Chapter 14 - The Second Plan
Tess photographed the paper and sent it through Nina. It was an application for a life insurance policy. The signature looked like mine. The beneficiary was Carlos.
I sat down hard. First prison. Then, apparently, the possibility that I might never come home at all.
"This doesn't prove he intended to kill you," Adrienne said. "But it's another forged document, and we need to preserve it."
The policy had been submitted two months earlier. Carlos had told me he needed my signature for travel coverage after Northstar expanded into Singapore. I remembered signing one legitimate form at the kitchen table. He must have used that moment to collect samples and personal details.
Tess called again. "Mrs. Reyes asked me to throw away a stack of old papers. I kept them because some had your mother's handwriting. I couldn't burn those."
"Thank you," I told her. "Please leave the house. Don't go back inside alone."
At an emergency online board session that evening, Carlos appeared in an expensive suit and announced that I'd become unstable. He cited the airport photograph, my allegations, and the forged succession agreement. Then he demanded a vote to suspend me.
I joined the call with Adrienne beside me. Carlos's mouth opened, then shut.
"I'm alive, I'm free, and I'm sitting in Singapore," I said. "Anyone claiming otherwise can look at me."
A director asked why I'd moved a suspicious package into Marta's suitcase. I answered without excuses. "I panicked. Then I reported it before anyone traveled. Investigators have my statement and the evidence."
Carlos seized on that. "She admits it!"
"I admit my mistake," I said. "Now explain why your mother put it in my bag first."
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The chair suspended the vote pending independent review. Carlos slammed his laptop shut. For one breath, I'd won.
Then Adrienne showed me a fresh alert: Carlos had just ordered the company server wiped at midnight.
