Chapter 4 - The Secret Beneath the Carter House
Simone did not go alone.
She arrived at the house with Sterling, Michael, and two private security professionals retained by Vale Meridian.
Derek was waiting in the kitchen.
He looked nothing like the confident man from Bellamy’s.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up. His hair was disordered. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
The wooden box sat on the table.
“Really?” Derek said when he saw the others. “Security?”
“You had restaurant security called on me last night.”
“That was different.”
“Everything is different when you're the one being humiliated, isn't it?”
Derek looked away.
Sterling stepped forward.
“Where did you get the envelope?”
“In the box.”
“How did you open it?”
Derek didn't answer.
Simone did.
“He broke the lock.”
The bedroom closet door upstairs had been damaged.
Derek rubbed his face.
“Can we stop pretending I'm some criminal mastermind?”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“You introduced another woman as your wife while still married to Simone.”
“I made mistakes.”
“That's what you're calling it?”
Simone raised one hand.
Michael stopped.
She looked at Derek.
“Tell me everything.”
Derek stared at her.
“Would you believe me?”
“Probably not. But try.”
For the first time, Derek looked ashamed.
“I knew your grandfather had a connection to Vale.”
“How early?”
“Before we married.”
Simone felt the words even though she expected them.
“How early?”
“After our third date.”
Her chest tightened.
“Why were you researching me after three dates?”
“My father.”
Sterling stiffened.
Derek continued.
“My father worked for Victor Lang.”
Simone stared at him.
Derek’s father, Thomas Patterson, had supposedly spent most of his career in insurance.
At least that was what Derek always claimed.
“He wasn't an insurance executive,” Derek said. “He handled shell companies for Victor.”
Sterling stepped closer.
“Thomas Patterson disappeared during the Vale investigation.”
“He didn't disappear. Victor paid him to leave.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead. Eight years ago.”
Derek opened a drawer and removed a journal.
“My father left this.”
Sterling examined it.
Derek continued.
“My father believed Harrison Vale hid evidence before disappearing. Victor spent decades looking for it.”
“And you decided to help him?” Simone asked.
“At first.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
At least he didn't lie.
“I had debts. Victor offered to clear them if I found Harrison’s granddaughter.”
Simone stared at him.
“So you found me.”
“Yes.”
“And dated me.”
Derek said nothing.
“Say it.”
“Yes.”
Michael muttered something under his breath.
Simone felt strangely calm.
“Did you ever love me?”
Derek’s eyes finally met hers.
“Yes.”
She almost hated him more for that answer.
“You don't get to call what you did love.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
He swallowed.
“Victor wanted access to Harrison’s belongings. I kept delaying him. Then your grandfather supposedly died. I thought the whole thing was over.”
“But it wasn't.”
“No.”
“When did you learn he was alive?”
“Two years ago.”
Simone remembered the succession document.
“What did Victor tell you?”
“That Harrison had changed his identity and returned to Vale Meridian secretly. That when he died, you would inherit.”
“And that's when you started planning to take control.”
Derek shook his head.
“Victor planned it.”
“You participated.”
“Yes.”
Candace wasn't there, but her name seemed to fill the room.
“And Candace?”
Derek looked down.
“Victor needed Whitmore Capital.”
“So you married her.”
“The ceremony wasn't legally valid.”
“That doesn't make it better.”
“I know.”
“You lied to her.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“For years.”
Derek’s voice became barely audible.
“Yes.”
Simone turned away.
She had imagined confronting him a thousand times since last night.
In none of those imaginary confrontations had betrayal felt this quiet.
Sterling opened Harrison’s envelope.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Go to the place where Simone learned to repair a radio. Beneath the third floorboard from the north wall.
Simone immediately knew.
Her grandfather’s workshop.
Behind the old Carter house.
The property had remained empty since his supposed death.
Derek had wanted to sell it for years.
Simone always refused.
Now she understood why he had pushed so hard.
Thirty minutes later, they stood inside the dusty workshop.
Everything remained almost exactly as Simone remembered.
The wooden workbench.
The old soldering iron.
Shelves of radio parts.
She could almost hear Grandpa Henry telling her never to force a screw that didn't want to turn.
Michael counted floorboards.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
The third board lifted.
Beneath it sat a metal container.
Sterling crouched.
“My God.”
Inside were ledgers.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Cassette tapes.
And a handwritten list of names.
Victor Lang appeared repeatedly.
Thomas Patterson appeared twice.
Other names belonged to executives who had died decades ago.
Simone picked up a small recorder.
Sterling found batteries in a drawer.
Against all odds, it worked.
Static filled the workshop.
Then a younger Harrison Vale began speaking.
“September 14, 1993. Meeting with Victor Lang.”
Another voice followed.
Victor’s.
Simone listened as two men argued about hidden accounts, falsified invoices, and diverted corporate funds.
Derek sat heavily on a chair.
“My father was right.”
Sterling turned.
“About what?”
“He told me Victor destroyed everyone who knew too much.”
Simone looked at Derek.
“Then why work with him?”
“Because I thought I could outsmart him.”
Michael scoffed.
“How's that going?”
Derek ignored him.
“There’s another reason I brought you here.”
He reached into his jacket.
Security immediately moved closer.
Derek slowly removed a flash drive.
“Victor gave me this yesterday.”
“What is it?” Simone asked.
“His plan.”
Sterling took it.
Back at Vale Meridian, their cybersecurity team opened the drive on an isolated computer.
The contents were devastating.
Victor intended to force Vale Meridian into a liquidity crisis using coordinated loan withdrawals.
Whitmore Capital was supposed to participate.
Then a Victor-controlled investment group would purchase distressed assets.
Derek was supposed to challenge Simone’s ability to manage the inheritance and create confusion long enough for Victor to act.
But Harrison’s final trust changes had destroyed part of the plan.
Candace discovering the truth had damaged another part.
And Derek’s public announcement at Bellamy’s had exposed everything prematurely.
“You weren't supposed to introduce Candace last night,” Simone realized.
Derek shook his head.
“Victor ordered me to.”
“Why?”
“To make you react publicly.”
Simone felt sick.
The shattered glass.
Her raised voice.
Security.
Witnesses.
Derek had deliberately humiliated her, hoping she would appear unstable.
“And you did it.”
Derek looked down.
“Yes.”
That answer ended something inside Simone.
Whatever remained of their marriage was gone.
Sterling’s phone rang.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his face changed.
“What happened?” Simone asked.
He lowered the phone.
“Whitmore Capital just notified Vale Meridian that it's reviewing every loan connected to Victor.”
“That sounds good.”
“It is.”
“So why do you look worried?”
“Because Victor knows the plan is collapsing.”
Sterling turned the laptop toward Simone.
A new email had arrived.
The sender was Harrison Vale.
Impossible.
Harrison was dead.
The email had been scheduled before his death.
The subject line read:
SIMONE — IF VICTOR FINDS THE WORKSHOP
Inside was one sentence.
Do not trust the person who brings you the evidence.
Everyone slowly looked toward Derek.
But Derek wasn't looking at Simone.
He was staring at Sterling.
And then he whispered:
May you like
“He doesn't mean me.”
---
