Behind His Empire

Chapter 5: Something Doesn't Add Up

Lena Hart had always trusted numbers.

People could lie.

Documents could be forged.

Memories could become unreliable.

But numbers followed patterns.

And patterns rarely lied.

She sat alone in her office at Blackwood International, surrounded by twelve-year-old financial records.

It was nearly seven in the evening.

Most of the employees had already left.

Lena hadn't noticed.

She had been staring at the same spreadsheet for almost twenty minutes.

Something didn't add up.

She leaned closer to the screen.

A transfer had been made from Blackwood Properties to a company called Northstar Holdings.

$750,000.

The transaction was recorded as a property acquisition deposit.

Lena checked the date.

Twelve years ago.

Three days before Daniel Hart was accused of embezzlement.

Her eyes narrowed.

She opened the property records.

There was no Northstar property acquisition.

No building.

No land.

No development contract.

Nothing.

Lena searched the company's internal database.

Northstar Holdings existed.

Technically.

But its records were almost empty.

No employees.

No office address.

No active projects.

No meaningful revenue.

A shell company.

Lena's pulse quickened.

She opened the transaction details.

The money had remained in Northstar's account for exactly forty-eight hours.

Then it had been transferred to another company.

Meridian Capital Partners.

Lena froze.

She had seen that name before.

She searched her father's case files.

There it was.

Meridian Capital Partners had appeared in one of the documents connected to Daniel Hart's investigation.

But according to the official report, the company had never been considered relevant.

Lena sat back.

"That's impossible."

She pulled up another transaction.

The same pattern.

Blackwood Properties.

Northstar Holdings.

Meridian Capital Partners.

Then another.

And another.

Three separate transfers.

All occurring within the same six-month period.

All approved by Michael Grant.

Lena began making notes.

The money wasn't simply disappearing.

It was being moved through layers of companies to make the original source difficult to trace.

But there was something even stranger.

She compared the transaction dates with Daniel's work schedule.

Every suspicious transfer had occurred while he was physically inside Blackwood International.

That could have been coincidence.

But Lena didn't believe in coincidences anymore.

She opened the original accusation report.

Daniel had been accused of authorizing the transfers.

But the approval signatures were electronic.

That meant someone had used his credentials.

Lena checked the access logs.

Her eyes widened.

Daniel's credentials had been used after his computer was supposedly shut down.

She checked the time.

11:48 p.m.

Her father had left the building at 7:16 p.m. that evening.

Lena's breathing slowed.

Someone had accessed his account after he had left.

She copied the record.

Then she noticed another detail.

The access came from a terminal on the executive floor.

Lena stared at the screen.

The executive floor.

Alexander's floor.

She immediately reached for her phone.

Then stopped.

She remembered Alexander's warning.

Don't trust anyone.

But this was different.

She needed an explanation.

Lena stood and walked out of her office.

The corridor was nearly empty.

She took the elevator to the forty-second floor.

When the doors opened, the executive floor was silent.

Only a few lights remained on.

Alexander's office door was closed.

Lena knocked.

No answer.

She knocked again.

Still nothing.

She tried the handle.

Unlocked.

She hesitated before entering.

Alexander wasn't there.

His desk was covered with several files.

Lena should have turned around.

Instead, her eyes landed on a computer screen.

A document was open.

Her father's name appeared at the top.

DANIEL HART — INTERNAL REVIEW

Lena stepped closer.

The document contained notes from the original investigation.

Most were familiar.

Then she saw something she had never seen before.

A handwritten line had been scanned into the file.

He knows about the account.

Lena's heart began pounding.

Below it was another sentence.

If Hart talks, everything collapses.

She stared at the words.

Someone had wanted her father silenced.

A sound came from behind her.

Lena spun around.

Alexander stood in the doorway.

His expression was hard.

"What are you doing in my office?"

Lena didn't move.

"I found something."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She turned the computer toward him.

"Who wrote this?"

Alexander's eyes fell on the screen.

His face changed.

Only for a second.

But Lena saw it.

"You've seen this before."

"No."

"You're lying."

His gaze snapped to hers.

"Be careful."

"I'm done being careful."

She pulled the printed transaction records from her folder.

"I found three transfers through Northstar Holdings."

Alexander looked at the documents.

"Where did you get these?"

"Your financial archives."

"And?"

"The money went to Meridian Capital Partners."

His expression became unreadable.

"That name means something to you."

Alexander didn't answer.

Lena stepped closer.

"Meridian appeared in my father's investigation."

"I know."

"Then why wasn't it investigated?"

"Because the investigators couldn't connect it to the missing funds."

"They were looking in the wrong place."

Alexander studied her.

"What else did you find?"

"Someone used my father's credentials after he had left the building."

His eyes hardened.

"When?"

"Eleven forty-eight p.m."

Alexander was silent.

"Where?"

"Executive floor."

The silence that followed was heavier than before.

Lena watched him carefully.

"That's your floor."

"I know."

"Who had access?"

"Several people."

"Names?"

"Security will have the records."

"Then let's get them."

Alexander didn't move.

Lena frowned.

"What?"

He looked at her.

"You shouldn't have found this."

"Why?"

"Because those records were supposed to be gone."

A chill moved through her.

"Supposed to be?"

"Yes."

Lena looked at the screen again.

"So someone restored them?"

"No."

Alexander's voice dropped.

"Someone failed to erase them completely."

Before Lena could respond, the lights in the office flickered.

Both of them looked toward the hallway.

A second later, Alexander's computer screen went black.

Then his phone vibrated.

He looked at the message.

His expression changed.

Lena watched him carefully.

"What is it?"

Alexander didn't answer.

He turned the phone toward her.

One sentence appeared on the screen.

STOP LOOKING INTO THE PAST.

Lena's stomach tightened.

Alexander locked the phone.

"This investigation is over for tonight."

Lena shook her head.

"No."

His eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me?"

She gathered the documents.

"Whoever sent that message wants us to stop."

Alexander stared at her.

Lena held his gaze.

"Which means we're finally looking in the right place."

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Alexander gave a slow nod.

"Tomorrow morning, we start with Meridian."

Lena turned toward the door.

But before she could leave, Alexander spoke.

"Lena."

She looked back.

His expression was unusually serious.

"From this moment on, don't work alone."

She frowned.

"Why?"

Alexander glanced at the threatening message still glowing on his phone.

"Because whoever framed your father just realized you're getting close."

Lena stepped into the hallway.

For the first time, the numbers on her screen didn't feel like numbers anymore.

They felt like a warning.

And somewhere inside Blackwood International, someone had just realized that Daniel Hart's daughter was no longer willing to forget.

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End of Chapter 5