Chapter 3 - THE NAME ON THE OLD WATCH
“Who is Columbus?”
Daniel asked.
Eleanor didn't answer.
Neither did Martin.
I looked from one face to another.
The name meant nothing to me.
But the reaction did.
Whatever Columbus was, it wasn't a person people forgot.
Daniel unfolded the paper again.
“Why would my father write this?”
Martin sighed.
“Because he believed Columbus was where the money trail began.”
Daniel looked at me.
“You know something.”
“I don't.”
Eleanor suddenly laughed bitterly.
“You still don't understand.”
Daniel turned.
“Understand what?”
“Rachel wasn't involved because she stole anything.”
I froze.
Eleanor looked at me.
“She was involved because she accidentally found something.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did I find?”
“You accessed an old financial archive.”
“I accessed files for my job.”
“You found the Columbus account.”
I shook my head.
“I've never heard of it.”
“You wouldn't remember the name.”
Eleanor's voice was quieter now.
“It wasn't labeled Columbus in the system.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Then what was it?”
Eleanor glanced at Martin.
He answered.
“Project Columbus.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What was Project Columbus?”
Martin looked toward the guests.
“Not here.”
Daniel nodded.
He turned toward the crowd.
“The wedding is postponed.”
A wave of whispers moved through the room.
“No photographs,” Daniel added. “No statements. Everyone leaves quietly.”
His security team began guiding people toward the exits.
I took Betty and Mia's hands.
Daniel walked beside us.
Amanda stood near the doorway.
She looked devastated but composed.
“I'll call you tomorrow,” she told him.
Daniel nodded.
Then we left the ballroom together.
For the first time in eight years, I walked beside my former husband.
And for the first time, he walked beside his daughters.
The private estate had a smaller library off the main hall.
Daniel took us there.
Mia immediately noticed the fireplace.
“Is that real?”
Daniel smiled.
“Yes.”
“Can we have one?”
“No.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because our apartment would burn down.”
She laughed.
Betty didn't.
She was watching Eleanor.
I was too.
Eleanor entered last.
Martin followed.
Daniel closed the door.
“Start talking.”
Eleanor sat down.
For several seconds, she stared at her hands.
Then she said,
“Your father wasn't the man you thought he was.”
Daniel's expression tightened.
“I already knew he made mistakes.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“He built Harden Systems using money that didn't originally belong to him.”
Daniel said nothing.
Martin continued.
“Twenty years ago, your father partnered with a group of investors through a private fund.”
“What kind of investors?”
“People who didn't want their names attached to technology companies.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Criminals?”
“Some were legitimate.”
Martin paused.
“Some were not.”
I felt a chill.
Eleanor spoke.
“Your father eventually tried to separate the company from them.”
“And Project Columbus?”
“Was the mechanism.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Explain.”
“Your father moved assets through a network of shell companies.”
Martin corrected her.
“Not just shell companies. Charitable foundations, foreign subsidiaries, consulting firms.”
Daniel looked sick.
“How much?”
Martin named a figure.
I couldn't process it.
Daniel could.
His eyes widened.
“That much?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To buy control.”
“From whom?”
Martin hesitated.
“From the investors who had financed your father's early expansion.”
Daniel paced toward the window.
“Then why was Rachel involved?”
Eleanor answered.
“Because she found the final transfer.”
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.”
“You were reviewing acquisition data.”
Martin looked at me.
“You noticed a recurring payment.”
“To Columbus?”
“No.”
He walked to the desk.
“To a company called Northstar Meridian.”
My heart skipped.
The name felt familiar.
Very faintly.
Like a word I'd heard years ago.
“Northstar…”
Daniel turned.
“You remember?”
“I remember seeing it.”
My pulse increased.
“I thought it was a vendor.”
“It wasn't,” Martin said.
“It was a holding company.”
I sat down.
“My supervisor told me to ignore it.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Who?”
I swallowed.
“Greg Harmon.”
Daniel went still.
Greg had been his chief financial officer.
The man I had heard on the recording.
The man Daniel had told to “fix it.”
Daniel looked at Martin.
“Greg still works for me.”
Martin nodded.
“Exactly.”
The room went silent.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
I grabbed his wrist.
“Wait.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because if Greg was involved eight years ago, calling him now tells him we know.”
Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time, he looked at me not as the woman he had lost.
But as the financial analyst who had once challenged his projections at two in the morning.
“You're right.”
A strange sadness passed through his face.
“I forgot how good you were at this.”
I looked away.
“I'm not doing this for you.”
“I know.”
“You need to understand that.”
“I do.”
He turned to Betty and Mia.
Mia was drawing on a small notepad she had found near the desk.
Betty was examining the silver watch.
“What are you drawing?”
Daniel asked.
“A house.”
“Is it yours?”
Mia nodded.
“Mom's house.”
Daniel smiled.
“Where am I?”
Mia looked up.
“You're not in it yet.”
Something about the word yet made Daniel laugh.
Then the watch clicked.
Betty looked down.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“There are two backs.”
She held the watch carefully.
Daniel took it.
The inner cover had shifted.
Behind it was another tiny compartment.
Inside lay a faded photograph.
Daniel pulled it free.
My breath caught.
The photograph showed three people.
Daniel's father.
Eleanor.
And a young woman.
I recognized her.
Not personally.
But from somewhere.
Daniel stared.
“Who is she?”
Eleanor looked at the photograph.
Her face collapsed.
“That's your father's first wife.”
Daniel blinked.
“My father was married before you?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because she died before you were born.”
Martin shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Martin.”
He ignored her.
“She didn't die.”
Daniel's face went white.
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
I stared at the photograph.
The young woman's hand was resting on a child's shoulder.
The child was maybe four.
A little boy.
Daniel.
My throat tightened.
“That's you.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
His fingers trembled.
“Then who took this?”
Martin answered.
“Your father.”
“When?”
“Three days before the Columbus transfer.”
Daniel turned the photograph over.
There was another note.
His father's handwriting.
HE KNOWS WHAT SHE DID.
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“Who is he?”
Eleanor stood.
“You don't want to know.”
“Yes.”
“You're not ready.”
Daniel's voice sharpened.
“I have two daughters I didn't know existed. I have a company built on money I didn't know existed. I have a mother who lied to me for eight years.”
He stepped closer.
“I am done being protected.”
Eleanor looked at me.
Then at Betty and Mia.
Her expression changed.
“You need to leave them out of this.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“You don't understand what Columbus attracted.”
“Then explain.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“I can't.”
Daniel looked toward Martin.
“Can you?”
Martin's silence answered.
Suddenly the library doors opened.
A security officer entered.
“Mr. Harden.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“There was a problem outside.”
“What kind?”
The man looked at the girls.
Then at me.
“A black SUV was parked near the east gate.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“License plate?”
“Covered.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
My blood ran cold.
Daniel immediately moved toward the girls.
“Everyone stays inside.”
The officer continued.
“We found something on the windshield.”
He held out a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a child's purple hair ribbon.
Mia gasped.
“That's mine.”
She reached for it.
I grabbed her hand.
“No.”
Daniel stared at the ribbon.
“Where did you find this?”
“On the hood.”
The officer looked uncomfortable.
“And there was a photograph underneath.”
Daniel took it.
He turned it over.
His face changed.
“What?”
He showed me.
It was a photograph of our apartment.
Taken from across the street.
The girls were visible through the window.
My stomach dropped.
On the back was one sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN CHICAGO.
Daniel looked at me.
Then toward the locked door.
His voice became very quiet.
“They're not trying to scare me.”
May you like
He looked at the girls.
“They're warning you.”
