Chapter Four

The next morning, I dialed the number aunt Marie had given me. The phone rang several times before a nervous voice answered.

“Who is this?” the voice demanded.

“I’m Victor Lawson’s daughter,” I said, gripping the phone tightly. “You’ve been calling my aunt. What do you know about my father’s death?”

There was a long pause before the voice whispered, “You shouldn’t be digging into this.”

“Tell me what you know,” I insisted.

“Project Horizon wasn’t just a business deal,” the voice said hurriedly. “It was leverage. Bernard and Edward were using it to force Victor into silence. But he refused to play along. That’s why they… that’s why they got rid of him.”

My stomach turned. “Who’s behind it?”

The voice hesitated. “It’s bigger than Bernard. There’s someone else pulling the strings. Someone who—”

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, my heart pounding.

Determined to learn more, I confronted William that afternoon. I found him sitting alone at an outdoor café, his expression unusually somber.

“Project Horizon,” I said, dropping into the chair across from him. “What do you know about it?”

William’s eyes widened slightly before he recovered, leaning forward. “Where did you hear that name?”

“From someone who apparently knows why my father was killed,” I replied. “And if you know something, you need to tell me now.”

William exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. “Project Horizon was a joint venture Bernard and my father were planning. A series of shell companies to launder money—large sums of it. But Victor found out and refused to let Blue Sky get involved. That’s when things got messy.”

“Messy how?”

“My father’s involvement went deeper than you think,” William admitted. “He brought in someone to… handle Victor.”

My blood ran cold. “Handle him?”

William’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Someone they call The Broker.”

The name sent a chill down my spine. I had heard it before, in my father’s cryptic notes.

“The Broker was supposed to scare your father into compliance,” William continued. “But Victor pushed back. And when he wouldn’t give in, things escalated.”

I stared at him, my mind reeling. “So Bernard and your father hired this… Broker to kill him?”

William hesitated. “I don’t know if they meant for it to go that far. But they knew what they were doing.”

That night, I returned home only to find my apartment door ajar. My heart pounded as I pushed it open, my eyes scanning the darkened space. Papers were scattered across the floor, my laptop smashed to pieces.

In the center of the room was a single note: “Stop digging, or you’ll regret it.”

I backed away, fear twisting in my gut. I fumbled for my phone, dialing William.

When he answered, I whispered, “They were here. They know.”

“I’m on my way,” he said immediately.

Within minutes, William arrived, his jaw tight as he surveyed the damage. “This isn’t a warning, Emerald,” he said. “It’s a promise. They won’t stop.”

I clenched my fists, anger cutting through my fear. “Neither will I.”

As we cleaned up the mess, I found a small flash drive tucked beneath the overturned couch. Plugging it into William’s laptop, I opened a single file.

It was a surveillance video, dated two days before my father’s death. In the grainy footage, Bernard stood in the parking lot of Blue Sky Studios, speaking to a man whose face was obscured.

But I recognized the voice.

It was The Broker.

I met William’s eyes, my resolve hardening. “We’re going to find him. And we’re going to end this.”

The moment I heard his voice on the video, everything else around me faded away. My heart thudded in my chest as I rewound the clip, playing it again and again, hoping to catch some detail I’d missed the first time.

Bernard stood in the parking lot of Blue Sky Studios, his posture tense, his movements agitated. He kept gesturing toward the man he was speaking to—a shadowy figure standing just out of reach of the camera’s clarity. But the voice. The voice was unmistakable. Smooth, calculated, with the kind of authority that made your skin crawl.

“Victor doesn’t get to decide anymore. Make it happen.”

The Broker.

I clenched my fists, the words ringing in my ears as if they’d been spoken directly to me. Bernard hadn’t just betrayed my father—he’d conspired with this man to destroy him.

“Emerald?” William’s voice broke through my spiraling thoughts.

I turned to him, still seated beside me, his face illuminated by the glow of the laptop. His usual calm was gone, replaced by something raw—concern, maybe even fear.

“They planned it,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Bernard and The Broker. They didn’t just push Dad out of the company. They killed him.”

William didn’t argue or try to soften the blow. He nodded, his jaw tightening. “This is proof, Emerald. It’s dangerous, but it’s exactly what you need.”

My breath caught. Dangerous. That word had followed me like a shadow since I started digging into my father’s death. I thought I’d prepared myself for whatever came, but this… this was bigger than I’d imagined.

“Why was this in my apartment?” I asked, glancing at the flash drive as if it might bite me. “Who left it? And why now?”

William leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “Someone wanted you to have this—someone on the inside. But it also means they’re watching you.”

The realization sent a chill down my spine. I’d been careful—paranoid, even. But it hadn’t been enough.

The following day, I met Aunt Marie at a small café on the edge of town. The weight of what I’d uncovered sat heavy on my shoulders, and for once, I wasn’t sure how much to share. Marie had always been my anchor, the one person I could rely on when everything else felt like it was falling apart.

But as she sipped her tea, her usual warmth was clouded by unease.

“Emerald, you look pale,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Are you eating? Sleeping?”

“I’m fine,” I lied, though my voice lacked conviction.

Marie wasn’t convinced. She set her cup down, her gaze narrowing. “You’re not fine. I can see it. What’s going on?”

I hesitated, debating how much to tell her. She’d already been dragged into this mess more than she should have. But then I thought of the flash drive, the voice on the video. The secrets were eating me alive.

“I found something,” I admitted, lowering my voice. “Something about Dad’s death. About Bernard.”

Marie stiffened, her hand tightening around her teacup. “What kind of something?”

I pulled out my phone, showing her a still frame from the video—the shadowy figure beside Bernard. “That’s The Broker,” I said quietly. “He’s the one Bernard hired to… to handle Dad.”

Marie’s lips parted in shock, her face paling. “Oh, Emerald…”

“I’m going to expose them,” I continued, my voice hardening. “I have evidence now. They won’t get away with this.”

Marie shook her head, her voice trembling. “You need to be careful. If they find out you know—”

“They already know,” I interrupted, my pulse quickening as I remembered the ransacked apartment, the note. “But I can’t stop now, Marie. Dad deserves justice.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she reached across the table to grip my hand. “Then promise me you’ll be smart about it. Promise me you won’t do this alone.”

I returned to my apartment that night feeling the weight of her words. I couldn’t do this alone. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed help—and not just from Marie or my mother.

I needed William.

He’d already risked so much by sharing what he knew, but I could see it in his eyes every time we talked: he wasn’t doing this just for me. He had his own demons to fight, his own scores to settle with his father.

I found him waiting for me outside my building, leaning casually against the railing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. But when he looked up and saw me, his expression shifted, softening in a way that made my chest tighten.

“Stalker much?” I teased, though my voice lacked its usual bite.

“You’ve been quiet all day,” he replied. “Figured you might need someone to talk to.”

I paused, studying him. There was no smirk, no playful glint in his eyes. Just sincerity.

“Come inside,” I said, unlocking the door.

Once we were seated in the living room, I told him everything—about the video, the flash drive, and the cryptic phone calls to Marie. His expression darkened with each detail, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“They’re tightening the noose,” he said grimly. “The Broker doesn’t leave loose ends, Emerald. You’re walking a dangerous line.”

“So what do I do?” I asked, frustration bubbling to the surface. “I have proof, but it’s not enough to take down Bernard and The Broker. Not yet.”

William was silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the floor. Then he looked up, determination etched into his features.

“There’s one place where they won’t expect you,” he said.

“Where?”

“Blue Sky,” he replied. “Bernard’s office. If there’s anything left that ties him to The Broker, it’ll be there.”

The thought sent a jolt of fear through me, but I knew he was right. If I wanted the truth, I had to go straight to the source.

“Then let’s do it,” I said, my voice steady. “But I’ll need your help.”

William smirked faintly, the familiar glint returning to his eyes. “You had me at ‘danger.’”

As the plan began to take shape, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were stepping into something far bigger than either of us realized. But one thing was certain: I wasn’t going to stop. Not until Bernard—and The Broker—paid for what they’d done.

Little did I know, the truth waiting for me at Blue Sky would be far darker than I could have imagined.