Chapter 2 - PHASE TWO
The woman across the street disappeared before security could reach her.
By the time my father's driver checked the sidewalk, there was nothing left.
No woman.
No phone.
No car.
Only a fresh line of footprints in the snow.
My father stood beside me, staring at them.
“She knew we were watching.”
Daniel looked at his phone again.
The message was still there.
YOUR FATHER IS NEXT.
I hated how calm my father looked.
“Dad.”
He turned toward me.
“Yes?”
“What are you not telling me?”
His eyes remained on mine.
“About what?”
“About the company.”
Daniel looked between us.
My father sighed.
“There are things I should have told you years ago.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
He nodded slowly.
“It isn't.”
We returned to his house.
The security team searched every entrance.
Cameras were checked.
Cars were inspected.
Phones were secured.
I felt as though I had stepped into another world.
For years, my biggest fear had been disappointing my husband.
Now I was sitting inside my father's fortified home wondering whether someone had tried to kill me years earlier.
My father poured himself coffee.
He didn't offer me any.
He knew I was too angry to drink it.
“Your grandfather founded Hayes Holdings.”
“I know.”
“He also invested heavily in Carter Holdings.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You don't know how heavily.”
He opened an old file.
Inside was a corporate agreement dated twenty-two years earlier.
The amount stunned me.
My father had invested nearly sixty million dollars into Daniel's father's company.
“Why?”
“Because Thomas Carter promised to build a technology division that would eventually merge with Hayes Holdings.”
I frowned.
“Thomas.”
My father nodded.
“Daniel's father.”
“The man everyone says died fifteen years ago.”
“Yes.”
“But he isn't dead.”
My father stared at the file.
“No.”
“Then why did everyone believe he was?”
“Because Thomas wanted it that way.”
I felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because he was being investigated.”
“For fraud?”
“For something much worse.”
I waited.
My father finally spoke.
“Thomas Carter was moving money through shell companies. Some belonged to Gregory Voss.”
My stomach tightened.
“The same Gregory?”
“Yes.”
“So you knew Gregory?”
“I knew his name.”
“Did you know he was following me?”
“No.”
“Did you know Evelyn was working with him?”
“No.”
“Did you know Daniel was involved?”
My father looked at me.
“I suspected Daniel knew something.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
“You never told me.”
“I didn't have proof.”
“You could have warned me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three months before your accident.”
I froze.
“What?”
My father reached into another file.
He showed me an old letter.
It was addressed to me.
But I had never received it.
I read the first line.
Emily, please don't marry Daniel until I finish my investigation.
I stared.
“I never saw this.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“We sent it to your apartment.”
“I never received it.”
My father's expression hardened.
“Someone intercepted it.”
Daniel walked into the room.
He had heard enough.
“Who?”
My father looked at him.
“That is what we are trying to find out.”
Daniel sat down.
His hands were shaking.
“I didn't know about the letter.”
“I believe you.”
Daniel looked surprised.
“You do?”
My father nodded.
“I believe you were manipulated.”
Daniel looked down.
“That doesn't excuse me.”
“No.”
“It doesn't.”
I looked at him.
For the first time, I saw something different in his expression.
Not fear of losing money.
Fear of discovering what his family had done.
My father opened another file.
“We found something in the storage unit.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Evelyn.
Gregory.
And Thomas.
All three stood outside a bank.
The date was eighteen years earlier.
Daniel stared.
“That's my father.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom.”
“Yes.”
“What were they doing?”
My father answered:
“Opening an account.”
“What account?”
“A trust account.”
I looked at the account number.
It belonged to me.
I stared at the page.
“My trust?”
“No.”
My father shook his head.
“Your mother's.”
I frowned.
“My mother died before I married Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Why would she have an account with Thomas Carter?”
“That is the question.”
Then the door opened.
Marcus Reed, my father's investigator, entered.
He looked serious.
“We found the woman.”
My father stood.
“Where?”
“Three blocks from here.”
“Did she identify herself?”
“No.”
Marcus placed a photograph on the table.
I looked at it.
The woman was wearing sunglasses.
But I recognized her.
My heart stopped.
“That's Evelyn's sister.”
Marcus nodded.
“Her name is Margaret Bennett.”
Daniel stared.
“I thought she died.”
Marcus looked at him.
“She didn't.”
Another secret.
May you like
Another lie.
And somehow, every road still led back to my husband's family.
