Chapter 5 - The Wall Street GhostNew York welcomed Sophie with rain.
The skyline looked colder than she remembered.
She left Clara in California under private protection and returned alone.
Her first destination was Sterling Enterprises.
The company no longer belonged to her father.
But Sophie knew Arthur had always trusted paper more than computers.
Deep beneath the building, she found the old archive room.
Dust covered rows of filing cabinets.
For hours, she searched.
Then her flashlight caught the edge of a false wall.
Behind it sat a rusted metal lockbox.
Inside was a leather-bound ledger.
Sophie opened it.
Her stomach tightened.
Shell companies.
Offshore accounts.
Secret payments.
Names of executives, officials, judges—and prison personnel.
The final pages were even worse.
Arthur had established a financial network that could survive his imprisonment.
A voice emerged from the darkness.
“You shouldn't be here, Miss Sterling.”
Sophie turned.
Marcus Vance stood behind her.
Arthur’s former lawyer.
The man who had somehow escaped prosecution.
“Your father sends his regards,” Marcus said.
Sophie held the ledger tightly.
“He sends messages now?”
May you like
Marcus smiled.
“He never stopped giving orders.”
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