Single Mom Practiced Her Interview in the Elevator — Unaware the Man Was the CEO!
Chapter 6
They didn’t tell the board.
Not yet.
Ethan trusted fewer people than ever.
Emily understood why.
They created a private investigation team of only three people.
Ethan.
Emily.
And Noah Grant, Ethan’s longtime legal counsel.
Noah was skeptical about involving Emily.
“She isn’t an investigator.”
Ethan answered,
“She notices things we miss.”
Emily raised an eyebrow.
“Thank you.”
“No compliment intended.”
“Still taking it.”
Noah smiled.
The three of them spent a week examining old records.
They discovered that money had been moved through dozens of shell companies.
But the pattern wasn’t random.
Every payment passed through one internal code.
Project Northstar.
Emily recognized the naming pattern.
“What’s Northstar?”
Ethan shook his head.
“No idea.”
She looked through a folder.
“Then why does the system classify it as an employee-benefit project?”
Noah leaned closer.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Emily continued reading.
“Look.”
The payments were disguised as employee assistance funds.
But the beneficiaries were not employees.
They were executives’ relatives.
Political consultants.
Outside contractors.
And one account belonging to a private security company.
Emily looked at Ethan.
“That’s how they hid it.”
“Yes.”
“Why hasn’t anyone caught it?”
“They did.”
Ethan’s voice was quiet.
“Mark did.”
Emily looked down.
Then she noticed something.
One payment had been sent three weeks after Mark’s supposed death.
The beneficiary was Mark Carter.
Emily froze.
“That isn’t possible.”
Ethan took the page.
“When did your husband die?”
“September 14.”
“This transfer was September 28.”
“He was dead.”
“Exactly.”
Emily stared.
“Someone used his identity after he died.”
Noah looked at the metadata.
“They were trying to make his accounts look active.”
“Why?”
“To keep the investigation alive without the investigator.”
Emily felt sick.
Then Ethan received a call.
He answered.
“Ethan.”
A security employee spoke urgently.
“There was a break-in at the archive facility.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“What was taken?”
“Nothing physical.”
“Then what?”
“Someone accessed the Northstar files.”
Ethan looked at Emily.
Her stomach dropped.
“Did you identify them?”
“No.”
The line went silent.
Then the security employee said,
“But there’s something you need to know.”
“What?”
“The access card belonged to Emily Carter.”
Emily’s face went white.
“That isn’t mine.”
Ethan ended the call.
Noah stared at her.
“Someone is framing you.”
Emily shook her head.
“I haven’t been near the archive facility.”
“I know.”
Ethan looked at her.
“I believe you.”
She met his eyes.
The words calmed her more than they should have.
But someone had just used her identity.
And that meant the person behind Northstar knew exactly who she was.
That night, Emily arrived home to find Sophie asleep on the couch.
There was a small envelope under the front door.
No name.
Inside was a photograph.
Mark.
Standing outside Sterling Innovations.
On the back, someone had written:
Your husband wasn’t the only one watching.
Emily’s hands trembled.
She looked toward Sophie.
Then locked every door in the house.
