Chapter 10 - The Woman in Chicago
Z
The photograph was taken outside a restaurant in downtown Chicago.
Julian stood beneath a streetlight, wearing the same gray coat he had worn in the final video message. Beside him was a woman with long dark hair and a red scarf.
She was not smiling.
Neither was Julian.
They looked afraid.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
The night before Julian died.
“Who is she?” I asked.
Marcus zoomed in on the image.
“I don’t know.”
But Arthur did.
The moment he saw the woman’s face, he turned away.
“Arthur,” I said. “Who is she?”
He remained silent.
“Tell me.”
His shoulders fell.
“Her name is Nora Price.”
The last name hit me immediately.
“Samuel Price,” I said. “The man Evelyn loved.”
Arthur nodded.
“His daughter.”
The room went cold.
“Evelyn’s daughter?” Marcus asked.
“No,” Arthur said. “Samuel had a daughter from a previous relationship. Nora was six when he went to prison.”
“And Julian met her in Chicago because?”
Arthur looked devastated.
“Because Nora had been investigating Samuel’s death.”
Marcus studied the photograph again.
“She contacted Julian?”
“Yes. She believed Samuel had been framed by Sterling Corporation. She had documents showing our father arranged the theft accusation.”
“And Evelyn knew?”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Evelyn knew Nora existed. But she refused to see her.”
I felt sick.
Aunt Evelyn had allowed her own grief to become a weapon. She had spent decades destroying anyone who threatened the Sterling family, while secretly carrying the proof that the family had destroyed the man she loved.
“What did Nora want from Julian?” I asked.
“Justice,” Arthur said.
Marcus frowned.
“Then she may know more about Evelyn’s role in Julian’s death.”
We flew to Chicago the next morning.
Nora lived in a small apartment above a bookstore in Logan Square. Nothing about the building suggested that it held the answer to a corporate murder.
But when she opened the door and saw Arthur, her expression turned to ice.
“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” she said.
Arthur looked at the floor.
“I know.”
Nora looked at me.
“You must be Elena.”
“You know who I am?”
“Julian told me about you. And Leo.”
My breath caught.
“You spoke to Julian?”
“He came to me the night before he died.”
She stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Her apartment was filled with boxes of files, old newspaper clippings, legal documents, and photographs of Samuel Price.
On one wall was a faded picture of Evelyn as a young woman standing beside Samuel.
They looked happy.
Almost painfully happy.
Nora saw me looking.
“She loved him,” Nora said. “That’s the sickest part.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because after he died, she had a choice. She could expose the people who ruined him. Instead, she joined them.”
Nora sat across from us.
“Julian came to Chicago because he found my father’s original employment records. They proved he never stole anything. Evelyn had kept copies for years.”
“Why would she keep them?” Marcus asked.
“Insurance,” Nora replied. “She kept secrets the way other people keep money.”
Nora pulled out a sealed envelope.
“Julian gave me this.”
Inside was a handwritten letter.
It was addressed to me.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Elena, if anything happens to me, Marcus will help you. But if Marcus cannot, find Nora Price. She has proof Evelyn is not merely covering Daniel’s fraud. She has been preparing to erase the entire Sterling family from the inside.
I looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Nora opened a financial report.
“Evelyn created a plan to force Sterling Corporation into collapse. She used Daniel’s offshore debt, but she also arranged insurance policies and asset transfers that would allow her to buy the company back through hidden investors.”
“She wanted the company to fail,” I whispered.
“She wanted it stripped clean,” Nora said. “Arthur disgraced. Julian dead. Daniel blamed. You and Leo removed from the trust.”
Marcus’s face darkened.
“And Evelyn would emerge with total control.”
Nora nodded.
“But Julian found out.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Did he tell you Daniel was going to hurt him?”
“He told me he was afraid Daniel would do something reckless. But he said Evelyn was the real danger.”
Arthur looked broken.
“My sister planned all of this.”
“Yes,” Nora said. “But there is more.”
She opened another file.
Inside was a copy of Evelyn’s private correspondence.
One email had been sent the night Julian died.
Its subject line was simple.
THE ROAD IS CLEAR.
I stared at it.
The recipient was not Daniel.
It was someone named Graham Vale.
“Who is Graham Vale?” I asked.
Marcus went still.
“I know that name.”
“Who is he?”
Marcus looked at me.
“He is Sterling Corporation’s outside legal counsel.”
Arthur whispered, “He was at Julian’s funeral.”
Nora nodded.
“And according to these records, he is also Evelyn’s secret business partner.”
The room fell silent.
Then Marcus’s phone rang.
He listened for only a few seconds before his face turned white.
“What happened?” I asked.
He ended the call.
“Graham Vale filed an emergency corporate motion this morning,” he said.
“For what?”
“To declare you unfit to manage Leo’s trust.”
My stomach dropped.
Marcus continued.
“The hearing is tomorrow.”
I looked down at Julian’s letter.
Evelyn may have been in jail.
Daniel may have been convicted.
But the people behind them were still moving.
May you like
And this time, they were coming for my son in open court.
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