Chapter 3 - The Midnight Dossier
At 2:00 AM, inside a high-rise office overlooking the city skyline, Edmund Cross sat behind a mahogany desk. Rain slicked the glass windows as his senior investigator, Marcus, laid a black leather folder on the blotter.
"You were right about the pendant, Mr. Cross," Marcus said, opening the file. "Meredith Norton isn't a former waitress from nowhere. Her maiden name is Meredith Vance. Daughter of Thomas Vance."
Edmund’s eyes narrowed as he picked up the dossier. "Thomas Vance... Vance Maritime?"
"The very same," Marcus replied. "When Thomas passed five years ago, his estate was supposed to pass into a blind trust for Meredith. But six months before they married, Bradley Norton’s firm, Norton Development, took over the liquidation of Vance Maritime assets. Bradley and his mother, Pamela, intercepted the probate filings. They forged power-of-attorney documents while Meredith was grieving, diverting an estimated forty million dollars into offshore holding accounts."
Edmund turned the page, looking at a photograph of Meredith from five years ago—standing beside her father, dressed in sharp silk, holding herself with the same quiet dignity he had witnessed in that suburban backyard.
"They kept her broke on purpose," Edmund murmured, his voice laced with cold fury. "They made her believe she was dependent on them while living off her stolen fortune."
"And there's one more thing, sir," Marcus added. "Bradley Norton’s company is currently applying for a fifty-million-dollar bridge loan from Cross Financial to fund their new downtown plaza project. The contract is sitting on your desk, waiting for your final signature tomorrow morning."
May you like
Edmund closed the folder with a heavy, decisive thud.
"Call my legal team," Edmund ordered, staring out at the city lights. "And buy every share of Norton Development available on the open market before the stock exchange opens at nine."
