Chapter 5 - ALIBI AND ALLIANCE
Vivienne’s face drained of color. The police officers exchanged uncertain glances.
“I... I don't know what you're talking about,” Vivienne stammered, backing away. Arthur Cross looked equally shocked, suddenly realizing his daughter had overplayed her hand.
“Get out,” Nathan said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “The engagement is off. If you or your father ever step foot on my property again, I will have you arrested for filing a false police report and trespassing.”
As the Crosses fled the mansion, humiliated, the police awkwardly excused themselves. Nathan turned to Claire. The adrenaline was fading, leaving a strange, quiet intimacy in the empty hall.
“Thank you,” Claire said softly.
“You don’t need to thank me. I couldn't let them destroy you.” Nathan reached out, his fingers gently grazing the side of her arm where Vivienne’s guards had grabbed her. “My grandfather is awake. He wants to tell us everything.”
They found Elias sitting up in bed, looking older but resolute. “Forty years ago,” Elias began, his voice raspy, “Silas and I developed the algorithm that became the foundation of Archer Meridian. But Arthur Cross—Vivienne’s father—was our financier. He framed Silas for corporate espionage to steal his shares. I was young, foolish, and I believed the evidence Arthur planted. I let Silas take the fall. By the time I learned the truth, Silas had vanished.”
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Claire felt tears prick her eyes. Her grandfather had died in poverty while the men who ruined him lived as kings.
“I’m going to make it right,” Nathan promised, looking directly at Claire. “I’m taking Arthur Cross down.”
