Chapter 10 - Linda Takes the Company
Trevor was charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, financial fraud, and conspiracy.
The recording from Rebecca’s hidden microphone connected him to Caroline’s death.
Yet he refused to tell police where Linda had taken Richard.
“He chose her,” Trevor said. “Ask him.”
Rebecca knew that was a lie.
Richard would never willingly give Linda control after she poisoned him.
But the emergency court order allowed Linda to enter Northstar headquarters.
Within hours, she fired the compliance department, erased servers, and transferred company funds overseas.
Sarah filed to freeze every account.
Linda’s attorneys argued that Rebecca had manipulated Richard while he was ill.
They produced a video of Richard signing a competency waiver.
In the recording, he appeared frightened and confused.
A date was displayed at the bottom.
Two days before the garage attack.
Daniel examined the footage.
“The clock behind him is wrong.”
Rebecca looked closer.
The clock showed 3:15.
But sunlight filled the window behind Richard.
According to weather records, a severe storm covered the city that entire afternoon.
The video had been created earlier and falsely dated.
Sarah requested the original file.
Linda’s attorneys claimed it had been destroyed.
Judge Ellison scheduled a full competency hearing.
Without Richard present, Linda retained temporary control.
Northstar’s employees began protesting outside the headquarters.
Their retirement accounts had been frozen.
Many had worked for the company for thirty years.
Rebecca walked through the crowd.
A woman named Helen Porter grabbed her hand.
“My husband died waiting for his pension. Please don’t let them steal the rest.”
Rebecca had spent weeks fighting for herself and her baby.
Now she understood how many other lives Trevor and Linda had damaged.
She agreed to speak publicly.
At a press conference, she played Trevor’s garage threats and portions of Richard’s video.
She explained the pension theft without hiding that her own name appeared on documents.
“I signed papers I did not understand because I trusted my husband,” she said. “That was my mistake. But I did not steal from these families, and I will spend as long as necessary proving who did.”
The honesty changed public opinion.
Former employees began contacting investigators.
One accountant revealed that Linda maintained a private records room beneath Northstar headquarters.
Federal agents obtained a warrant.
They found the room empty.
But a single hospital bracelet lay on the floor.
Richard Hale.
Fresh blood stained the plastic.
Then Rebecca’s phone received a live video.
Linda sat beside Richard in an unknown room.
He was barely conscious.
Linda held a syringe near his arm.
“Withdraw your claim to the trust,” she said, “or Richard will sign his final document tonight.”
Richard opened his eyes.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Rebecca,” he whispered, “the baby’s father is not Trevor.”
The video ended.
Rebecca stared at the blank screen.
Trevor had always been named as the biological father.
The family trust depended on his bloodline.
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If Richard was telling the truth, the entire inheritance plan made no sense.
👉 Richard’s final warning suggested that Rebecca’s pregnancy had been manipulated before Trevor ever locked her in the garage.
