CHAPTER 6: MY FATHER’S SECRET
My mother did not deny Samuel’s accusation.
When I returned to the hospital, she asked Rosa and the nurse to leave the room.
Then she looked toward the rain tapping against the windows.
“Samuel’s father was named Arthur Price,” she said.
“I’ve never heard that name.”
“Your father made sure of it.”
In the early years of Hale Systems, Thomas Hale and Arthur Price had been engineering partners.
Arthur designed a revolutionary sensor capable of detecting structural weaknesses in bridges, tunnels, and secure facilities.
My father developed the software that interpreted the data.
Together, they planned to build a company.
Then Arthur began drinking.
He became unpredictable.
According to my mother, he threatened clients and missed critical tests. During one demonstration, his negligence nearly caused an explosion.
My father removed him from the company.
“Did Dad steal his work?”
“They signed an agreement,” Evelyn said. “Arthur received money for his patents.”
“How much?”
“Not enough.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Your father knew Arthur was desperate. He offered him a fraction of what the patents were worth.”
“So Samuel was telling the truth.”
“Not entirely. Arthur was dangerous, but Thomas used his weakness.”
My father had always been presented as a disciplined visionary.
He had taught me that integrity mattered more than profit.
Now I understood that the foundation of our family fortune contained a hidden betrayal.
“What happened to Arthur?”
“He lost the money. His wife left. He died when Samuel was seventeen.”
“And Samuel spent his life becoming our attorney.”
“He wanted access.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I didn’t know who he was when you first hired him. By the time I discovered it, he had already become part of the company.”
“You still said nothing.”
“I thought he had chosen a different life.”
My mother began to tremble.
I wanted to be angry, but she had already suffered enough because of secrets other people created.
“Did Daniel know?”
“Samuel recruited him.”
“How?”
“Daniel’s father worked for Hale Systems. Thomas fired him after accusing him of selling company information.”
Daniel had grown up believing my family ruined his.
Two sons had spent decades preparing revenge against the children of Thomas Hale.
Celeste had been their doorway.
“Was Celeste part of this from the beginning?”
My mother looked away.
That frightened me more than any answer.
“How long?” I asked.
“I found a letter in her room six months ago.”
“What letter?”
“It was written by Samuel.”
My mother’s voice weakened.
“He congratulated her on seven successful years.”
My marriage had lasted seven years.
Celeste had not been recruited after our wedding.
She had entered my life for this purpose.
Every anniversary.
Every holiday.
Every whispered promise.
All of it might have been an assignment.
My phone vibrated.
Hannah had discovered an encrypted folder on Samuel’s office server.
The folder contained photographs of me taken years before I met Celeste.
There were reports about my habits, relationships, and business travel.
A document labeled HALE ACCESS PLAN described the ideal person to enter my life.
Educated.
Patient.
Socially skilled.
Capable of gaining Evelyn’s trust.
Celeste had been selected.
Another file contained a contract promising her ten million dollars and ownership of my family home once Hale Systems was sold.
There was no promise of a life with Daniel.
Celeste had never been his partner.
She was an employee.
I sat beside my mother’s bed until my breathing became steady.
Then Detective Bennett called.
Celeste had disappeared.
Her attorney claimed he had not seen her since the board meeting.
Her passport was still at home, but a private aircraft had departed a small airport outside Boston under a false flight plan.
One passenger matched Celeste’s description.
The aircraft was owned by Northstar Meridian.
Its destination was unknown.
Before the call ended, Hannah sent me one final recovered document.
It was a list of Hale Systems facilities.
Beside each location was a date.
The Australian processing facility was first.
The Boston research laboratory was second.
The final target was the federal security archive we maintained under government contract.
Northstar did not only want our company.
May you like
They wanted access to every system we had ever protected.
And Celeste possessed my biometric backup key.
