Chapter 7 - PROJECT LIGHTHOUSE
Benjamin Cross had been NexusCore's chief financial officer for four years.
I had met him twice.
He was quiet.
Precise.
Almost painfully cautious.
Matthew used to joke that Ben could make a funeral more conservative.
At 8:20 a.m., Arthur called him.
No answer.
At 8:24, my father called.
No answer.
At 8:31, Benjamin Cross walked into the hospital.
He looked as though he had not slept.
His coat was buttoned incorrectly.
He carried a laptop bag in one hand and a manila envelope in the other.
Security stopped him at the door.
I recognized him immediately.
“Let him in.”
Ben entered.
His eyes went to the bruises on my face.
He stopped.
“I didn't know.”
“Know what?”
“That Matthew was hurting you.”
I studied him.
“You knew other things.”
His expression answered.
He placed the envelope on the bed.
“I sent the message.”
My father stepped closer.
“What is Project Lighthouse?”
Ben looked at him.
“The reason Matthew can't afford an audit.”
Arthur closed the door.
Ben sat.
“Eighteen months ago, Matthew created a special strategic-development division.”
“Lauren managed it.”
I said.
Ben nodded.
“The board approved twenty-two million dollars for international partnerships.”
“How much was actually spent?”
“Officially?”
He looked at me.
“Eighty-four million.”
The same number.
“What happened to the additional sixty-two?”
“Intercompany loans.”
“Consulting contracts.”
“Licensing advances.”
“Vendor deposits.”
“Mostly fake.”
My father swore under his breath.
Ben opened his laptop.
“Project Lighthouse became a network of fourteen shell entities.”
“Who owns them?”
Arthur asked.
“Some lead back to Lauren.”
“Some lead to two NexusCore executives.”
“And some lead to trusts I couldn't identify.”
“Matthew?”
Ben shook his head.
“Nothing directly in his name.”
“Of course.”
I whispered.
Ben looked at me.
“Three months ago, I confronted him.”
“What happened?”
“He told me the structures were temporary.”
“I didn't believe him.”
“So why didn't you go to the board?”
His shame was immediate.
“Because he showed me a document.”
He removed a copy from the envelope.
It carried my signature.
Again.
The document supposedly authorized Matthew to pledge my remaining founder shares as collateral for Lighthouse obligations.
My stomach turned.
“When was this signed?”
“Eleven months ago.”
“I never signed it.”
Ben closed his eyes.
“I was afraid you'd say that.”
My father stepped toward him.
“You allowed this for eleven months?”
Ben looked at him.
“I made a coward's choice.”
“No excuse.”
“No.”
Ben met my father's stare.
“There isn't one.”
I surprised both men.
“Why come now?”
Ben looked at me.
“Because yesterday Matthew ordered me to move forty million dollars into a Cayman account.”
“I refused.”
“He told me he had enough evidence to make it look like Lighthouse was mine.”
Arthur's face darkened.
“So the eighty-four-million-dollar transfer was designed to shift liability?”
“Partly.”
Ben nodded.
“The Cascade sale was supposed to move the valuable IP out of NexusCore.”
“Then Matthew would let the remaining company collapse under Lighthouse debt.”
Employees.
Pensions.
Vendors.
Investors.
Thousands of people.
He had planned to hollow out the company and walk away.
Ben reached into his bag.
“I copied everything I could.”
He handed me a small encrypted drive.
My father looked at it.
“What is on there?”
Ben's answer changed the entire case.
“Enough to prove Matthew has been preparing this for three years.”
May you like
Then he hesitated.
“And enough to prove Lauren isn't the only person helping him.”
