"What?"
"I met her once."
"When?"
"Twenty-eight years ago."
Victoria looked toward the fireplace.
"I was young. My father had just taken control of Carrington Holdings. Eleanor came to our house."
"Why?"
"She wanted my help."
Naomi stared at her.
"Did you help her?"
Victoria closed her eyes.
"No."
The answer was almost a whisper.
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid of my father."
Naomi said nothing.
Victoria continued.
"I regret it."
Naomi looked at the woman standing before her.
For the first time, she saw something behind the expensive clothes and controlled expression.
Regret.
Real regret.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because if you're going to expose what happened, you need to know that the truth is more complicated than one villain and one victim."
Naomi nodded slowly.
"I understand."
She walked out.
Evan remained in the library.
Richard closed the door.
Victoria turned toward her son.
"You don't understand what you've done."
Evan looked at her.
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You don't."
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
"That invitation wasn't just cruel."
"What do you mean?"
"It brought her here."
Evan stared at her.
"Exactly."
Richard opened the folder again.
"There are people who have spent decades making sure these documents remain hidden."
Evan looked at him.
"Who?"
Richard hesitated.
"Some of them are still alive."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"Who?" Evan repeated.
Richard finally answered.
"Members of the Carrington board."
Evan's expression hardened.
"They knew?"
"Some of them."
"How many?"
"Enough."
Evan looked toward the door through which Naomi had disappeared.
Suddenly the gala seemed meaningless.
The champagne.
The investors.
The photographs.
The laughter.
Everything had changed.
His cruel joke had accidentally brought a buried family secret into the light.
But there was another problem.
The trust was not the only thing Eleanor had left behind.
Richard removed a second envelope.
"This was found inside a safety deposit box three weeks ago."
Evan stared at it.
"What's inside?"
Richard's voice became quiet.
"Evidence that someone tried to kill Eleanor's case."
Victoria froze.
"Who?"
Richard looked at both of them.
"I don't know."
Evan reached for the envelope.
Richard stopped him.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because whoever hid these documents may still be watching."
At that exact moment, the library lights flickered.
Everyone looked toward the door.
A shadow passed beneath it.
Evan moved immediately.
He opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
But at the far end, one of the ballroom doors was slowly closing.
Evan ran.
Richard followed.
Victoria remained behind.
Inside the ballroom, guests were still talking.
Nobody seemed to notice anything unusual.
Except Naomi.
She stood near the entrance.
And in her hand was the letter from her grandmother.
Her eyes were fixed on a man across the room.
A man who had been watching her since she arrived.
When he noticed Naomi looking at him, he turned away.
Naomi recognized him.
He had been sitting at Evan's table earlier.
One of Evan's closest business partners.
Daniel Mercer.
The man smiled.
But there was no warmth in it.
Only warning.
Chapter 6
Naomi had learned a long time ago that danger rarely announced itself.
It appeared quietly.
A strange look.
A phone call that ended too quickly.
A door that was suddenly locked.
A person who knew something they shouldn't.
She watched Daniel Mercer leave the ballroom.
Her instincts told her to follow him.
Instead, she stayed where she was.
She needed to think.
Everything had happened too quickly.
Three hours earlier, she had been a cleaner attending a gala because someone wanted to embarrass her.
Now she was apparently the heir to a forgotten fortune, the granddaughter of a woman who had once challenged the Carrington empire, and the owner of documents that powerful people wanted to keep hidden.
It was too much.
She needed one thing.
The truth.
Evan returned a few minutes later.
"He's gone."
Naomi looked at him.
"Daniel?"
Evan nodded.
"Do you trust him?"
Evan hesitated.
"I used to."
"That's not an answer."
"No."
Naomi nodded.
"Then we have a problem."
Evan looked at her.
"Yes."
They moved to a quieter corner of the ballroom.
Evan lowered his voice.
"Richard thinks someone knew about the documents."
"Someone inside your company?"
"Possibly."
"Who has access?"
"Board members. Senior attorneys. Family members."
"Your mother?"
"She knew about Eleanor."
"But did she know about the trust?"
Evan shook his head.
"No."
Naomi looked at the letter.
"My grandmother said the trust would activate when I turned thirty."
"That means someone deliberately kept you away from it."
"Exactly."
Evan was silent.
Naomi studied him.
"Why did you invite me?"
He looked embarrassed.
"I told you."
"No. I want the real answer."
He exhaled.
"My friends were joking."
"And you joined them."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked at her.
"Because I wanted to prove I could make you uncomfortable."
Naomi frowned.
"Why did you care?"
Evan didn't answer immediately.
Finally, he said, "Because you never looked impressed by me."
Naomi almost laughed.
"That bothered you?"
"More than it should have."
She shook her head.
"You're unbelievable."
"I know."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Evan said something unexpected.
"You were the only person in the building who never treated me like a billionaire."
Naomi looked at him.
"Maybe because you were never my billionaire."
He smiled faintly.
"Fair enough."
Then his expression became serious again.
"I want to help you find out what happened to your grandmother."
Naomi hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because I owe you."
"No."
"Naomi—"
"I don't want your guilt."
He fell silent.
"I want facts."
Evan nodded.
"Then facts."
They returned to the library.
Richard had spread documents across the desk.
There were contracts.
Bank statements.
Old legal letters.
Copies of patents.
Photographs.
Naomi picked up one photograph.
Her grandmother stood beside a younger Jonathan Carrington.
They were smiling.
Naomi had never seen the picture before.
On the back was a handwritten date.
June 14.
Beneath it were six words.
The day we changed everything.
Naomi stared at it.
"What happened that day?"
Richard pointed to another document.
"The original agreement was signed."
She read it.
The agreement established Brooks Systems as an independent company.
Eleanor owned fifty-one percent.
Carrington Holdings owned forty-nine percent.
But several years later, the ownership had been reversed.
"How?"
Richard pointed to a signature.
"Forgery."
Naomi froze.
"What?"
"Eleanor never signed this transfer."