She Helped a Homeless Stranger… Not Knowing He Was a Billionaire in Disguise
Chapter 6
Ethan Blake had been Nathaniel’s chief financial officer for nine years.
He knew everything.
Or almost everything.
He knew which accounts Nathaniel checked personally.
Which executives he trusted.
Which family members hated him.
And most importantly…
He knew Nathaniel had disappeared intentionally.
Ethan had helped create the illusion.
But there was one thing Nathaniel didn’t know.
Ethan wasn’t working alone.
Jonathan Cross sat across from him in a private club.
“You said the woman was harmless.”
Ethan poured whiskey.
“She isn’t.”
Jonathan looked irritated.
“She’s an assistant.”
“She found Blackridge.”
Jonathan stopped.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then find out.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“We need another week.”
“You have three days.”
Jonathan stood.
“My brother is about to expose everything.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have stolen forty-eight million dollars.”
Jonathan’s face hardened.
“Watch yourself.”
“I am.”
The meeting ended.
Meanwhile, Olivia and Nathaniel were working late.
They had traced the Blackridge payments to a second company.
Then a third.
All of them connected to one address.
An old warehouse on the South Side.
Nathaniel called his security team.
“We’re going.”
Olivia frowned.
“You’re going personally?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone is hiding evidence, I want to see it.”
They arrived at the warehouse after midnight.
Security entered first.
The building appeared empty.
Then they found a locked office.
Inside were boxes of financial records.
Olivia opened one.
Every box contained copies of Cross Meridian transactions.
“This is everything.”
Nathaniel looked stunned.
“Someone has been keeping records.”
“Why?”
“So they can threaten you.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Security moved.
A man ran.
They chased him outside.
He escaped into an alley.
But he dropped something.
A phone.
Nathaniel picked it up.
There was one recent message.
THE WOMAN KNOWS TOO MUCH.
Olivia looked at him.
“That’s comforting.”
Nathaniel didn’t smile.
Back at headquarters, they examined the phone.
There were hundreds of messages.
Most were encrypted.
But one contact wasn’t.
E.B.
Olivia stared.
“Ethan Blake.”
Nathaniel said nothing.
“Do you think he’s involved?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don’t want to accuse someone without proof.”
She looked at him.
“That’s admirable.”
“It’s dangerous.”
The next morning, Nathaniel confronted Ethan.
He denied everything.
“I’ve worked for your family for nine years.”
“Exactly.”
Ethan looked angry.
“You think I’d steal from you?”
“I think someone has.”
“Then investigate.”
Nathaniel slid the phone across the desk.
Ethan’s face changed.
Only for a second.
But Olivia saw it.
“Where did you find this?”
“Warehouse.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
He stood.
“Then you don’t understand what you’ve walked into.”
“What does that mean?”
Ethan looked at Nathaniel.
“Your brother isn’t the one you should fear.”
Nathaniel froze.
“Who?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, I’m dead.”
He walked toward the door.
Nathaniel stopped him.
“Ethan.”
Ethan turned.
“Who is it?”
Ethan whispered:
“Your mother.”
Nathaniel’s face went completely blank.
Olivia stared.
“Your mother died six years ago,” she said.
Ethan nodded.
“I know.”
Then he walked out.
Nathaniel remained silent.
Olivia looked at him.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
He sat down.
“My mother is dead.”
Olivia noticed something on Ethan’s desk.
A photograph.
A woman.
Older.
Elegant.
Olivia picked it up.
She had seen her before.
In the company archives.
Nathaniel’s mother.
But written on the back were two words:
STILL ALIVE.
