Chapter 3 — The Hidden Files
Daniel stared at the notification for several long seconds.
Additional files synchronized from linked financial archive.
It made no sense.
His home security system was supposed to upload only video footage. It had nothing to do with banking records or company documents.
Yet there they were.
Twenty-three encrypted files.
Each carried a timestamp spanning nearly eighteen months.
The folder's title made his stomach tighten.
VC Holdings – Private Backup
VC Holdings.
The initials belonged to Vanessa Carter.
His sister.
Daniel hesitated only a moment before opening the first file.
It was a scanned trust agreement.
At first glance, it looked identical to the one he and Olivia had signed before beginning IVF treatments. The twins' trust contained $150,000—money Daniel had inherited from his late grandparents. They had promised each other the funds would remain untouched until their children turned twenty-five.
But this document wasn't the original.
Someone had altered it.
Daniel zoomed in.
His own signature appeared at the bottom.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
He compared it to a genuine copy stored in his email.
The spacing was different.
The pressure marks were missing.
Even the date had been changed by six months.
Someone had forged his signature with professional precision.
His heartbeat quickened.
The next file was worse.
It contained transfer requests from one of his company's reserve accounts.
Each authorization bore his electronic approval.
Each approval was fake.
Amounts ranged from $20,000 to $85,000.
Individually, they looked like ordinary business expenses.
Together...
They totaled more than $640,000.
Daniel felt the blood drain from his face.
He had never approved a single one.
The third file contained bank statements.
The money hadn't disappeared overseas.
It had been routed through shell companies before landing in an account controlled by a consulting firm Daniel had never heard of.
The registered director?
Vanessa Carter.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
"This can't be..."
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
Daniel quickly locked his phone.
Detective Rachel Monroe stepped into the waiting room carrying a notebook.
"I'm sorry to bother you while your wife is in surgery."
Daniel stood.
"How is she?"
"The doctors are still operating."
She offered him a sympathetic look.
"I need to ask a few questions."
Daniel nodded.
The detective glanced at the blood still covering his shirt.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
He described arriving home, finding Olivia on the floor, Vanessa pulling her hair, and the shattered camera.
Rachel listened carefully without interrupting.
Finally she asked,
"Did your sister have any reason to confront your wife?"
Daniel hesitated.
He thought about the trust.
About the transfer code.
Then about the financial files still sitting on his phone.
"I... don't know."
It wasn't entirely true.
He simply wasn't ready to believe it himself.
Rachel closed her notebook.
"We've already secured the crime scene."
Daniel looked up.
"But the camera—"
"It was destroyed."
"I know."
She smiled slightly.
"But whoever broke it wasn't aware that your security provider stores encrypted cloud backups."
Daniel almost laughed.
"So you already have it?"
"We requested it twenty minutes ago."
His shoulders relaxed for the first time since entering the hospital.
Vanessa had failed.
Completely.
Then Rachel added something that erased that relief.
"We also received a call from your company's legal department."
Daniel frowned.
"My company?"
"They reported suspected financial fraud committed under your executive authorization."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Rachel studied his face.
"They said nearly seven hundred thousand dollars is missing."
Daniel slowly reached into his pocket.
"I think..."
He swallowed hard.
"...I may know why."
He handed her his phone.
Rachel opened the first forged document.
Her expression changed almost immediately.
Then she looked back at Daniel.
"Mr. Carter..."
She spoke quietly.
"This isn't just assault anymore."
She scrolled through another file.
"...This is organized financial fraud."
Before Daniel could answer, the operating room doors burst open.
A surgeon stepped into the hallway, still wearing blood-speckled scrubs.
His face revealed everything before he spoke.
Daniel's heart stopped.
"Doctor..."
The surgeon removed his mask.
"We saved your wife."
Daniel exhaled.
"But..."
The doctor looked down for a brief moment.
May you like
"...your son isn't breathing on his own."
Everything around Daniel went silent.
