Chapter 4 - Shadows of the Past
Corbin crouched on the iron fire escape, the freezing rain drenching his hair and jacket, but he barely felt the cold.
His mind was reeling.
Arthur Stanford, Corbin’s father, had been revered in Rhode Island as a visionary philanthropist and an unyielding pillar of business ethics. Corbin had spent his entire life trying to live up to his father’s towering legacy. He had stepped into the CEO role eight months ago believing he was preserving a noble family tradition.
Now, listening through a cracked window, that tradition was crumbling into dust.
Inside the apartment, Lianna reached out with trembling hands and took the blue envelope from Vance.
She unsealed the top flap. Inside was a black leather-bound notebook with worn edges, along with a certified stock certificate stamped with the official seal of Stanford Development.
“What is this?” Lianna asked, her fingers tracing her husband’s distinctive, neat handwriting on the first page of the notebook.
“Your husband was not just a safety inspector for the harbor project, Lianna,” Vance explained, his voice low and grave. “Julian was an engineer who discovered that Arthur Stanford was cutting corners on the structural foundation of the North Pier to save twelve million dollars in development costs.”
Lianna swallowed hard, tears pooling in her eyes as she looked at her husband’s notes. “Julian threatened to go to the federal inspectors.”
“He did,” Vance nodded. “Arthur tried to buy his silence by issuing him a secret five-percent equity stake in the harbor project—hence the stock certificate in your hand. But Julian refused to be bought. He insisted on shutting the site down. Three days later, the ‘accident’ occurred.”
“It wasn't an accident,” Lianna whispered, a tear finally escaping and falling onto the dark leather cover.
“The police investigation was ruled inconclusive,” Vance said carefully. “Arthur used every ounce of his political influence to seal the site report and settle out of court. I was hired to ensure you signed the standard liability waiver. If I had interfered back then, Arthur would have destroyed my firm and ensured you received nothing. So I offered Julian a compromise in his final days: I promised to hold his evidence safe until Arthur was gone and the statute of limitations on corporate interference had cleared.”
“You protected a murderer,” Lianna said bitterly, looking at the old lawyer with pure contempt.
“I protected you from being destroyed by a billionaire who owned the police chief,” Vance replied, leaning heavily on his cane. “That stock certificate in your hand is currently worth roughly four point five million dollars. It represents Julian’s five percent share of the completed harbor project. It is legally yours, Mrs. Prescott. You are no longer broke. You are a major shareholder of Stanford Development.”
Lianna looked from the four-million-dollar paper down to the twenty-eight dollars lying on her kitchen table.
“I don't want Arthur Stanford’s blood money,” she breathed, her voice shaking with rage. “I wanted my husband.”
Out on the fire escape, Corbin stepped back, his boot making a soft scraping noise against the wet iron grating.
Vance’s head snapped toward the window. “Who’s out there?”
Corbin didn't run. He took a deep breath, stepped around the window frame, and opened the fire escape door.
May you like
He walked into the apartment, dripping wet, his face pale, staring directly at the woman who cleaned his house.
“It wasn't blood money,” Corbin said softly, his voice echoing in the small room. “It was stolen from you. And I’m going to make sure you get every single cent.”
