Chapter 8 - Evelyn Ross
Franklin could barely speak.
“Ross.”
Nathan remembered the wedding guest.
Michael Ross.
Richard Vale Jr.’s alias.
Detective Cole noticed too.
“That cannot be coincidence.”
Arthur searched company records for Evelyn Ross.
The results were scattered across sealed databases.
Intern.
Mercer Foundation ethics review assistant.
Later reassigned to Northstar.
Emergency contact removed.
Family history sealed.
Nathan asked, “Was Ross her real name?”
Cole answered, “More real than Hale.”
Franklin walked toward the window.
“Why was she in my car?”
Arthur found a personal memo written by his father.
E.R. attempted unauthorized removal of trial records. F.H. assisted. Vehicular interception unsuccessful. Parents killed. Both targets recovered.
Franklin stopped.
“Targets?”
Nathan reread it.
His grandparents had not died in a random accident.
Their car had been deliberately intercepted because Franklin and Evelyn were trying to expose Northstar.
Arthur looked shattered.
“My father ordered this.”
Cole corrected him.
“We know he documented it. We don’t yet know who physically caused the crash.”
Arthur nodded.
But shame remained.
Franklin whispered:
“I already knew.”
Nathan turned.
“What?”
“Before they altered my memory.”
He touched his temple.
“I knew what Northstar was doing.”
Pieces of old memory seemed to move behind his eyes.
A young Evelyn shouting at him.
A folder on a car seat.
Headlights approaching too fast.
His mother turning around in the car ahead.
Then nothing.
Franklin closed his eyes.
“I think Evelyn and I were together.”
Nathan stared.
“You mean romantically?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur found another photograph.
Franklin and Evelyn standing outside a diner.
His arm around her waist.
Date: August 1993.
Six months before the Northstar team photograph.
Six years before the meeting Franklin remembered.
Nathan’s voice was almost a whisper.
“You loved her before.”
Franklin looked at the photograph.
“And they made me forget.”
Then Evelyn later approached him again under a new identity.
She allowed him to fall in love with her a second time.
Maybe because she still loved him.
Maybe because she needed the missing device.
Maybe both.
Detective Cole’s phone rang.
Richard Vale Jr. had regained consciousness.
He agreed to speak.
At the hospital, Richard looked exhausted and frightened.
Victoria had called him a consultant.
In reality, he was an investigative attorney.
“My father died believing Franklin destroyed Northstar,” Richard said.
Franklin remained standing.
“Your father tried to kill me.”
Richard shook his head.
“My father spent twenty years trying to find out who did.”
Arthur frowned.
“Then why hide at Victoria’s wedding?”
“Because Victoria contacted me.”
Nathan stared.
“My wife contacted you?”
“Six months ago.”
Richard explained that Victoria had discovered unusual financial documents after Arthur announced he intended to restructure the Mercer family trust.
She feared Franklin was somehow connected to the changes.
Nathan looked at Arthur.
“Why would Dad be connected?”
Arthur hesitated.
Richard answered instead.
“Because Arthur had recently ordered a background review on every surviving Northstar participant.”
Franklin turned toward Arthur.
“You were looking for me before the wedding.”
Arthur did not deny it.
Nathan’s anger flared.
“Why?”
Arthur sat down.
“Because six months ago, I received a letter from Evelyn.”
Franklin’s world stopped again.
“She’s alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur removed his phone and displayed a scanned page.
The letter contained only three sentences.
Arthur,
Franklin survived.
So did I.
If Victoria marries Nathan, the Northstar succession begins again.
Franklin read it twice.
Then looked at Nathan.
“What succession?”
Richard Vale Jr. spoke quietly from the hospital bed.
“The part nobody has told you.”
Everyone turned.
Richard swallowed.
“Northstar was not shut down because Franklin stole the prototype.”
“What shut it down?”
“Franklin did.”
Nathan frowned.
Richard continued.
“Because legally, after the crash, Charles Mercer transferred controlling rights to the entire research portfolio into Franklin’s name.”
Franklin laughed in disbelief.
“I owned Northstar?”
“Not exactly.”
Richard looked toward Nathan.
May you like
“You still do.”
👉 The Hale family may secretly control the remains of Northstar, and Evelyn’s warning suggested Nathan’s marriage to Victoria could activate rights neither family understood.
