Chapter 2 - The Stolen File
The Discovery in the Filing CabinetThe next three days were a living nightmare. Maya worked the graveyard shift, purposely avoiding the forty-third floor. But she couldn't escape the feeling of being watched. Security guards who used to nod politely now stared at her with suspicion.
On Thursday night, at 2:00 AM, Maya was assigned to clean the restricted archives room—a vault-like space where Hartwell Development kept historical deeds and old legal contracts.
The room was pitch black except for the amber glow of the city lights bleeding through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Maya was dusting the heavy mahogany cabinets when her knee knocked against a bottom drawer. It wasn't locked. It clicked open, revealing a thick, red folder labeled with a single word that made her breath catch:
PROJECT ROOFTOP.
Her hands trembled as she pulled the file out. Inside were newspaper clippings from fifteen years ago, police reports, and a legal non-disclosure agreement signed by Daniel Hart.
As she flipped through the pages, the horrifying truth of the night Daniel left began to piece itself together.
Maya gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Daniel hadn't abandoned her for a better life. He had taken the blame for a fire he didn't start to protect someone.
Suddenly, a loose sheet of paper slid out from the back of the folder. It was a medical record from a private clinic in Chicago, dated five years ago.
Maya looked at the name on the record: Noah Bennett.
Her eyes widened as she read the blood type, the genetic screening, and the signature at the bottom. The document was a secret paternity test. Daniel had obtained Noah’s DNA from a discarded toy at a park three years ago. He had known about Noah for years. He had known he had a son.
"What are you doing in here?"
The voice was like ice. Maya whipped around, slamming the folder against her chest.
Standing in the doorway was Arthur Vance, Victoria’s father and the undisputed kingmaker of the Chicago real estate empire. He was a man with silver hair, a custom-tailored suit, and eyes that had seen people ruined for far less than looking through his files.
The Blackmail"Mr. Vance," Maya stammered, backing away until her spine hit the filing cabinet. "I was just... I was just cleaning."
"With a confidential corporate file in your hands?" Arthur walked into the room, his cane clicking heavily against the floor. "You know, Maya, your mother was a weak woman. She took the ten thousand dollars I gave her fifteen years ago to move you out of the neighborhood, and she still managed to die broke."
Maya felt the room spin. Her mother had taken money? The lies were piling so high she could barely breathe.
"You forced Daniel to leave," Maya whispered, the anger finally replacing her fear. "You framed him for that fire."
"Daniel was a brilliant rat from the gutter," Arthur said smoothly, stopping just inches from her. "My daughter wanted him. I bought him for her. He belongs to Vance Corp now. And that little bastard boy you have living above a laundromat? If you think for one second I will allow Daniel’s billions to be inherited by a child of yours, you are sorely mistaken."
Arthur reached out, tearing the file from Maya’s hands.
"You have until tomorrow morning to sign a total relinquishment of parental rights," Arthur sneered. "If you don't, I will use Daniel's own signature to prove he abandoned the child, declare you an unfit mother using your financial history, and take that boy away from you so fast your head will spin. You will be in a federal prison for corporate espionage before the sun sets tomorrow."
May you like
He leaned in close, his breath smelling of expensive cigars and decay.
"Choose wisely, Maya. Your pride, or your son."
