Chapter 13 - The Final Authorization
The Halcyon deal was the smoking gun the prosecutor needed. The transfer of the eight-million-dollar bribe would trigger international money laundering statutes, ensuring federal prison time. There was only one massive, unavoidable roadblock standing between Derek and his Dubai payday.
The corporate bylaws my father had written were ironclad. To finalize the sale of the company and transfer ownership of the commercial licenses to Halcyon, the contract required one final, physical authorization from the majority shareholder.
Me.
Derek couldn't legally sell the company using the medical incompetence workaround for a complete asset liquidation; the banks required my actual, notarized signature on the closing documents to release the international funds.
"He's backed into a corner," Elena said, pacing the shelter's small meeting room. "Halcyon is demanding the signed authorization by Friday. Without your signature, the deal collapses, and the eight million dollars vanishes."
"So, what does a cornered narcissist do?" I asked, looking at the financial charts.
"He doesn't surrender," Sarah Jenkins answered, her eyes narrowing. "He cheats."
On Thursday afternoon, the highly anticipated document arrived in Elena’s encrypted inbox. It didn't come from Derek's lawyers. It was leaked by a brave, terrified whistleblower inside Halcyon’s legal department who had noticed the massive irregularities in the Dubai consulting fee.
Elena opened the PDF file and projected it onto the screen. It was the final sale authorization contract.
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Right at the bottom of the page, executing the sale of my father’s life's work, was my signature. It was flawless. Every loop, every slant, every pressurized stroke was a nearly perfect replication of my handwriting. Derek had practiced it hundreds of times to get it exactly right.
He had just committed felony forgery to steal an entire corporation. The trap was fully set.
