Chapter 5 - The Shadow of Victor Sterling
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By noon, the news of Evan's sudden removal had sent shockwaves through Whitmore Freight's corporate office.
I sat in the corner executive office—the office that had belonged to my father before Evan painted over his name—while Kelsey sat across from me in a simple velvet armchair. Naomi stood by the window, keeping watch over the hallway.
"Talk," I ordered, placing a warm cup of coffee on the desk in front of Kelsey. "Start from the beginning."
Kelsey took a slow sip, her hands trembling slightly against the porcelain.
"Two years ago, I was working as a junior accountant at a firm in Charlotte," Kelsey began softly. "A man approached me. He knew everything about my student loans, my mother's medical debt, my entire life. He offered me half a million dollars to move to Atlanta, apply for the secretarial opening at Whitmore Freight, and seduce Evan."
"Why Evan?" Naomi asked, turning away from the window.
"Because Evan was weak, vain, and easily manipulated," Kelsey answered frankly. "The man told me that Evan was greedy enough to start stealing from the company if he felt entitled to it. My job was to encourage him. To make him feel like he deserved the penthouse, the luxury cars, and the shell companies."
"And who was this man?" I asked, pulling out the photograph and tapping the face of the dark-haired stranger.
"His name is Victor Sterling," Kelsey whispered. "He owns a private equity firm registered in the Cayman Islands. But he told me something else, Clara."
"What?"
"He told me that your father didn't own seventy-two percent of Whitmore Freight," Kelsey said, looking me straight in the eye. "He said your father stole those shares from him thirty years ago... with Barbara's help."
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My stomach twisted into a hard knot. "My father was an honest man."
"Your father was a businessman, Clara," Kelsey replied gently. "And Victor Sterling is coming to take back what he thinks is his. The nine million dollars was just his way of testing whether the company's defense systems were still active after your divorce."
