Chapter 19 - THE DAUGHTER WHO BETRAYED HER FATHERVictoria Sterling learned about the cottage raid before the official news reached the press.
She summoned her chief legal adviser to her office and ordered him to destroy several archived files.
He refused.
“Those files are subject to preservation orders,” he said. “Destroying them now would be obstruction.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Do you understand what happens if those documents reach prosecutors?”
“I understand exactly what happens if we destroy them.”
She dismissed him and locked the office door.
For years, Victoria had believed her father would eventually transfer control of Sterling Meridian to her. She had defended his decisions, concealed his losses, and moved money whenever he instructed her to do so.
But she had also kept her own copies of the transactions.
She had never trusted Richard completely.
Now she realized that the records she had preserved as insurance could become evidence against her.
Her phone rang.
“Victoria,” Richard said, his voice low and controlled. “The cottage has been raided.”
“I know.”
“Where is the original ledger?”
“I told you. It was destroyed.”
“Don't lie to me.”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“You taught me that information is power. Did you really think I would destroy the only thing that could protect me?”
There was a long silence.
Then Richard spoke.
“You have no idea what you are dealing with.”
“I have spent my entire life dealing with it.”
“You have spent your life benefiting from it.”
The accusation struck harder than she expected.
Richard continued.
“Find the ledger. Recover the remaining copies. If prosecutors obtain those records, both of us are finished.”
Victoria ended the call.
For the first time, she understood that her father had never considered her a successor.
She was simply another person who could be sacrificed to protect his empire.
That evening, she arranged a secret meeting with Daniel Mercer.
She arrived with a lawyer and a small encrypted storage device.
“I want to negotiate,” she said.
Daniel looked at the device.
“What are you offering?”
“Every financial record I have. Every account. Every payment made to officials. And the identity of the person who ordered the security contractor to approach Margaret Hale.”
“Why now?”
Victoria's eyes hardened.
“Because my father is planning to leave the country, and when he does, he'll make certain that I take the blame for everything.”
She placed the device on the table.
“But I want one thing in return.”
“What?”
“My testimony must be considered before the final charges are filed.”
Daniel did not promise her anything.
He took the device and ordered a forensic team to examine it.
Within hours, investigators found the missing link between Richard Sterling and the contractor involved in Margaret's death.
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The document bore Richard's electronic authorization.
For the first time, the case against the man at the center of the conspiracy was becoming difficult to deny.
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