COLLISION
1995 Words
The rain had stopped by late afternoon.
But the city still looked as though it hadn't quite recovered from the storm.
Water glistened across the streets outside Sterling Global Holdings, reflecting the headlights of passing cars and the towering glass buildings above them. The sky remained a heavy gray, threatening another downpour before the day was over.
Bella Hart stepped through the revolving doors of Sterling Global Holdings with a leather folder tucked beneath her arm.
After finishing her shift at the hospital, she'd met Martin Hayes again. The documents he'd shown her had only raised more questions.
Now she was standing inside the headquarters of the very family whose name had been tied to her father's downfall.
She wasn't sure whether coming here was brave or foolish.
Probably a little of both.
The receptionist looked up.
“Good afternoon. How can I help you?”
“I'm here to see Martin Hayes.”
The woman checked her computer.
“Mr. Hayes is expecting you. Twenty-sixth floor.”
“Thank you.”
Bella turned toward the elevators.
She had taken only a few steps when someone came around the corner.
Neither of them had time to stop.
They collided.
The folder slipped from Bella's arm.
“Sorry”
Papers scattered across the polished marble floor.
“Oh, great.”
Bella immediately crouched to gather them.
“I wasn't paying attention.”
“Clearly.”
She paused.
A man's hand had reached for one of the papers.
Their fingers nearly touched.
Bella looked up.
And forgot, for a second, what she was going to say.
The man in front of her was tall, broad-shouldered and dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His dark hair was slightly disordered, as though he'd run a hand through it one too many times.
His face was striking, but there was something about his expression that made him difficult to approach.
His eyes were dark.
Very dark.
And they were fixed on her.
He picked up the paper between them.
Then he looked at it.
Then at her.
“Dr. Bella Hart.”
Bella frowned.
“Yes?”
He handed the paper back.
“You should watch where you're going.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Excuse me?”
“You nearly walked into me.”
Then back at him.
“You walked into me.”
For the first time, something shifted in his expression.
Not quite a smile.
More like he found her answer mildly entertaining.
“Did I?”
Bella stared at him.
“Yes.”
He said nothing.
She gathered the last of her papers and stood.
“Do you always speak to people like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like they're an inconvenience.”
His eyes remained on hers.
“Only when they are.”
Bella let out a short laugh.
“Charming.”
She tucked the papers back into her folder and turned toward the elevators.
She didn't look back.
The man remained where he was.
Watching her leave.
Bella Hart.
Alexander Sterling had known that name long before she had walked into his building.
For eight years, it had been attached to the worst chapter of his life.
The Hart name had become synonymous, in his mind, with betrayal.
With his father's death.
With everything Alexander had spent years trying to avenge.
He knew the basic facts about Bella.
Twenty-nine.
A doctor.
Working at St. Vincent's Hospital.
She had never married.
She had spent years trying to protect what little remained of her father's estate.
And, despite everything the world had said about Daniel Hart, she had continued to defend him.
Alexander had expected arrogance.
Manipulation.
Perhaps even the polished innocence of someone who knew exactly how to hide a lie.
He hadn't expected exhaustion.
Or that sharp tongue.
Or the way she'd looked him directly in the eye instead of backing down.
There was something about her that didn't fit.
“Interesting.”
Sebastian Cole's voice came from behind him.
Alexander turned.
His assistant stood several feet away, his hands in his pockets.
“Who was she?”
“Bella Hart.”
Sebastian's eyebrows rose.
“Ah.”
Alexander started walking.
Sebastian followed.
“That explains the death stare.”
Alexander glanced at him.
“I wasn't staring.”
“You absolutely were.”
“I was thinking.”
“That's even worse.”
Alexander ignored him.
Sebastian looked toward the elevators.
“Should I find out why she's here?”
“Yes.”
“Already doing it.”
Alexander stopped walking.
“Sebastian.”
His assistant looked at him.
“Quietly.”
Sebastian's mouth curved.
“Of course.”
Alexander continued down the corridor.
But something had changed.
For years, the Hart name had existed in his mind as a memory.
A name written in old reports.
A name spoken during arguments about his father's death.
A name he'd learned to hate without ever questioning why.
Now it had a face.
And that irritated him more than it should have.
On the twenty-sixth floor, Bella stepped out of the elevator and found Martin Hayes waiting outside a conference room.
“You're late,” he said.
Bella looked at her watch.
“Three minutes.”
“I'll forgive you.”
“How generous.”
Martin smiled.
“Come in.”
Bella followed him inside.
Several documents were spread across the conference table.
She sat down.
“What did you find?”
Martin pushed a file toward her.
“This.”
Bella opened it.
Her eyes immediately landed on the name at the top.
Richard Sterling.
Her stomach tightened.
“What is this?”
“Financial records from eight years ago.”
She turned the first page.
Then another.
Account numbers.
Transfers.
Signatures.
Company references she didn't recognize.
Then she saw it.
Her father's signature.
Bella stopped.
“Why does my father's name appear here?”
“Because he signed the documents.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“I know.”
Martin sat opposite her.
“I'm still trying to understand what these transactions mean.”
Bella scanned the pages again.
“Were these made before Richard Sterling died?”
“Yes.”
“And after?”
Martin hesitated.
“That's where things become complicated.”
Bella looked up.
“What does that mean?”
“Some of these transactions were never included in the original investigation.”
Her fingers tightened around the document.
“Why not?”
“We don't know.”
Bella turned another page.
Something handwritten appeared at the bottom.
She knew the handwriting immediately.
Her father's.
Three words.
R.S. doesn't know.
Bella stared at them.
“What does this mean?”
Martin shook his head.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
She couldn't.
She couldn't even breathe properly.
Her father's words from years ago returned to her.
One day, Bella. You'll learn I never betrayed Richard Sterling.
She swallowed.
“What else did you find?”
Martin reached for another document.
Before he could answer, the conference-room door opened.
Bella looked up.
The man from downstairs stood in the doorway.
Her expression tightened.
He looked even more intimidating now.
Martin immediately stood.
“Mr. Sterling.”
Bella froze.
Sterling.
It took only a second for everything to fall into place.
The man she'd just argued with in the lobby was Alexander Sterling.
Richard Sterling's son.
The man whose family had spent eight years believing her father was responsible for his death.
Alexander's eyes settled on her.
The same cold stare.
Only now Bella understood where it came from.
Martin gestured between them.
“Alexander, this is Dr. Bella Hart.”
“I know.”
Bella's eyes narrowed.
“You know?”
Alexander stepped into the room.
“Everyone knows who you are.”
Something about the way he said it made her uncomfortable.
Bella slowly rose from her chair.
“And apparently everyone has an opinion.”
“I have more than an opinion.”
“Mr. Sterling—” Martin began.
Bella lifted a hand.
“No.”
She looked directly at Alexander.
“I'd like to know what he means.”
Alexander's gaze dropped to the documents on the table.
“What are you doing with those?”
“Martin asked me to review them.”
“Why?”
“Because they concern my father.”
Alexander's expression hardened.
“Your father has been dead for years.”
The words hit harder than Bella expected.
Her face went still.
“So has yours.”
Silence.
Martin looked between them.
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“You don't know anything about my father.”
“And you don't know everything about mine.”
“I know enough.”
Bella's voice dropped.
“That's the problem.”
Alexander stared at her.
“You think your father was innocent.”
“I think he deserves the truth.”
“He had eight years to tell it.”
Bella's eyes flashed.
“He tried.”
Alexander went still.
“What?”
Bella picked up the handwritten note.
“He left this.”
She held it up.
“He said one day I'd learn he never betrayed Richard Sterling.”
Alexander's eyes moved to the paper.
For the first time since he'd entered the room, something changed in his expression.
It was gone almost immediately.
“Convenient.”
Bella lowered the note.
“You don't believe him.”
“No.”
“You never did.”
“No.”
“Then why are you looking at that note like it means something?”
Alexander didn't answer.
Bella studied him.
Then she took a step closer.
“You hate my father.”
His eyes hardened.
“You should hate me too.”
Bella frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you're a Hart.”
The words were quiet.
But they carried eight years of bitterness.
Bella held his gaze.
“I didn't choose my father.”
“Neither did I.”
Something shifted in his voice.
For the briefest moment, Bella heard something beneath the anger.
Pain.
Alexander seemed to realize it too.
His expression closed.
“You should leave.”
Bella stiffened.
“I came here to understand what happened to my father.”
“And you're not going to find the answer here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know this company.”
“And I know my father.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“You don't know what happened eight years ago.”
“Neither do you.”
His eyes sharpened.
Bella knew immediately that she'd struck something.
Something he had buried very deep.
She gathered the documents.
“Until I find out the truth, I'm not going anywhere.”
Alexander watched her.
“You should be careful, Dr. Hart.”
Bella paused.
“Is that a warning?”
“Yes.”
“Or a threat?”
He didn't answer.
She walked toward the door.
When she reached him, she stopped.
“I don't know why you look at me like you hate me.”
Alexander remained silent.
“Whatever happened between our families…”
She met his eyes.
“I wasn't there.”
Then she walked out.
The door closed behind her.
For several seconds, neither man in the room spoke.
Martin finally broke the silence.
“That could have gone better.”
Alexander didn't respond.
His eyes remained on the closed door.
Then he looked down at the document Bella had left behind.
His attention settled on the handwritten words.
R.S. doesn't know.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
Eight years.
He had spent eight years believing he knew exactly what had happened to his father.
He had built his anger on that belief.
His revenge too.
But now Daniel Hart's handwriting was sitting in front of him.
And for the first time, a question he'd refused to ask began taking shape.
What if Daniel Hart hadn't betrayed Richard?
Alexander's expression darkened.
Because if Daniel Hart wasn't responsible...
Then someone else was.
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