Chapter 10 - A Stolen Credential Put Jasmine Back Under Suspicion

Jasmine was in New York when the data room was accessed.

That fact was established within an hour.

She had boarded an Amtrak train at 1:10 p.m., used her personal card to buy coffee in Stamford, and checked into a Manhattan hotel shortly before the intrusion.

None of that proved she had not shared credentials.

So Northline called her.

Claire listened from Helena’s office.

“I don’t have access anymore,” Jasmine said through the speakerphone. “IT disabled me when I resigned.”

“Did you ever store credentials outside the password manager?” Helena asked.

“No.”

“Did anyone know your recovery questions?”

A pause.

“Aaron knew the name of my first dog.”

Claire looked away.

Jasmine continued quickly.

“But the data room uses multifactor authentication. A recovery question wouldn’t be enough.”

Northline’s security lead spoke.

“The login used a hardware token.”

Jasmine went silent.

“What token?”

“One assigned to strategic operations.”

“I returned it.”

“To whom?”

“Martin Kell’s office.”

The room changed.

Helena wrote something down.

“When?”

“The morning I resigned.”

“Did you hand it to Kell personally?”

“No. His assistant wasn’t there. I put it in a sealed envelope in the secure drop box outside legal.”

Nathan asked, “Who can open that box?”

“Legal operations. Kell. Two compliance administrators.”

Claire felt the pattern tightening.

Every road seemed to pass through legal.

By evening, security video showed Lionel Price entering the legal corridor after his suspension but before his building access was disabled.

He carried no visible envelope when he entered.

He carried one when he left.

Lionel’s attorney refused immediate comment.

Jasmine was temporarily cleared of the intrusion.

Claire expected relief.

Instead, Jasmine sounded hollow when they spoke later.

“I keep waiting for the moment when one correct decision cancels the wrong ones.”

“It won’t,” Claire said.

Jasmine was quiet.

“That was cruel.”

“No. It was something I had to learn too.”

“You didn’t sleep with someone’s husband.”

“No. I disappeared inside a marriage and blamed everyone else for not seeing me.”

Jasmine let out a slow breath.

“Why are you talking to me?”

“Because you’re a witness.”

“Only that?”

Claire considered lying.

“Yes.”

Jasmine laughed softly.

“At least you’re better at honesty than Aaron.”

The next morning, Northline’s forensic team determined that the intruder had downloaded two categories of documents: evidence concerning Crown Harbor and draft restructuring models.

Nothing related to Claire’s trust.

Nothing related to the divorce.

That narrowed motive.

“Someone wants to know what investigators have,” Nathan said.

“And what the company might sell,” Claire added.

Helena nodded.

“If Crown Harbor holds stakes or contracts connected to those assets, advance knowledge could be valuable.”

At noon, Prescott’s board terminated Lionel Price for cause.

His attorney responded with a statement accusing the company of scapegoating an executive who had “acted at the direction of senior family leadership.”

Diane’s counsel issued a denial.

Aaron issued nothing.

Claire noticed.

At three, he called.

“I need to tell you something before it comes from someone else.”

She closed the study door.

“Go ahead.”

“Two years ago, I authorized Lionel to create an internal task force to protect family control during refinancing.”

“What did that mean?”

“At the time? Limiting dilution. Buying back small shareholder positions. Monitoring debt transfers.”

“And in reality?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Claire felt anger rise.

“You keep saying that.”

“I know.”

“Stop.”

Silence.

She took a breath.

“Stop telling me you know when what you mean is you failed to ask.”

Aaron absorbed that.

“All right.”

“What was the task force called?”

“Project Harbor.”

Claire sat down.

Crown Harbor.

“Did you name it?”

“Lionel did.”

“Did your mother know?”

“Yes.”

“Did Martin?”

“Yes.”

“And Jasmine?”

“No.”

“Why tell me now?”

“Because I signed the charter.”

Claire closed her eyes.

There it was.

Not fraud.

Not necessarily.

But another door he had opened without looking carefully at the room behind it.

“I sent the charter to board counsel this morning,” Aaron said. “Before they asked.”

That surprised her.

“Why?”

“Because you told me truth matters even when I don’t control who hears it.”

Claire did not know what to say.

Aaron continued.

“I’m resigning as CEO after the restructuring vote.”

Her eyes opened.

“When?”

“Board meets Friday.”

“Did they ask you to?”

“Two directors did. The others haven’t.”

“So why resign?”

“Because every presentation begins with people wondering what I didn’t notice. They’re right.”

Claire looked at the harbor through the study window.

A month ago, she would have wanted to hear defeat in his voice.

Now she heard something else.

Responsibility arriving late.

“That may be the first executive decision you’ve made that isn’t about keeping your title,” she said.

“It feels terrible.”

“It probably should.”

He laughed once.

Then neither of them spoke.

Finally Aaron said, “I loved you.”

Claire’s throat tightened.

“Don’t.”

“I’m not asking you back.”

“Then don’t make me carry that sentence.”

He was silent.

She softened by one degree.

“You may have loved me. You also wanted me smaller than you. Those can both be true.”

“I’m beginning to understand that.”

“Good.”

They ended the call.

Friday’s board meeting suddenly had a different purpose.

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

It would no longer decide whether Aaron Prescott could hold onto control.

It would decide whether Prescott Global could survive after the family finally let go of it.