preston smiled faintly.
“Closer than you think.”
Nathaniel heard him.
He stepped toward the phone.
“If you hurt my daughter—”
Preston’s eyes changed.
“Nathaniel.”
“So the forgotten son finally came home.”
“Where is Sophie?”
“You have something I want.”
Nathaniel held up page forty-seven.
“Here.”
Preston smiled.
“Good.”
“Release her.”
“Tomorrow.”
“No.”
“Tomorrow at noon.”
“Where?”
Preston leaned toward the camera.
“The Harrington Global boardroom.”
Emily frowned.
“You want to meet in the company?”
“I want the board present.”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow, Emily, you’re going to return everything you stole from me.”
She almost laughed.
“I inherited it.”
“You’ll sign control back to me.”
“And if I don’t?”
Preston’s smile returned.
A second camera angle appeared.
Sophie was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Terrified.
Emily heard Nathaniel stop breathing.
Preston spoke softly.
May you like
“Then your brother learns what losing family feels like twice.”
The call ended.
