Chapter 2 - MIDNIGHT
Nathan Bellmont.
My older brother.
The man who had stood beside my empty coffin seven years earlier and promised the cameras that Bellmont Resorts would "honor Amelia's vision."
I laughed once.
"Where is he?"
"My father is in Geneva."
"Call him."
"You don't give orders here."
FOUNDER PROTOCOL ACTIVE.
ALL EQUITY TRANSFERS SUSPENDED.
"What happens at midnight?" I asked.
Ethan had spent fifteen years protecting our properties. He knew every executive tunnel, private dock, panic room, and board code.
"Midnight, Ethan."
"Seven years after a founder is legally declared dead, the dormant founder shares become eligible for permanent reassignment."
"To whom?"
"To the current Bellmont family trust."
"Which you control."
"Which my father controls."
I had returned less than nine hours before fifty-four percent of Bellmont Resorts would leave my dormant trust forever.
That was why Vanessa had panicked when she saw me near the founder elevator.
"Who put the chain on me?"
"You attacked staff," Vanessa said.
"I asked to see the chairman."
"You broke into a restricted wing."
"I used my own key."
He ordered the guards to unlock the restraint fully and called medical staff.
I refused to leave the lobby until one thing was done.
"Pull the founder-access log."
Vanessa snapped, "No."
My medallion had been scanned twice in company history.
Once today.
And once seven years ago.
Three days after I was officially declared dead.
"Location?"
"Founder vault. Level B."
"You told me the medallion was lost in the yacht fire."
"I lied."
Then my phone, dead for years, suddenly received an internal system message.
ARCHIVE RECOVERY COMPLETE.
May you like
Timestamped the night I died.
The thumbnail showed Ethan dragging my unconscious body through a service corridor.
