Chapter 23 - Forty-Eight Minutes
Victoria had forty-eight minutes before the board meeting.
Daniel compared the published files with Meridian’s real records. The false documents contained Victoria’s signature and internal codes.
They had been generated by Meridian software.
Not stolen.
Created.
Only someone with access to the company’s development archive could have produced such convincing records.
The archive had been sealed for nearly a decade.
Its access list contained four names.
Victoria.
Julian Cross.
Margaret Sloan.
And an engineer named Helena Ward.
Victoria remembered Helena.
She had worked beside Victoria during Meridian’s first year. Brilliant, private and unwilling to attend public events, Helena had built much of the company’s original encryption system.
She left after a disagreement with Margaret.
Victoria had been told Helena sold her shares and moved overseas.
Daniel searched public records.
Helena had never sold anything.
There was no resignation agreement, share transfer or employment termination.
Her entire file had been removed from Meridian.
Margaret admitted that Helena had been the person listed as Founder Two.
“Why was her name erased?”
“Because she tried to take the company.”
“Or because you took it from her?”
Margaret did not answer.
Brooke opened another file from the flash drive.
It contained a recording of Grant and Julian discussing Helena’s ownership claim.
Grant believed Helena’s original shares could overturn every later transfer, including Victoria’s controlling interest.
The children’s trust was not designed merely to gain four percent.
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It was designed to create a legal challenge that would force Meridian to open its sealed founding records.
Grant had used the twins to unlock the company’s oldest secret.
