CHAPTER 86: THE FINAL THREAT
I was six months pregnant and finally feeling like life was normal when everything went to hell again.
It started with a phone call at three in the morning. William answered before I was fully awake, his voice going from groggy to sharp in seconds.
"What do you mean it's everywhere?" He sat up, already reaching for his laptop. "When did this happen?"
"What's wrong?" I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus.
He held up a finger. "Send me everything. Every link, every screenshot, every source you can find. And Jeremy, call our legal team. Now."
He hung up and his face had gone pale in the blue light of the computer screen.
"William, you're scaring me."
"Someone leaked documents to every major news outlet in the city." His fingers flew across the keyboard. "Financial records supposedly showing you've been embezzling from Jones Corp since you took over."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"It's not real." He said it fast like he needed me to believe him. "I can tell just looking at these that they're forged. But Kate, they're convincing. Really convincing."
He turned the laptop so I could see. Headlines screaming "Kate Jones Dray Follows in Uncle's Footsteps" and "Corporate Corruption Runs in the Family." Photos of me at company events with numbers overlaid claiming I'd stolen millions.
"This isn't possible." My hands started shaking. "I haven't done anything wrong. Every transaction goes through the board, through auditors—"
"I know." William pulled me against him. "Someone's trying to destroy your reputation before you can fully cement your control of the company."
"Who would do this now? Carlos is in prison, the SE is dismantled—"
"Maybe someone we missed." He was already texting. "Or someone with a grudge we didn't see coming."
My phone started ringing. Mr. Patterson. I answered with shaking hands.
"Kate, I'm so sorry to call this early but the board is in emergency session." He sounded exhausted. "Half of them are demanding your resignation, the others want a full investigation. It's chaos."
"I didn't do this." My voice cracked. "Those documents are fake."
"I believe you. But we need proof and we need it fast. The stock price is already dropping, investors are panicking." He paused. "Kate, I've been with this company for twenty years. I know your parents' legacy. But if we can't disprove these allegations by market open—"
"We will." William took my phone. "Patterson, this is William Dray. Get me a list of everyone who had access to Jones Corp's financial systems in the last six months. And I mean everyone, down to the janitors."
"That's going to take time we don't have."
"Then work faster." William hung up and immediately called Jeremy. "I need you at the mansion in twenty minutes. Bring Emma and every piece of tech you own."
The next few hours were a blur. Jeremy and Emma turned our dining room into a war room, laptops and monitors covering every surface. Liam showed up with Tina, both looking ready for a fight.
"This is sophisticated work." Emma scrolled through the forged documents. "Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. They matched your signature perfectly, used real account numbers, even forged timestamps that align with actual company events."
"Can you trace where it came from?" I paced the room, unable to sit still.
"Working on it." Jeremy's fingers flew across his keyboard. "But they covered their tracks well. Multiple proxy servers, encrypted uploads, the works."
"Someone with serious technical skills." Tina sat beside me, her hand on my arm. "And resources."
"And a grudge." William stood by the window, his jaw clenched. "This isn't random. This is personal."
My phone rang again. The board's lawyer.
"Mrs. Dray, we need you to come in for questioning. The SEC is already asking questions and—"
"I'll be there in two hours." I hung up before he could respond. "I'm not hiding from this."
"Kate, maybe you should wait until we have more information." Tina looked worried.
"No." I stood up, my hand on my belly where the baby was kicking like crazy. "Someone is trying to destroy everything I've rebuilt. I'm not giving them the satisfaction of seeing me scared."
"Then I'm coming with you." William grabbed his jacket. "And we're bringing the best lawyers money can buy."
"Already on it." Liam held up his phone. "They'll meet us there."
The drive to Jones Corp felt like going to war. News vans camped outside the building, reporters shouting questions as we pushed through. Security had to clear a path.
Inside was worse. Employees stared at me with expressions ranging from pity to disgust. Whispers followed us down the hallway.
The board room was packed. Directors, lawyers, accountants, even a representative from the SEC. Everyone looked at me like I was already guilty.
"Mrs. Dray." The SEC agent gestured to a chair. "Thank you for coming in."
"I didn't have much choice." I sat down, William beside me. "But let me be clear, those documents are forgeries. I have never stolen a single dollar from this company."
"Then you won't mind explaining these transactions." He slid a folder across the table.
I opened it and my blood ran cold. Because mixed in with the obvious forgeries were real transactions. Ones I'd actually made, just twisted to look suspicious.
"This is a charity donation." I pointed at one. "To a children's hospital in my mother's name."
"Routed through three offshore accounts first." The agent tapped the page. "Why?"
"I don't know. That's not how I set it up." I looked at William. "Someone altered these after the fact."
"Or you're lying." One of the board members I didn't recognize spoke up. "Your uncle stole from this company for years. Maybe it runs in the family."
"Don't you dare." William's voice dropped to something dangerous. "Kate has done nothing but try to fix the damage Carlos caused. If you're too blind to see that—"
"Mr. Dray, please." The SEC agent held up his hand. "Let's keep this professional."
"Professional?" I laughed but it came out bitter. "You've already convicted me in your minds. This whole meeting is just theater."
"If you're innocent, prove it." Mr. Patterson looked at me sadly. "Kate, I want to believe you. But the evidence—"
"Is fake." Jeremy burst through the door with Emma right behind him. "Sorry we're late but we found something."
"This is a closed meeting." The SEC agent stood. "You can't—"
"Actually we can." Emma held up a badge I didn't know she had. "Private investigator, licensed in this state. And what we found proves Kate is being framed."
She plugged a USB drive into the conference room display. Code filled the screen, meaningless to most people but I saw William's eyes narrow.
"These documents were created using a specific software backdoor." Jeremy pointed at lines of code. "One that was installed on Jones Corp's servers three weeks ago by someone with admin access."
"Who?" I leaned forward.
"That's where it gets interesting." Emma pulled up security footage. "The install happened at 2 AM from this computer." She zoomed in on a timestamp. "And here's the person who accessed it."
The video showed someone entering the IT department, sitting at a terminal, working for exactly seventeen minutes before leaving.
I recognized them immediately.
"That's Sarah Chen." I stood up so fast my chair fell over. "My new head of IT. She was hired two months ago after the previous guy retired."
"Hired on recommendation from whom?" William was already pulling up employee files on his phone.
Mr. Patterson went pale. "From me. She said she'd worked with my old firm, had excellent references—"
"All forged." Jeremy cut him off. "Sarah Chen doesn't exist. Or rather, she exists but the real Sarah Chen is currently teaching English in Tokyo. This person stole her identity."
The room erupted. Everyone talking at once, demanding answers, throwing accusations.
"Quiet!" The SEC agent's voice cut through the chaos. "If what you're saying is true, we need to locate this woman immediately."
"Already did." Liam appeared in the doorway. "She's in custody downstairs. Tried to run when she saw us coming but security stopped her."
"Bring her up." William's voice was ice. "I want to know who sent her."
Ten minutes later they dragged her in. She looked nothing like the meek IT specialist I'd met at company meetings. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, completely unafraid.
"Kate Jones Dray." She smiled. "Or should I say, Kate Jones the thief? Nice headlines this morning."
"Who are you?" I demanded. "Who sent you?"
"Someone who believes family legacies should die with the guilty." She leaned back in her chair. "Your father built an empire on lies. Your uncle tried to steal it. And you—" She laughed. "You actually thought you could just waltz in and take over? That there wouldn't be consequences?"
"My father was a good man." My hands clenched into fists. "Carlos was the criminal, not him."
"Says his daughter who inherited everything." Her smile widened. "But don't worry. By the time I'm done, you won't have anything left to inherit."
"She's stalling." Emma typed on her laptop. "Trying to give someone time to—"
An explosion rocked the building.
The windows shattered, alarms screamed, smoke poured through the vents. Everyone hit the floor except Sarah who just kept smiling.
"Too late." She said. "By now the real evidence is burning in your server room. Along with any chance you had of proving your innocence."
William grabbed me, pulling me toward the door. "We need to get out of here now."
But when we reached the hallway, it was full of smoke and flames blocking the exit.
We were trapped.
And Sarah's laughter echoed behind us as the fire spread.