Chapter 3 - The Adoption File
Nathan did not sleep.
At 2:13 a.m., he opened the electronic file from Rebecca’s adoption of Sophie.
He had read it before.
He had even signed parts of it.
That realization was almost unbearable.
The petition stated Elena had abandoned Sophie for more than two years, had made no attempt at contact, and could not be located despite diligent search.
Rebecca had presented herself as the stable maternal figure Sophie needed.
Nathan had agreed.
Now he examined the attachments.
One stood out.
An affidavit from a private investigator named Warren Pike.
Pike claimed he had traced Elena to Montreal eighteen months after her disappearance and confirmed she was alive but unwilling to return.
Nathan read the sentence four times.
He had never met Warren Pike.
He called the number listed.
Disconnected.
Next he opened Pike’s attached invoice.
It had been paid by Asterion Legal Services.
Approved by Rebecca.
Nathan copied everything.
At 3:04 a.m., Sophie appeared in his doorway.
“Daddy?”
He closed the laptop.
“What are you doing awake?”
“I heard you walking.”
She climbed onto the sofa.
“Is Rebecca coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you mad at me?”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
“No.”
“I pressed the stars.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Rebecca said I ruin everything when I talk about Mom.”
Nathan sat beside her.
“Rebecca was wrong.”
Sophie looked down at her necklace.
“Mom told me never to take this off.”
“When?”
“The last night.”
Nathan turned sharply.
“You remember that?”
Sophie nodded.
“She woke me up.”
Nathan had always believed Elena left before dawn without seeing Sophie.
“What did she say?”
“She said if anyone told me she didn’t love me, I should look for the brightest thing I could still see.”
Nathan struggled to keep his voice steady.
“Anything else?”
“She said, ‘Don’t let them make you forget.’”
Them.
Not him.
Nathan felt three years rearranging themselves.
At nine, the Asterion board assembled by video conference.
Rebecca appeared from her attorney’s office.
She wore navy blue and spoke as if the previous evening had never happened.
The chairman cleared his throat.
“Rebecca has submitted concerns regarding Nathan’s judgment and potential misuse of corporate equipment.”
Nathan laughed.
“Misuse?”
Rebecca shared documents.
Planetarium access records.
Telescope activation.
Restricted remote imaging.
“She accessed a decommissioned observatory through Asterion systems while a minor child was present,” Rebecca said.
“Sophie entered a code Elena created.”
Rebecca’s expression tightened.
“That is Nathan’s account.”
Nathan looked directly into the camera.
“Then explain why Rebecca’s administrator credentials deleted the archive afterward.”
The room went silent.
Rebecca replied instantly.
“I attempted to terminate an unauthorized transmission.”
“Why?”
“Because Hart Ridge contains federally restricted equipment.”
Nathan frowned.
That was new.
“Hart Ridge has been closed for three years.”
“It was leased last year.”
“To whom?”
Rebecca hesitated.
The CFO, Gavin Cross, appeared on another video window.
“Northlight Research.”
Nathan leaned toward the screen.
“Who owns Northlight?”
Gavin answered, “A private consortium.”
“Names.”
“That information is confidential.”
“This is my company’s property.”
The chairman interrupted.
“Nathan, calm down.”
Nathan realized too late that Rebecca wanted him angry.
She wanted the board watching him lose control.
He sat back.
“Fine. I move that no merger vote proceed until an independent forensic audit is completed.”
Rebecca smiled.
“You can move anything you like. Under the amended governance agreement, conflict-of-interest allegations suspend your voting authority during an active internal investigation.”
Nathan stared.
“What amended agreement?”
Rebecca displayed another document.
His signature.
Again.
The same digital certificate.
Nathan felt the trap close.
The board voted six to three to place him on administrative leave.
He remained a shareholder.
He remained chief executive in title pending investigation.
But his access privileges were suspended.
Rebecca had stripped him of operational control in twenty-seven minutes.
After the call, Nathan sat motionless.
Sophie entered.
“Did you lose?”
He looked at her.
“For now.”
“Mom used to say people who cheat win faster.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“What did she say after that?”
“That they have to keep cheating.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Nathan answered.
A distorted male voice said, “If you want to know why Elena disappeared, stop looking at Rebecca and start looking at yourself.”
The call ended.
A message arrived immediately afterward.
A photograph.
Nathan opened it.
Hart Ridge Observatory.
The date stamp was the night Elena vanished.
Three people stood outside.
Elena.
Rebecca.
And Nathan.
He stared at his own face.
He remembered none of it.
May you like
Beneath the photograph was one sentence:
YOU WERE THERE.
