Chapter 4 - The Vultures Gather
While my mother rested in the master bedroom of Nathaniel’s sprawling country estate on the outskirts of the city, wrapped in silk sheets and monitored by a team of top neuroscientists, a storm was brewing in the highest corridors of power.
Arthur Sterling—the chairman of Sterling Syndicate—sat in his high-rise office thirty floors above the city, staring at a encrypted notification on his computer screen.
Standing across from him was Julian Sterling, his ruthless thirty-five-year-old son, who managed the company's covert intelligence operations.
"Are you certain?" Arthur asked, his voice dark and raspy like dry leaves scraping across pavement.
"My contacts at Graves Tower confirmed it," Julian said, pacing back and forth across the Persian rug. "A little beggar girl in rags brought Nathaniel's wallet into the lobby yesterday. Ten minutes later, Nathaniel shut down the entire building, locked the security gates, and took her to his private study."
Arthur’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "A wallet? Nathaniel doesn't lock down a multi-billion-dollar headquarters over a misplaced wallet."
"That's not all," Julian added, throwing a folder onto Arthur's desk. "Two hours later, Nathaniel’s private security detail raided a dilapidated apartment building in District 7. They pulled out a woman matching Elena Graves’ description and took her straight to his private medical compound in the hills."
Arthur’s hand slammed onto the desk, knocking over a crystal glass of scotch. The amber liquid pooled across expensive financial reports.
"Impossible!" Arthur snarled, standing up so fast his leather chair rolled back into the glass window. "The doctor at the state clinic reported that she died of pneumonia eight years ago! I paid three hundred thousand dollars to ensure her records were wiped!"
"The doctor lied to collect your bribe and then sold her off to a local district," Julian said bitterly. "She's alive, father. And worse—she has an eight-year-old daughter. A direct blood heir to the Graves Energy fortune."
Arthur turned toward the window, looking out over the city skyline. His face was twisted in pure, venomous rage.
For twelve years, Arthur had been positioning Julian to marry Nathaniel’s distant niece, a legal maneuver designed to merge Graves Energy with Sterling Syndicate once the aging billionaire passed away. The sudden reappearance of Nathaniel’s lost daughter—and an eight-year-old granddaughter—completely obliterated a decade of careful, illegal planning.
"If Elena regains her memory," Julian warned, "she will remember the driver who ran her car off the road at Blackwood Gorge. She will remember my face. And when Nathaniel finds out we orchestrated the crash, he won't just sue us—he will use his political connections to destroy our entire family."
"Then she must never regain her memory," Arthur whispered softly, his eyes flashing with lethal intent. "And that little girl... the one who found the wallet..."
"Ruby," Julian supplied.
"Ruby," Arthur repeated the name with absolute disgust. "She is the thread holding this entire miracle together. Strip the thread, and the tapestry falls apart."
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"What do you want me to do?" Julian asked, pulling a sleek black smartphone from his pocket.
Arthur turned around, his smile cold and devoid of humanity. "Call our operatives at the medical board. I want an insider placed in Nathaniel’s private compound tonight. Elena Graves must suffer a 'relapse'... and the girl must disappear before Nathaniel can legally register her into the family trust."
