Chapter 10: The Company That Carried My Name
I read Robert's message twice.
*NORTHBRIDGE CAPITAL HAS BEEN USING YOUR IDENTITY FOR ELEVEN YEARS.*
My mother was supposedly dead.
Yet Evelyn had just told me she secretly owned the investment firm that had been financing Daniel.
And now Robert was telling me that the company had been operating under my identity.
I looked at Daniel.
"What does this mean?""
He glanced at my phone.
For the first time since I'd married him, he looked genuinely frightened.
"Give me that.""
I stepped backward.
"No.""
"Olivia, you need to listen to me.""
"I've spent twelve years listening to you. I'm finished.""
Richard was gathering the scattered documents from the floor. Evelyn stood near the workbench, clutching her arm.
I moved toward her.
"Are you hurt?""
"I'm fine," she whispered.
"Get the flash drive out of here.""
Daniel stepped between us.
"Nobody is going anywhere until we settle this.""
I stared at him.
"You don't get to decide that anymore.""
A siren sounded in the distance.
Richard looked toward the window.
"Daniel, we need to leave.""
Daniel ignored him.
He was watching me.
"Olivia, your mother created Northbridge Capital before she died. She used your name as the beneficiary because she wanted you to inherit everything.""
"Then why did you tell me she was dead?""
"Because she wanted you to believe she was dead.""
I shook my head.
"That's insane.""
"Ask Evelyn.""
I turned.
Evelyn's eyes were wet.
"Your mother arranged for me to disappear too. She believed someone inside the company was monitoring her movements.""
"Was she alive?""
Evelyn nodded.
"Yes.""
My chest tightened.
"Where is she?""
Before Evelyn could answer, Richard grabbed Daniel's shoulder.
"We're leaving. Now.""
Daniel pushed him away.
"Not without the documents.""
Richard pulled a small black device from his jacket.
It looked like a recording device.
"Do you want me to play what you told me last week?""
Daniel froze.
"What?""
Richard smiled.
"You promised Northbridge that once the transfer was completed, Olivia would never have access to the original account.""
Daniel lunged toward him.
The two men crashed into the table.
The red folder slid across the floor.
Evelyn grabbed my wrist.
"Run!""
We escaped through the hidden door behind the storage cabinets.
Outside, the morning air was cold.
A security vehicle had stopped near the road.
Robert jumped out.
"Olivia!""
I ran toward him.
He immediately guided me behind the vehicle.
"Are you hurt?""
"No. But Daniel and Richard are inside.""
Robert spoke into his radio.
"Two suspects inside the boathouse. Secure the area and preserve all evidence.""
I pulled out my phone.
"What's happening with Northbridge?""
Robert looked at me.
"I contacted an independent financial investigator. He found something extraordinary.""
"What?""
"Northbridge's controlling trust was established under your mother's maiden name. But the beneficiary is listed as Olivia Bennett.""
I stared at him.
"That doesn't explain why my identity was used.""
"Because the trust documents were amended eleven years ago. Someone submitted a death certificate for your mother and a declaration stating that you were the sole surviving beneficiary.""
I felt dizzy.
"My mother is alive.""
"I know. Which means someone submitted false information.""
Evelyn joined us.
"Robert, did you check the original bank account?""
He nodded.
"Yes. It contains a substantial amount of money, but there's another problem.""
"What problem?""
"Northbridge has been receiving regular payments from an account connected to Bennett Enterprises.""
I looked at him.
"How much?""
"Approximately $12 million over eleven years.""
My mouth went dry.
Twelve million dollars.
That was more than the original investment my father had made.
"Who authorized the payments?""
Robert hesitated.
"Daniel signed several of them. But the earliest transfers were authorized by Patricia.""
I closed my eyes.
The entire family had been involved.
My husband.
His mother.
Richard.
And possibly my own mother.
Then Robert handed me a printed photograph.
It showed a woman entering a private banking facility in London.
She wore a dark coat and sunglasses.
But I recognized her immediately.
My mother.
Alive.
The photograph had been taken three days earlier.
I pressed my fingers against my lips.
"Where was this taken?""
"London. The bank confirmed the visitor's identity through its internal records.""
"Can we contact her?""
Robert shook his head.
"There's something else. She left instructions for the bank to release a sealed package only if you personally appeared.""
Evelyn looked at me.
"That's what your father was protecting.""
I stared at the photograph.
For eleven years, I'd mourned a woman who had apparently been living somewhere in the world.
I'd visited her grave.
I'd spoken to her photograph.
I'd spent birthdays wishing she could see the woman I'd become.
And now I was discovering that she might have been alive all along.
My phone rang.
An international number appeared.
I answered.
"Hello?""
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then a woman's voice spoke.
"Olivia?""
I stopped breathing.
It was a voice I knew better than my own.
A voice I hadn't heard since I was twenty-eight.
"Mom?""
She began to cry.
"My darling girl.""
I couldn't speak.
Then she said something that shattered the little hope I'd been holding onto.
"Olivia, I know what Daniel has done. But before you destroy him, you need to know that I was the one who gave him the money.""
I gripped the phone.
"Why?""
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Because eleven years ago, I made a deal with him.""
May you like
And then she added:
"Your father wasn't supposed to die that night.""
