Chapter 10 — The Man Jason Was Working For
Chapter 10 — The Man Jason Was Working For
I stared at Terrence.
He stared back.
Neither of us spoke.
The torn pieces of Clause Seven lay between us on the marble floor.
SECOND BENEFICIARY — TERRANCE REED.
My mind kept returning to the same question.
Why?
Why would my father name Sydney's husband as the second beneficiary of an empire worth billions?
Why would Terrence marry my sister?
Why would he spend years watching my family?
And why had he waited until now to tell me?
I picked up the pieces of paper.
“Start talking.”
Terrence swallowed.
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“Meline—”
“No.”
I held up my hand.
“Not another explanation.”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“Tell me everything.”
He nodded.
Then he did something I didn't expect.
He took off his wedding ring.
He placed it on the floor.
“I never married Sydney for love.”
The words landed heavily.
I looked at him.
“Then why?”
“Because your father asked me to.”
My stomach tightened.
“You were assigned to her?”
“Yes.”
“To protect me?”
“Yes.”
“From what?”
“Everyone.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Your father knew someone would eventually try to take Helix.”
“Who?”
“Blackwell.”
I frowned.
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“But Victor worked with my father.”
“He did.”
“Then why would my father need protection from him?”
“Because they were never partners.”
Terrence looked at the empty hallway.
“They were enemies pretending to cooperate.”
He told me the story in pieces.
Twenty years ago, my father and Victor Blackwell had worked together on an information-security project.
It had been called Helix.
At first, it was legitimate.
A system designed to protect financial institutions from identity theft.
Then Victor discovered something.
The same technology could be used to access protected systems.
My father refused.
Victor didn't.
The partnership ended.
But the damage had already been done.
Victor had copied part of the technology.
My father hid the rest.
And Helix was placed into a trust.
My name became the primary beneficiary.
Terrence had been brought in years later.
“What did you do?”
“Private security.”
“For my father?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he tell you to marry Sydney?”
Terrence looked down.
“I wasn't supposed to marry her.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The original assignment was to watch your family.”
“Then how did Sydney happen?”
“She found out I was investigating your father.”
“What did she do?”
“She confronted me.”
“And?”
“She threatened to expose me.”
“Why?”
“She believed I was working against her.”
I shook my head.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew you were protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“And she still married you?”
“She believed she could use me.”
I laughed without humor.
“That sounds like Sydney.”
Terrence nodded.
“She wanted access to your company.”
“What kind?”
“Financial.”
“Corporate?”
“Both.”
I looked at him.
“And the pregnancy?”
His expression changed.
“I don't know who the father is.”
I believed him.
For the first time that night, I believed someone completely.
“Then why is your name on Clause Seven?”
Terrence hesitated.
“Because your father changed the trust.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew the primary beneficiary could be compromised.”
I frowned.
“Me?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“The people around you.”
I understood.
Jason.
My parents.
Sydney.
Victor.
Maybe even Elias.
My father had built a second layer.
If someone manipulated me into signing away Helix, control would transfer to Terrence.
Not permanently.
Only temporarily.
Until the threat was removed.
I stared at the document.
“You were supposed to protect the company.”
“Yes.”
“And me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you stop the loan?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I warned your father.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to wait.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted them to expose themselves.”
I stared.
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“He knew about Jason?”
“Yes.”
“The loan?”
“Yes.”
“The plan?”
“Yes.”
I stepped backward.
“So all of this…”
“Was being watched.”
I felt sick.
“My father let my wedding become a trap.”
Terrence's eyes filled with regret.
“He thought it was the only way.”
“The only way to do what?”
“Identify everyone involved.”
My attorney stepped closer.
“Terrence.”
He looked at her.
“You said you were assigned to protect Meline.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the assignment?”
He reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a sealed envelope.
The seal carried my father's initials.
R.H.
My hands shook as I took it.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Me.
Twenty years old.
Standing outside a university building.
On the back was a date.
And beneath it:
THEY HAVE STARTED WATCHING HER.
Another photograph.
Me leaving my first office.
Another.
Me signing the paperwork for my company.
Another.
Me meeting Jason.
The final photograph showed Jason sitting across from Victor Blackwell.
The date was ten years ago.
Before my relationship with Jason began.
I stared at it.
Terrence spoke quietly.
“This is why I was assigned.”
“To watch Jason?”
“To watch everyone.”
I turned the photograph over.
A handwritten note was underneath.
JASON REED — RECRUITED BY BLACKWELL.
My stomach tightened.
“Who recruited him?”
“Victor.”
“When?”
“Before you met him.”
I looked at the photograph.
“And my father knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he wanted you to discover the truth yourself.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He wanted me to discover it after I married the man?”
Terrence didn't answer.
I knew why.
My father had been afraid that if he confronted Jason too early, Blackwell would disappear.
They needed evidence.
They needed witnesses.
They needed the entire network exposed.
And apparently, my wedding had been the perfect trap.
Three hundred witnesses.
Multiple recordings.
Fraudulent documents.
The loan.
Everything had happened in one place.
Everything had been recorded.
My father had been playing a dangerous game.
But someone had changed the rules.
I looked at Terrence.
“Where is my father?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You worked for him.”
“Yes.”
“You knew everything.”
“Not everything.”
“What don't you know?”
He looked at the floor.
“The second plan.”
My blood ran cold.
“What second plan?”
“Your father had one contingency.”
“For what?”
“If Helix was compromised.”
“What was it?”
Terrence looked at me.
“He would destroy it.”
I stared.
“Destroy Helix?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“So nobody could own it.”
My attorney's face changed.
“That would destroy billions in value.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he do that?”
Terrence looked at me.
“Because he believed the technology was too dangerous.”
I remembered the old laptop.
The data.
The files.
The stolen identities.
The hidden systems.
Suddenly, Helix wasn't just an empire.
It was a weapon.
And my father had spent twenty years trying to keep it out of the wrong hands.
My phone rang.
Jason.
I answered.
“What?”
His voice was shaking.
“Meline.”
“What?”
“You need to leave the hotel.”
“Why?”
“Because they're coming.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
His breathing was heavy.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“The second signature.”
I froze.
“What about it?”
“It wasn't your father's.”
My attorney looked at me.
“Then whose?”
Jason hesitated.
“I don't know.”
“Jason.”
“I saw the document.”
“Who signed it?”
“It was digitally authenticated.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
He whispered:
“The signature belongs to you.”
I frowned.
“I never signed it.”
“I know.”
“Then how—”
“The signature was generated from a biometric template.”
My stomach dropped.
“What biometric template?”
“Your original company records.”
I looked at Terrence.
He knew.
“Someone has had access to my biometric data.”
Jason continued.
“They've been using your identity for years.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
He hesitated.
“I think I know.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“He built a duplicate identity.”
My attorney stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
Jason said:
“Someone has been signing documents as Meline Harper.”
I couldn't breathe.
“How long?”
“Since you were twenty.”
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Terrence said:
“That's impossible.”
I looked at him.
“You knew about this.”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
My attorney sat down.
“If someone created a legal duplicate identity using Meline's biometrics…”
She stopped.
“What?”
“They could execute contracts.”
“Transfer assets.”
“Open accounts.”
“Authorize loans.”
“Buy property.”
I looked at the trust.
My blood went cold.
“And they could make it look like I did all of it.”
“Yes.”
The loan.
The shell companies.
The fraudulent documents.
The psychiatric reports.
The foreclosure.
It all made sense.
Someone had built a second version of me.
A legal ghost.
A woman who existed on paper but not in reality.
And that woman had been destroying my life for years.
I whispered:
“Who is she?”
Nobody answered.
Then my phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
A woman standing in front of a mirror.
Dark hair.
Same height.
Same posture.
Same face.
My face.
I stared.
Terrence whispered:
“Meline…”
I couldn't move.
A message appeared beneath the photograph.
YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE WRONG WOMAN.
Then another.
SHE'S BEEN LIVING YOUR LIFE.
My heart pounded.
A final message appeared.
AND TONIGHT, SHE'S COMING TO TAKE YOUR NAME.
At 8:44 a.m., the hotel doors opened.
A woman walked inside.
Black dress.
Dark hair.
Calm expression.
Three hundred witnesses had already seen her photograph.
But now they saw her in person.
She looked exactly like me.
The ballroom fell silent.
The woman smiled.
Then she walked toward me.
“I've been waiting to meet you.”
I couldn't speak.
She stopped a few feet away.
“My name is Meline Harper.”
My attorney stepped forward.
“No.”
The woman smiled.
“Yes.”
She reached into her handbag.
Pulled out an identification card.
Then a passport.
Then a driver's license.
All bearing my name.
All bearing her photograph.
All legally issued.
My stomach turned.
She looked at me.
“You can call yourself the real Meline.”
She smiled.
“But the law doesn't know that.”
I stared at her.
“Who are you?”
She leaned closer.
And whispered:
“The woman your father created.”
Then she turned toward the ballroom.
Toward the three hundred witnesses.
And raised her voice.
“My name is Meline Harper.”
She pointed at me.
“And that woman is an impostor.”
The room erupted.
My mother stood.
My father was still missing.
Jason was nowhere to be seen.
Terrence moved toward me.
And then every screen in the ballroom suddenly turned on.
A document appeared.
My birth certificate.
Except the name of the mother had been altered.
The woman beside me smiled.
“Welcome to the life you thought belonged to you.”
Then she whispered so only I could hear:
“Your father didn't create me to steal your company.”
I stared at her.
“Then why?”
May you like
Her smile disappeared.
“To replace you.”
