Chapter 4 - The Bridal Suite
Daniel wanted to drive back to the hotel immediately.
Rebecca stopped him.
“Do not confront them yet,” she said. “If someone is using your computer, we need evidence.”
Daniel paced Thomas’s kitchen. “My wife is stealing from me on our wedding day.”
“Maybe. Maybe someone is using her credentials too. We prove first, accuse second.”
Thomas gave Daniel a look that said listen to her.
Rebecca remotely contacted the company’s cybersecurity director, Malik Grant. Ten minutes later, Malik joined the call.
“I can see the laptop,” Malik said. “It’s connected to the hotel network.”
“Can you see what it’s doing?”
“Not without triggering alerts. But I can freeze corporate access.”
“Do it.”
Malik hesitated. “Daniel, whoever is on that machine just opened your acquisition folder.”
Daniel stopped pacing.
“What are they looking for?”
“The Whitmore deal. Specifically the signed letter of intent and your board authorization.”
Rebecca swore under her breath.
“What does that mean?” Thomas asked.
Rebecca said, “If they combine those documents with the forged approval, they can make the transfer look like part of a legitimate acquisition.”
Daniel felt sick.
The wedding had been more than a wedding.
It had been cover.
“Can we record the session?” he asked.
Malik said, “Already doing it.”
They watched from Thomas’s old laptop as a live activity log appeared.
A file opened.
Another copied.
Then the user clicked into Daniel’s personal folder.
Photos.
Tax returns.
A draft will.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
Finally, a folder named CARTER FAMILY opened.
Thomas leaned toward the screen.
Inside was a scan Daniel had forgotten he even possessed: his parents’ original marriage certificate, his mother’s death certificate, and several old patent sketches Thomas had given him for safekeeping.
The cursor paused over the sketches.
Then a transfer window appeared.
“They’re copying them,” Malik said.
“Where?”
“External drive.”
Daniel grabbed his coat.
Rebecca snapped, “Daniel, no.”
“They’re stealing my father’s proof.”
“We have the digital record. Let them finish.”
Thomas put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.
It was the hardest thing Daniel had done all night, but he stayed.
The transfer completed.
The laptop went offline.
Malik exhaled. “Got it.”
Rebecca said, “Now we can move.”
Then Daniel’s phone rang from an unknown number.
He answered.
Madeline was crying.
“Daniel, please don’t hang up.”
He said nothing.
“I need you to come back.”
“Why?”
Her breath shook.
“Because my mother knows you found the transfer.”
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“How?”
Madeline whispered, “Because she’s standing in the bridal suite holding your laptop.”
May you like
A pause.
Then, very softly, she said, “And she says if you don’t come back alone, she’ll destroy the only original document your father has left.”
