Chapter 6 - The Fugitive Wife
A massive photograph of my face flashed across the television screen.
The police had officially named Clara Vance as the prime suspect in the murder of Arthur Vance.
"They framed you," Evelyn gasped, clutching her coffee mug tightly.
"Eric must have planted something of mine at the crime scene after I left," I realized with a sickening dread.
"Or Arthur’s office had a hidden camera that caught you stealing the hard drive."
Either way, I was now a wanted fugitive running from a murder charge.
If I walked into a police station to explain the fraud, they would arrest me on the spot.
Eric had built a perfect, inescapable cage around my entire existence.
I had no money, no home, and no identity that wasn't currently being hunted by the authorities.
"You have to stay hidden here," Evelyn commanded, pulling the curtains shut.
"No, staying hidden means Eric wins the narrative," I argued, my mind racing through the variables.
"I need to prove that Eric was the one orchestrating the fraud before the police catch me."
"To do that, I need to get inside Nebula Systems' actual headquarters."
According to Arthur’s files, Nebula Systems leased a small commercial space in downtown Manhattan.
If I could access their internal servers, I could download the unedited communications between Eric and his family.
I borrowed a pair of Evelyn’s oversized sunglasses, a trench coat, and a wide-brimmed hat.
I took the commuter train into the city, keeping my head down and my face hidden from the security cameras.
I arrived at the address listed for Nebula Systems and slipped into the busy lobby.
I rode the elevator to the fourteenth floor, expecting to find a bustling corporate office.
Instead, I found a single, unmarked glass door at the end of a dark hallway.
I used my corporate master keycard, a perk from my auditing firm, to bypass the electronic lock.
The office was completely empty, furnished with nothing but a single desk and a massive server rack.
This was a classic shell company setup, designed solely to launder money and disappear.
I sat at the desk and plugged my secure auditing drive into the main terminal.
I quickly bypassed the basic firewall and began downloading the server's entire history.
I found emails proving that Eleanor, not Eric, was the true mastermind behind the entire operation.
She had been manipulating Eric into stealing my money to save Richard's failing businesses.
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Just as the download reached ninety-nine percent, the office door clicked open.
I dove under the heavy wooden desk, holding my breath as expensive leather shoes stepped into the room.
