Chapter 5 - The Archive Naomi Refused to Destroy
I walked back into the ballroom without announcing myself.
Julian stood near the rear exit gripping Lauren’s arm.
Her face was pale.
Richard Sloane stood several feet away pretending not to watch.
Camilla was nowhere in sight.
“Let her go.”
Julian turned.
His fingers released Lauren immediately.
He smiled.
“You’re making a habit of dramatic entrances.”
Lauren rubbed her wrist.
I looked at her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Julian cut in.
“She was leaving.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
His jaw tightened.
Richard approached.
“Audrey, perhaps everyone should calm down.”
I looked at him.
“Did you witness a marital property agreement for me two months ago?”
He stopped.
Lauren’s eyes closed.
Julian stared at Richard.
There.
None of them expected me to have found it this quickly.
Richard recovered first.
“I review many documents.”
“This one had my forged signature.”
“That’s a serious allegation.”
“It’s a serious document.”
Julian laughed softly.
“Here we go.”
I turned to him.
“What?”
“The conspiracy.”
“You were inside room 1717 with Camilla.”
His face went still.
Lauren looked at him.
“You said she wouldn’t get the access logs.”
Julian whipped around.
“Shut up.”
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Richard stepped between them.
“Enough.”
I looked at Lauren.
“What did he tell you?”
She glanced at Richard.
Then at me.
“I didn’t plant the ledger.”
“I didn’t ask if you did.”
“I used the key because Richard told me to retrieve a folder.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“Lauren.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I’m done.”
Julian started toward her.
I moved between them.
He stopped.
Maybe he remembered my expression after he shoved me.
Maybe he simply noticed Malcolm and two hotel security officers watching from across the room.
Lauren lowered her voice.
“Richard told me you had already authorized the documents.”
I looked at the attorney.
“You told her I approved the forged agreement?”
Richard’s tone became patronizing.
“I told her there were sensitive family papers that needed to be removed before the acquisition announcement complicated matters.”
“Why use her?”
“She was helping.”
“With what?”
He hesitated.
Lauren answered.
“Your trust.”
My stomach tightened.
“What about it?”
“The Vance Family Trust has been amended.”
“I never authorized an amendment.”
“I know that now.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Julian looked furious.
At Lauren.
Not me.
That told me he had expected her silence.
Before I could press further, Elaine hurried toward us.
“Naomi’s archive came through.”
“Is she okay?”
“We still can’t reach her.”
My chest tightened.
“Show me.”
We moved into a smaller ballroom annex.
Malcolm joined us.
So did Franklin.
Julian tried to follow.
Elaine blocked him.
“You’re not authorized.”
“I’m chief strategy officer.”
“You’re under review.”
“This is my company.”
Malcolm answered from behind her.
“Not anymore.”
Julian stared at him.
Then at me.
The door closed.
Franklin connected Naomi’s archive to an offline laptop.
Thousands of transaction files.
Vendor approvals.
Invoices.
Internal messages.
One directory was labeled RAVENBRIDGE.
Inside were payments routed through four shell companies.
Aurelia paid them for strategic consulting, market research, and crisis services.
The money then moved.
Some to Camilla.
Some to an account connected to Julian.
Some to Richard Sloane’s law firm.
And some to an entity I had never heard of.
Morrow Family Office.
Franklin leaned closer.
“Who are they?”
Malcolm frowned.
“I know the name.”
We all looked at him.
“Old investors. They tried to buy Aurelia years ago.”
“Who runs it?” I asked.
“Conrad Morrow.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Franklin.
He searched the acquisition diligence folder.
Then swore.
“Morrow was one of the lenders Northstar paid off at closing.”
My pulse changed.
“So our acquisition paid them.”
“Seventy-eight million dollars.”
Malcolm went pale.
“That debt was legitimate.”
“Maybe,” Franklin said. “But look here.”
A spreadsheet showed Ravenbridge payments moving into Morrow accounts weeks before Aurelia borrowed from Morrow.
Circular money.
Potentially manufactured debt.
Julian may have helped create a financial crisis that made Aurelia vulnerable.
Why?
To force a sale?
To profit?
To transfer control?
Franklin opened another file.
Email from Julian to Naomi.
SUBJECT: RED PACKAGE.
DELETE THE SOURCE INVOICES BEFORE ANNIVERSARY NIGHT.
Naomi had replied:
I WILL NOT ALTER COMPANY RECORDS.
Julian:
THEN I WILL FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.
The timestamp was five days earlier.
Another message came from Camilla.
JULIAN SAYS AUDREY WILL NEVER KNOW.
Naomi replied:
WHO IS AUDREY?
Camilla:
THE WOMAN FUNDING ALL OF THIS WITHOUT REALIZING IT.
I stared at the screen.
Malcolm whispered, “Did they know Northstar was yours?”
“That message was sent before closing.”
Franklin scrolled.
Then stopped.
An attached memo contained my home address.
My private trust account number.
My mother’s investment records.
Someone knew.
Someone had always known.
Elaine said quietly, “Julian may have married you because of Northstar.”
I wanted to reject it.
Then I remembered how carefully he avoided asking about my work.
Maybe he had not avoided it because he didn’t care.
Maybe he had avoided it because he already knew.
Franklin opened Naomi’s last saved email draft.
TO: AUDREY VANCE.
UNSENT.
MS. VANCE, I THINK YOUR HUSBAND IS USING AURELIA’S DEBT TO FORCE YOUR COMPANY INTO A SPECIFIC TRANSACTION. CAMILLA IS INVOLVED, BUT I DON’T THINK SHE IS THE PERSON GIVING THE ORDERS.
Attached was a scanned invoice.
Approved by Julian.
Countersigned by Richard.
Payable to Morrow Family Office.
At the bottom, handwritten in black ink, were three words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
My mother had been dead for nine years.
Then Malcolm said something I did not expect.
“Audrey… your mother knew Conrad Morrow.”
I turned.
“How?”
His face tightened.
May you like
“Because Northstar wasn’t originally her firm.”
📖 Discover what Malcolm meant when he said Northstar did not originally belong to my mother—and why that history made Conrad Morrow central to Julian’s scheme in CHAPTER 6. 👇
