Chapter 6 - THE DOCUMENTS BENEATH THE FLOOR
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The next morning, Nora met Bianca in a crowded hotel café.
Holly sat two tables away.
Marcus Hale, the private investigator, waited outside.
Bianca arrived wearing a cream coat and oversized sunglasses. She looked around the room before sitting down.
“You brought an audience,” she said.
“I brought witnesses.”
Bianca gave a small laugh.
“Still the responsible one.”
“What do you have?”
Bianca placed a flash drive on the table.
“Original financial correspondence. Emails between Camden, Gideon, and your grandfather.”
Nora did not touch it.
“Why give it to me?”
“Because Camden is preparing to sacrifice me.”
“You helped him.”
“I did.”
“You helped him remove my name from the company.”
“I did.”
“You helped him deceive me.”
Bianca looked down.
“I didn't think he'd keep doing it.”
Nora almost laughed.
“That's your defense?”
“No. It's the truth.”
Bianca leaned forward.
“Camden told me you were an orphan with no family, no money, and no claim to anything. He said your marriage was a convenient arrangement.”
“And you believed him?”
“I didn't care whether it was true.”
At least she was honest.
Nora glanced at the flash drive.
“What changed?”
“Camden promised me a future. He said once the baby was born, he'd make you sign the necessary documents and we'd be free to live openly.”
Nora's stomach tightened.
“What documents?”
“An assignment of your trust rights. A guardianship agreement. Something that would give him control over the inheritance.”
Nora stared at her.
“He wanted me to sign away my child's future?”
Bianca nodded.
“That's why I'm giving you this.”
Holly approached the table.
“I'm taking the drive.”
Bianca pulled it back.
“Not until I have protection.”
Holly sat down.
“You'll have to cooperate through counsel. No one can promise immunity in a café.”
Bianca looked at Nora.
“I can give you something else.”
“What?”
“The location of the original records.”
Nora frowned.
“Which records?”
“The original Breakwater incorporation documents. The ones with your signature. Camden kept them after he removed your name from the filings.”
“Where?”
“In a storage room beneath the first warehouse.”
Nora remembered the building.
It had been converted into a private distribution center years earlier.
“Why keep them?”
“Because he thought he might need them if the Whitmore trust ever challenged his ownership.”
Holly stood.
“We'll verify the location.”
Bianca leaned closer to Nora.
“There's something else.”
Nora waited.
“Camden has been telling people you have a history of mental instability. He plans to use your pregnancy to challenge your ability to manage the trust.”
Nora's expression hardened.
“He can try.”
“He's already spoken to two board members.”
Holly's phone vibrated.
She read the message and looked up.
“That's interesting.”
“What?”
“Camden has called an emergency board meeting for tomorrow. He's proposing a merger with Northstar Holdings.”
Nora looked at Bianca.
“Your brother's company?”
Bianca nodded.
“That's the plan.”
Nora understood.
If the merger went through, Camden could dilute the Whitmore trust's ownership before the family could intervene.
Holly gathered her things.
“Then we need those original records tonight.”
As they stood, Bianca caught Nora's wrist.
“Don't trust Camden's uncle.”
Nora pulled her hand away.
“Why?”
May you like
Bianca looked toward the door.
“Because Gideon is the reason your mother disappeared.”
