Chapter 7 - Marcus Called Me from a Locked Room
I called Marcus.
He answered immediately.
"Finally."
"Where are you?"
"Sterling Tower."
"Alone?"
A pause.
"No."
"Who is with you?"
"I can't say."
"Then we're done."
"Richard, wait."
I did.
Barely.
"Did you send me that photograph?"
"Yes."
"Who took it?"
"I did."
My blood went cold.
"You're at my villa?"
"No."
"Then how?"
"Your internal camera feed."
I looked around Sophie's bedroom.
The hidden camera.
Still active.
"You have access."
"I was given access."
"By whom?"
"Graham."
I looked at my CFO.
He shook his head violently.
"That's a lie."
Marcus heard him.
"He's there?"
"Yes."
"Get away from him."
Graham stepped closer to the phone.
"Marcus, stop."
"Ask him about Account 7714."
Graham froze.
I noticed.
"What is Account 7714?"
"Richard—"
Marcus said, "Four million dollars left Sophie's trust over eighteen months."
My heartbeat changed.
"Where did it go?"
"A shell company."
"Whose?"
"Ask Graham."
I looked at him.
He rubbed his jaw.
"It's complicated."
That was as good as confession.
"Explain."
"The payments funded private security."
"For whom?"
"Caroline initially."
"She's been dead four years."
Graham closed his eyes.
Marcus laughed bitterly through the phone.
"Keep going, Graham."
"The security program continued."
"Why?"
"Because threats continued."
"Who authorized payments?"
Graham didn't answer.
Marcus did.
"Graham signed them."
I stared at him.
"You stole four million dollars from my daughter's trust?"
"No."
"You moved money without telling me."
"Yes."
"To where?"
"Price Risk Solutions."
Owen Price.
Caroline's investigator.
The man from my basement.
My mind shifted.
"You've been paying Owen."
"For protection."
"Then why did he steal Caroline's original trust?"
Graham looked genuinely confused.
"He did what?"
"You saw him run."
"I didn't know that was Owen."
"Marcus says it was."
Marcus interrupted.
"I didn't say that."
I stopped.
"What?"
"I said Graham paid Price Risk Solutions."
I looked at Graham.
"Was that man Owen?"
He hesitated.
"I haven't seen Owen in four years."
My blood ran cold.
The man in the basement could have been anyone carrying Owen's identity.
Another misdirection.
I asked Marcus, "Where is Adrian?"
"Missing."
"Since when?"
"Two hours."
"Why are you at Sterling Tower?"
"Because somebody locked me in the executive archive."
I frowned.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"How are you calling?"
"I have my phone."
"Why not security?"
"Security isn't answering."
Same as Thomas.
"Who locked you in?"
"I don't know."
"Why should I believe you?"
"You shouldn't."
That answer surprised me.
"But check the board calendar."
Graham opened his laptop.
Marcus continued.
"There's an emergency vote scheduled Monday."
"I know."
"No, you know about Sophie's trust."
My stomach tightened.
"What vote are you talking about?"
"Removal of both of us."
Silence.
"From what?"
"Sterling Family Holdings."
Graham found the calendar.
His face changed.
There it was.
Monday, 9:00 A.M.
Executive Control Review.
Petitioners confidential.
Proposed action:
Suspend Richard Sterling and Marcus Sterling pending fiduciary investigation.
I stared at the screen.
Someone wasn't trying to help Marcus take my power.
Someone wanted both brothers gone.
"Who becomes acting chairman?"
Marcus asked quietly.
"Scroll."
Graham did.
The nominee field was blank.
But an attached governance document named the senior independent fiduciary adviser.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
My stomach dropped.
A psychiatrist.
With access to Caroline.
Sophie.
My board.
My brother.
And forged trust documents.
"He wants the company," I said.
Marcus answered, "Maybe."
"What do you mean maybe?"
"Adrian doesn't own enough shares."
"He doesn't need shares if he gets appointed."
"Temporarily."
"He can move assets."
"Exactly."
Something in Marcus's tone changed.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Silence.
"Marcus."
"Adrian has been asking about something called Project Hearth."
Graham went completely still.
I saw it.
"What is Project Hearth?"
Marcus said, "Ask your CFO."
I looked at Graham.
He shook his head.
"Not here."
"Enough."
"Richard, Project Hearth is connected to Caroline."
"Everything is connected to Caroline."
"No."
His voice dropped.
"It's connected to her death."
The room went silent.
Marcus said, "Now you know why I told you not to trust him."
Graham closed his laptop.
"Marcus only knows half."
"Then give me the other half."
He looked at Sophie.
"Caroline believed someone inside Sterling Medical was manipulating confidential patient records."
"What records?"
"Hers."
My chest tightened.
"Why?"
"To make her appear psychiatrically unstable."
I looked at the empty spot where the music box had been.
Adrian.
"Project Hearth?"
"A server archive Caroline created."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Marcus said over the phone, "I do."
We both stopped.
"Where?"
"Inside the old Sterling pediatric foundation clinic."
That clinic had closed three years earlier.
Caroline had funded it.
Sophie had been treated there as an infant.
"Why didn't you say this before?"
"Because Caroline made me promise."
I almost laughed.
"Apparently my wife trusted every man in this family except me."
Marcus's voice softened.
"No, Richard."
"What?"
"She trusted you most."
"Then why keep me ignorant?"
"Because she thought ignorance was the only thing keeping you alive."
That shut me up.
Sophie tugged my sleeve.
"Daddy."
I looked down.
She held something.
A tiny brass key.
"Where did you get that?"
"From my dress pocket."
"I didn't put it there."
"Mommy did."
My breathing stopped.
"You remember?"
She nodded.
"A long time ago."
She handed it to me.
A small tag was attached.
HEARTH 3.
Graham stared.
Marcus heard my silence.
"What happened?"
I looked at the key.
"Sophie has the key."
Then every hidden camera feed in the room went black.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown sender.
One photograph.
The red music box.
Open.
Inside it was a small digital recorder.
Beside it sat a handwritten note.
THANK SOPHIE FOR REMEMBERING.
A second message arrived.
May you like
COME TO HEARTH ALONE OR THE RECORDING DISAPPEARS.
📖 Follow me to the abandoned Hearth clinic in CHAPTER 8, where Caroline’s missing recording reveals who ordered Adrian to build a case against me. 👇
