Chapter 8 - THE PRIVATE RECORDINGS
Elena felt violated in a way she had not expected.
The outdoor camera footage had saved her life.
The bedroom cameras were different.
They had watched her change clothes.
Sleep.
Cry.
Argue with her husband.
Speak privately to her father.
Speak privately to her attorney.
“How long?”
Aaron answered carefully.
“At least five months.”
Elena looked away.
“Who had access?”
“Thomas says Diego did.”
“And Brenna.”
Claire swore under her breath.
Alvin walked toward the window.
Elena looked at him.
“Dad.”
He turned.
“If any recordings exist of me discussing Sterling shares, board votes, trust documents, or my estate, they knew everything.”
Claire nodded.
“That may explain how Diego prepared the transfers so precisely.”
Thomas Reed agreed to give a recorded statement.
He admitted Brenna approached him first.
She told him Elena's pregnancy made her unpredictable.
She claimed Diego needed additional security because Alvin might try to remove Elena from the marriage.
Thomas accepted money.
At first, he only gave Brenna administrative access.
Then she asked for hidden cameras.
Then she asked him to create short blind spots in the security network.
He claimed he never knew anyone planned to hurt Elena.
Claire asked the obvious question.
“Why create blind spots?”
Thomas looked down.
“Mrs. Navarro said she needed privacy to remove documents.”
“What documents?”
“I don't know.”
“You accepted fifty thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
“Who paid you?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Not Diego.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Who?”
Thomas looked toward the camera recording the interview.
“Victor Keane.”
Alvin recognized the name immediately.
Victor Keane had been one of his closest business partners for twenty-two years.
He sat on the board of Sterling Development.
He had been present when Alvin placed millions of dollars in shares into Elena's premarital trust.
He knew every weakness in the ownership structure.
Elena stared at her father.
“You know him.”
Alvin's voice turned hollow.
“He was at your wedding.”
More investigators were assigned.
Bank records connected Victor to North Crown Holdings through a chain of consulting payments.
The amount was staggering.
More than six million dollars had moved through related accounts during the previous year.
Claire spread the documents across Elena's hospital table.
“This was never just Diego trying to steal from his wife.”
Alvin nodded.
“They were positioning to take voting control.”
Elena looked between them.
“Control of what?”
Alvin finally told her.
Years earlier, he had divided his ownership so no single family member controlled Sterling Development outright.
But Elena's shares, combined with a small group of trusts and proxy rights, could determine several important board votes.
If Diego gained temporary control over Elena's shares while she was incapacitated, and Victor voted with him, they could remove Alvin as chief executive.
Elena stared at her father.
“How much is the company worth?”
Alvin did not answer immediately.
“Approximately four point eight billion dollars.”
The room fell silent.
Elena remembered the freezing patio.
The missing page.
The medication.
The hidden cameras.
Suddenly, every part connected.
Diego had not simply wanted her property.
May you like
Someone wanted her vote.
And if she had died beneath that freezing water, the company could have changed hands before her funeral.
