Chapter 21 - Cause of Death
I didn’t accuse Malcolm of murder.
Six weeks earlier, I would have.
Instead, I requested Dad’s medical records through the estate’s lawful channels and spoke with his physician.
Dad had severe coronary artery disease.
He had ignored recommendations for further intervention.
His death was medically consistent with natural cardiac arrest.
No unexplained toxicology issue.
No mysterious injury.
No evidence of foul play.
Malcolm had given me nothing.
Just a sentence.
He wanted me distracted.
I returned to the next meeting and told him:
“My father died of heart disease.”
His expression barely changed.
“You’re certain?”
“No. Doctors are.”
That ended his game.
For the first time, I saw irritation rather than control.
I had refused the bigger, more dramatic conspiracy.
The truth was enough.
Our attorneys then focused on what could actually be established.
Financial fraud.
Trustee misconduct.
Unauthorized surveillance.
Credential compromise.
Evidence manipulation.
Vanessa’s treatment of Sophie.
Separate conduct.
Separate proof.
No fantasy in which one recording solved everything.
The independent board committee received the forensic findings.
Malcolm was placed on administrative leave.
I was not immediately restored as CEO.
That surprised shareholders.
It also pleased me.
The company needed governance independent of my family.
An interim executive was appointed.
I supported it.
Eleanor did too.
Malcolm had built his strategy around our supposed desperation to retain power.
We stopped giving him that weapon.
Then the laptop yielded something more personal.
A folder labeled R.S. contained plans for the edited kitchen footage before the incident occurred.
Suggested captions.
Media contacts.
A draft statement.
The file had been created four days before I threw the bowl.
Malcolm expected a confrontation.
But how could he know I would come home unexpectedly?
I had returned three hours early because a meeting was canceled.
Only my assistant knew.
Marcus traced the cancellation.
The client hadn’t canceled it.
My calendar had been altered.
Someone deliberately sent me home early.
The confrontation wasn’t merely anticipated.
It was scheduled.
Whoever changed my calendar had access to my executive assistant’s account.
The login came from Sterling Global headquarters.
Malcolm’s floor.
But security footage showed Malcolm in a board meeting at the time.
Someone else had triggered the final stage.
Then Eleanor found a name in the access log.
Daniel Cross.
Again.
Daniel hadn’t merely planted the device.
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He had arranged for me to discover Sophie at the exact moment the cameras were ready.
📖 Daniel admitted sending me home to trigger the confrontation, but his reason for doing it would reveal the one part of the plan Malcolm never controlled. 👇
