Chapter 4 - Project Lily
Daniel stared at the words until they stopped looking like words.
PROJECT LILY.
"What is that?"
Vanessa stepped forward. "Daniel, please."
"What is Project Lily?"
Evan answered.
"We hoped you knew."
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She lowered herself into the chair across from him.
"It wasn't named after our daughter."
"Then why does it have her name?"
"Because Lily was your mother's middle name."
Daniel felt a jolt.
His mother, Catherine Lily Stellan, had died when he was nine.
His father rarely spoke about her.
"What did my mother have to do with the company?"
Vanessa rubbed her hands together.
"More than your father admitted."
She said Martin Keene discovered unusual patent transfers at Stellan Dynamics. Valuable designs were being moved into shell companies months before the collapse.
He believed Robert was hiding assets.
But later he found a second set of authorization records.
They carried Catherine Stellan's initials.
"My mother was dead by then."
"Exactly."
Daniel looked at Evan.
"Forgery?"
"Probably."
Vanessa shook her head. "Not probably. My father proved it."
"Where is the proof?"
Her mouth tightened.
"Gone."
"Convenient."
She flinched.
"You came into my life looking for it."
"At first."
The answer cut deeper because she did not lie.
"At first?"
"I thought your father had hidden the original archive with you."
"So our marriage started as an investigation."
"Yes."
Daniel turned away.
He could handle betrayal better when people denied it. A clean confession left nowhere to push the anger.
Then Evan's phone rang.
He listened for fifteen seconds.
"We found the receiver that was listening to the cake transmitter."
Daniel turned back.
"Who owns it?"
Evan's expression changed.
"The registration traces to Stellan Heritage Foundation."
Daniel frowned.
Only three people had purchasing authority.
Daniel.
His attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
And his uncle, Thomas Stellan.
Then his office phone rang.
May you like
Thomas's number appeared on the screen.
When Daniel answered, his uncle whispered, "Don't trust Evan Mercer.
