Chapter 5 - Grant at the Service Staircase
Grant answered on the second ring.
“Ethan, I heard you’re in the hospital.”
“You heard quickly.”
“Daniel called.”
“Why were you inside my villa tonight?”
Silence.
Then Grant said, “What?”
“Seven sixteen. Private hallway. You were standing with Nora.”
Another pause.
“I came by earlier.”
“You didn’t call me.”
“You were working.”
“At my own dining table?”
“I thought you were upstairs.”
“Why were you meeting my housekeeper?”
Grant exhaled.
“This is not a conversation for the phone.”
“Then make it one.”
“Ethan.”
“Lily watched Nora put something in my tea.”
The silence on the other end changed.
“What?”
“She slapped Lily when Lily tried to warn me.”
“Jesus.”
“You were photographed with Nora less than an hour earlier.”
“I gave her an envelope.”
“What was in it?”
“Employment documents.”
“For Nora?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she came to me two days ago and said she wanted to leave.”
I stared at the hospital wall.
“Why would my housekeeper come to you about resigning?”
“She didn’t trust your staff office.”
“Claire?”
Grant hesitated.
“She specifically said Claire.”
I looked at Lily.
She had fallen asleep curled in the chair beside my bed.
A faint red mark remained across her cheek.
“What did Nora tell you?”
“That she had seen documents she didn’t understand.”
“What documents?”
“Medical records.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“She said there were papers about you being unfit to manage the company.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I asked Daniel.”
“What did Daniel say?”
“That the trust had routine contingency paperwork.”
“Did he mention a July medical report?”
“No.”
“You signed it.”
Grant’s voice sharpened.
“I signed no medical report.”
“I’m looking at your name.”
“Send it.”
I did.
The line remained quiet for almost a minute.
Then Grant said, “That is not my signature.”
My patience snapped.
“Everyone suddenly has forged signatures.”
“Look at the date.”
“What about it?”
“I was in Chicago on July twenty-fourth.”
I stopped.
“Can you prove it?”
“Board dinner. Forty people. Hotel records. Flight records.”
That complicated everything.
Either Grant was lying and could manufacture an alibi—
or someone had deliberately placed his name beside Claire’s to make him look like the beneficiary of a fraudulent incapacity plan.
“Why were you at the villa tonight?”
“I told you.”
“To give Nora resignation papers.”
“Not resignation papers.”
Grant corrected himself.
“Severance paperwork.”
“Why would you prepare severance for my employee?”
“Because she said she wanted to disappear.”
The word bothered me.
“Disappear?”
“She was scared.”
“Of what?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Did she have my trust folder?”
“No.”
“The camera shows it.”
“I saw a blue folder. I didn’t know it was yours.”
“What was inside your envelope?”
“Cash.”
I went still.
“How much?”
“Five thousand.”
“So the night I’m poisoned, my uncle secretly gives my housekeeper five thousand dollars.”
“She said she needed enough to leave the state.”
“That sounds worse every time you explain it.”
“I know.”
At least he understood that.
“Where is Nora now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you give her the executive access card?”
“No.”
“Did Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Claire?”
Grant’s voice lowered.
“Ethan, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“Nora gave me something before I left.”
“What?”
“An audio recorder.”
I sat forward.
“She said if anything happened to her, I was supposed to give it to you.”
“Where is it?”
“With me.”
“Play it.”
“No.”
My anger rose.
“Grant.”
“I listened to the first thirty seconds.”
“And?”
“It’s Daniel.”
I said nothing.
Grant continued.
“His voice.”
“What does he say?”
“He’s telling Nora exactly when you drink tea at night.”
My mouth went dry.
“And there’s another voice in the room.”
“Whose?”
“I can’t tell.”
“Send the file.”
“I will bring it myself.”
“No.”
“Ethan, digital copies can be altered.”
“So can physical evidence.”
He paused.
“You don’t trust me.”
“I’m looking at documents that hand you my voting rights.”
“Then maybe you should ask why someone worked so hard to make sure my name was on them.”
Before I could answer, another call appeared.
Claire Reeves.
I ignored it.
She called again.
Then a message arrived.
ETHAN, DO NOT TRUST GRANT. I FOUND THE ORIGINAL JULY VIDEO.
A video from the day I supposedly collapsed.
I opened the attachment.
Conference Room Twelve.
July twenty-fourth.
I was clearly visible on-screen.
Standing.
Speaking.
Completely healthy.
Then, at the end of the clip, Claire walked into frame carrying a medical form.
May you like
And handed it directly to Daniel Price.
📖 Watch the July video that proves Ethan never collapsed—and learn why Claire was carrying the false medical report before it was supposedly created in CHAPTER 6. 👇
