Chapter 3 - Room 814Room 814 was empty.
No Daniel.
No luggage.
No blood.
No dramatic message on the mirror.
Only a laptop sitting on the bed.
Michael checked the room before Adrian entered.
The laptop required no password.
One video file waited on the desktop.
Adrian pressed play.
Daniel appeared.
Same gray hair.
Same tired eyes.
But he looked terrified.
“Adrian…”
He took a breath.
“If you’re watching this, Sophie found the device.”
Adrian leaned closer.
Daniel continued.
“I know what it looks like.”
“I put it under your desk.”
Victor had been right.
Then:
“But I didn’t put it there to spy on you.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
Daniel looked toward something off-camera.
“I was ordered to replace another device.”
Michael frowned.
“Another?”
Daniel continued.
“The original surveillance system has been inside your office for almost eleven months.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“The one Sophie saw was mine.”
“I needed you to discover it.”
“Because if I simply told you…”
Daniel looked broken.
“…they would know I had turned.”
Who?
Adrian whispered:
“Who are they?”
As if hearing him across time, Daniel answered.
“The Helix Committee.”
Nobody spoke.
Vale Meridian had no committee by that name.
Daniel continued.
“Three board members.”
“Two executives.”
“One outside investor.”
“And someone in your family.”
Adrian felt a cold pressure behind his ribs.
“They are not trying to steal Northstar.”
“They are trying to use it to destroy Vale Meridian from inside.”
Then Daniel said the sentence that changed everything.
“Tomorrow’s acquisition vote has been engineered to fail.”
Adrian frowned.
Why would conspirators want a deal to fail?
Daniel explained.
Northstar possessed enormous infrastructure assets.
But it also carried hidden environmental liabilities.
Liabilities that had been deliberately concealed through falsified reports.
If Vale Meridian acquired the company—
those liabilities could become Adrian’s problem.
But if the acquisition failed publicly after billions had already been positioned—
Vale Meridian’s share price could crash.
Either way, someone could profit.
Daniel said:
“They’ve built positions on both outcomes.”
“Your company loses.”
“They win.”
Michael whispered:
“Market manipulation.”
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“And Adrian…”
Pause.
“The person running it knows your family better than you do.”
The video ended.
Then the hotel lights shut off.
Michael immediately reached for Adrian.
“Move.”
Emergency lights flickered.
A smoke alarm began screaming.
They evacuated.
Minutes later, firefighters found a small electrical fire inside the hotel utility room.
Probably unrelated.
May you like
Probably.
But Adrian had stopped believing in coincidences.
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