Chapter 10 - Marcus Wants to Deal
Marcus arrived with two attorneys.
No touching.
No shouting.
No hospital theatrics.
The man from Room 608 had disappeared beneath legal advice.
We met in Nathan’s conference room.
Renee attended remotely from Sterling House because her doctors limited exposure before transplant preparation.
I sat beside the screen.
Marcus looked at me.
“You’re still here.”
“Yes.”
“Twelve million persuasive?”
“Apparently.”
Renee cut in.
“What does Victoria plan to destroy?”
Marcus looked toward his attorneys.
One nodded.
“North Harbor files.”
“What files?”
“Beneficial ownership agreements. Side fee schedules. Halcyon correspondence.”
Nathan asked:
“Where?”
“A secure archive in Sterling Tower.”
“Why not simply delete?”
“Because Arthur required transaction archives to have offline backups.”
Renee frowned.
“My father’s vault?”
Marcus nodded.
Victoria had access as former chair.
Board suspension should have disabled it.
But Owen Pike’s security system allowed emergency override.
Owen was suspended too.
Marcus said:
“They’ll use a facilities credential.”
Who?
He did not know.
Or claimed not.
Then Renee asked:
“Why tell us?”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Because Victoria cut me out.”
There.
No moral awakening.
“She told Halcyon I was unstable after the hospital.”
“You assaulted Daniel.”
“He grabbed me.”
I almost spoke.
Renee lifted one hand.
My cue to stay silent.
Marcus continued.
“My North Harbor interest was transferred yesterday.”
“Can she do that?”
“Apparently I signed a call option.”
He had not read.
Interesting.
Victoria treated him the way he treated Renee.
Consent as nuisance.
Then Marcus said:
“I can prove she recruited me.”
“How?”
Messages.
Payments.
Meetings.
One recording.
Renee stared.
“Why did you record her?”
“Because I didn’t trust her.”
“Yet you expected me to trust you.”
He looked away.
Then his attorneys offered cooperation.
No promises from prosecutors.
No immunity Nathan could grant.
But evidence preservation.
Corporate committee consideration.
Marcus would surrender devices and identify accounts.
In return, Renee agreed only that Sterling Global would not use his cooperation itself as an excuse to expand unrelated civil claims.
Narrow.
Lawyerly.
He accepted.
Then the recording.
Victoria:
Renee does not need to die. She only needs to become unavailable long enough for the board to act.
Marcus:
And afterward?
Victoria:
Afterward she can recover in Switzerland and thank us for saving the company.
So no murder plot.
At least initially.
A coup disguised as care.
Then Marcus:
What if she refuses?
Victoria:
Everyone refuses until the cost of refusing becomes higher than the cost of signing.
That sentence stayed with me.
Then another date.
One day before the hospital confrontation.
Marcus:
Daniel is with her.
Victoria:
Then make him temporary.
Marcus:
How?
Victoria:
You know how people like him work. Money or fear.
She misjudged both.
Then Marcus gave us access credentials to an encrypted account.
Inside:
North Harbor agreements.
Victoria thirty percent.
Marcus five.
Owen two.
Another beneficiary:
CRESCENT FOUNDATION.
Forty percent.
Who controlled it?
Not Victoria.
Not Halcyon.
A private charitable foundation chaired by:
Samuel Sterling.
Renee’s late father’s closest friend.
And current trustee of the fourteen percent Founder Reserve.
Renee stared at the screen.
“Uncle Sam?”
Not biological.
Family friend.
The man who had administered Arthur’s legacy since his death.
May you like
If Samuel was involved, the conspiracy sat inside the very structure supposed to protect Renee from Victoria.
Continue to the next part: The investigation reaches the independent trustee Renee believed was safest of all.
