Chapter 39 - The Final Loose End|
Life settled into a beautiful, predictable rhythm. Natalie spent her days managing the massive legitimate corporation she had built from the ashes of her father’s enemies, and her evenings wrapped in Ethan’s arms. They set a date for the wedding. A small, private ceremony on the coast.
One rainy Tuesday evening, Ethan ran out to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. Natalie was in his home office, looking for a specific tax document they needed for the wedding venue.
She opened his desk drawer, shuffling through files, when her hand brushed against a false bottom.
She frowned. She tapped the wood, feeling a hollow space beneath it. Using a letter opener, she pried the thin wooden panel up. Beneath it lay a sleek, silver encrypted hard drive.
Natalie’s breath caught. No more lies, he had promised.
She told herself it was probably old syndicate files he had kept for security. But the ruthless CEO inside her, the woman who had brought down Victor Thorne, refused to be ignorant. She plugged the hard drive into her laptop. A password prompt appeared.
She tried Ethan’s birthday. Incorrect. She tried their anniversary. Incorrect.
On a hunch, she typed in her adoptive father’s name: Arthur Vance.
The drive unlocked.
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Natalie’s eyes widened as folders populated the screen. They weren't old syndicate files. They were surveillance logs. Thousands of photos of Natalie, dating back ten years. Long before Silas had allegedly "hired" Ethan to protect her. There were photos of her in high school, in college, at her first job.
Her hands trembling, she clicked on a master document titled Operation: Heir.
