Chapter 6 - The Signature
Maya had spent ten years building companies.
She knew panic was expensive.
So while cameras flashed and reporters shouted, she did the one thing they least expected.
Nothing.
She turned around.
Walked back inside.
Closed the door.
Then called her attorney.
“Daniel.”
“Maya.”
“You’ve seen it?”
“Unfortunately.”
“The signature is fake.”
“I assumed.”
“I want the original file metadata.”
“Already requesting it.”
Maya paused.
That was why Daniel Pierce had represented her for eight years.
He didn’t waste time asking whether she was scared.
He dealt with the reason she should be.
Robert stood near the kitchen.
“I’m sorry.”
Maya looked at him.
“For what?”
“For hesitating.”
Maya said nothing.
“I should have believed you.”
“Yes.”
Robert absorbed it.
Again, no argument.
Progress.
Daniel called back ninety minutes later.
“We found something.”
Maya put him on speaker.
“The document was created three days ago.”
David leaned closer.
“So it’s fake.”
“Yes. But there’s more.”
“What?”
“The template came from an internal NorthStar legal archive.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
Someone inside her company had helped Caleb.
“Who accessed it?”
“We’re tracing that.”
Maya walked toward the window.
NorthStar employed hundreds of people directly and indirectly.
Trust was the foundation of everything.
A betrayal inside the company was more dangerous than Caleb’s accusation.
Then Daniel said, “Maya, there’s another issue.”
“Go ahead.”
“Someone accessed your private founder files two weeks ago.”
“Who?”
“Credentials belong to your executive operations director.”
Maya froze.
“Rachel?”
“Yes.”
Maya almost laughed.
Impossible.
Rachel Kim had been beside Maya for seven years.
She knew every secret.
Every acquisition.
Every failure.
Every victory.
Maya trusted her more than almost anyone alive.
“Call her.”
“She isn’t answering.”
Maya dialed.
Voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
By afternoon, Rachel still hadn’t responded.
Security checked her apartment.
Empty.
Her company laptop was gone.
So was her passport.
David whispered, “She ran.”
Maya refused to believe it.
“No.”
“Maya—”
“No.”
Robert watched his daughter.
For once, he didn’t challenge her judgment.
“What do you need?” he asked.
Maya looked at him.
It was such a simple question.
Not “What did you do?”
Not “Why didn’t you listen?”
Not “Let me fix this.”
What do you need?
“My office,” Maya said.
Robert nodded.
“I’ll drive.”
Maya almost refused.
Then she didn’t.
They left through the garage.
Father and daughter rode downtown in silence.
As Chicago appeared ahead of them, Robert saw the NorthStar headquarters rising beside the river.
He stared upward.
“That’s yours?”
Maya looked at the building.
“No.”
Robert frowned.
“It belongs to the people who built it.”
They entered through underground security.
Employees turned as Maya walked through the lobby.
Nobody looked frightened.
They looked relieved.
“Morning, Maya.”
“Good morning.”
“Glad you’re here.”
Robert watched.
These people didn’t treat his daughter like someone pretending to run a business.
They trusted her.
In the executive conference room, Maya assembled legal, cybersecurity, communications, and finance.
Robert sat quietly in a corner.
For three hours, he watched Maya lead.
No shouting.
No panic.
Questions.
Decisions.
Delegation.
Accountability.
At 5:43 p.m., cybersecurity found the breach.
Rachel’s credentials had been cloned.
She hadn’t stolen anything.
Someone had framed her too.
Maya stood.
“Find Rachel.”
Twenty minutes later, security received a call.
Rachel had been found.
Not at an airport.
Not hiding.
May you like
She was sitting inside a police station.
And she was asking to speak to Maya alone.
