The Nephew with the Folder
Chapter 03 - The Nephew with the Folder
Callum Price did not make it to the elevators.
He had taken six steps backward after Maren left, still clutching the leather folder Roland had handed him before the slap. Six steps was all he got before Simone's voice cut through the room.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Callum froze.
Roland stood near the window, phone in hand, his face gray beneath the chandelier light. He looked less like a patriarch now and more like a man who had just learned the house he ruled had hidden doors.
"I should go," Callum said. "This is a family matter."
Simone laughed once. It was sharp enough to crack glass.
"You are family when we need you to be."
"Aunt Simone—"
"Don't aunt me." She crossed the marble floor and snatched the folder from his hands. "You were brought here to witness Miss CEO signing her resignation. Not to look pale and moral."
Roland turned from the window. "What exactly is in that folder?"
Callum's throat moved.
"The standard resignation packet. Board transition statement. Medical leave language. Temporary appointment authorization."
"Temporary appointment for whom?" Roland asked.
Simone's eyes flashed.
Callum looked at her and said nothing.
Roland understood before anyone answered. "For Simone."
"Interim family representative," Simone said quickly. "Not CEO. Not yet. It was only to stabilize things while Maren recovered from her obvious instability."
"You wrote papers removing my daughter tonight?"
"You told me to handle it."
"I told you to help me get control of the company. I did not tell you to put your name inside my house."
For the first time since Callum had known them, Roland and Simone looked like enemies instead of accomplices.
That should have relieved him.
It did not.
Because the laptop on the bar behind them was still open, and the progress bar on the screen was halfway across.
Archive purge: 52% complete.
Callum had not started it.
He knew enough about corporate systems to know what the screen meant and enough about the Vales to know no one would believe him if he said so.
He took one step toward the bar.
Simone noticed.
"Leave it."
"That could be illegal."
"Everything is illegal when poor people say it in the wrong tone." She smiled at him. "You want a career in this city? Close your eyes."
Roland walked to the laptop.
The screen asked for biometric confirmation.
His name appeared in the upper corner.
Roland Vale - Trustee Access.
He stared at it as if it had betrayed him.
"I didn't authorize this."
Simone's face did something small and ugly.
Callum saw it.
Roland saw it too.
"Simone," he said.
She lifted her chin. "I protected us."
"From what?"
"From your daughter. From Helena's ghost. From a company full of people waiting for you to die so they can clap for a woman who thinks kindness is strategy."
Roland stepped closer. "What did you delete?"
The penthouse intercom chimed before she answered.
All three of them turned.
The private doorman's voice filled the room. "Mr. Vale, there are two members of corporate security requesting access to the residence."
Simone's hand tightened around the folder.
Roland looked at Callum.
Callum looked at the laptop.
The progress bar reached 78%.
"Answer them," Roland said.
Simone shook her head. "No."
"Answer them."
Callum moved first.
He grabbed the laptop off the bar and yanked the charger free.
Simone screamed his name.
Callum ran.
He was not fast. He was not brave. He was a junior associate with student loans, a mother in Queens, and a terror of rich people that had been taught to him in marble rooms.
But he had one advantage.
He knew the service hallway existed.
He hit the hidden panel beside the pantry, slipped through, and heard Simone's heels pounding after him.
"Callum!"
The laptop was hot against his chest.
The archive purge was still running on battery.
He reached the freight elevator and stabbed the button.
Nothing.
He pressed again.
Behind him, the service door opened.
Simone stood there, breathing hard, holding one of Roland's crystal decanters by the neck.
"Give me the laptop," she said.
Callum backed into the elevator doors.
They slid open.
A hand caught him by the shoulder and pulled him inside.
Noah Mercer stepped between Callum and Simone.
"Mrs. Vale," Noah said calmly, "that won't be necessary."
Simone's smile returned, but her eyes were wild.
"You have no authority in my home."
Noah held up his phone.
"Actually," he said, "thanks to Helena Vale, tonight I do."
The elevator doors closed on Simone's face.
Callum sagged against the wall, shaking.
Noah took the laptop from him.
"Did you start the purge?"
"No," Callum whispered. "But I think I know what she was trying to erase."
Noah looked up.
May you like
Callum swallowed.
"The recording from the night Helena died."
