Chapter 3 - THE STORAGE ROOM
The storage facility was abandoned.
The police surrounded the building.
We entered carefully.
The air smelled like dust and old paper.
Rows of boxes filled the warehouse.
Then we found a metal door.
My father's name was written on it.
I opened it.
Inside were financial records.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
And hundreds of letters.
Claire picked one up.
It was addressed to my father.
The first line made my stomach tighten.
If you are reading this, Evelyn has already betrayed you.
I looked at Richard.
He went pale.
We read through the documents.
My father had discovered a hidden network inside the company.
Money was being transferred through shell corporations.
The largest recipient was a charity.
But the charity didn't exist.
Its director was Richard.
Richard stepped backward.
“I didn't do this.”
The attorney pointed to the signatures.
“Your name is everywhere.”
Richard shook his head.
“They forged them.”
I believed him.
Because another document showed the truth.
The actual director was my mother.
Evelyn.
She had created the charity.
She had moved the money.
She had used Richard's identity.
But why?
Then we found a letter from my father.
I know who is behind the theft.
The name was blacked out.
The next page contained only one sentence.
I can't trust anyone except Claire.
My wife stared at the paper.
“Why me?”
I didn't know.
Then another folder fell from a shelf.
Inside was Claire's grandmother's will.
It contained an unusual clause.
If Claire ever married into the Hayes family, her inheritance would be transferred into a protected trust.
Nobody could access it.
Except Claire.
Unless someone committed financial fraud against her.
Then the trust would automatically activate a forensic investigation.
I looked at the bank records.
My mother's theft had triggered the clause.
The attorney smiled.
“Your grandmother knew this could happen.”
Claire looked stunned.
“She protected me before I even understood why.”
I hugged her.
Then we heard footsteps.
Someone was inside the warehouse.
We turned.
A man ran between the shelves.
Police chased him.
They caught him near the back exit.
It was my mother's assistant.
He had a briefcase.
Inside were passports.
Cash.
And a plane ticket.
Destination:
Zurich.
Departure:
Tomorrow morning.
The police arrested him.
But before they took him away, he looked at me.
“You don't know what your mother did.”
I asked:
“What did she do?”
He smiled.
“She didn't steal the money.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She was hiding it.”
“From whom?”
He looked toward Richard.
May you like
“From the man who started all of this.”
Richard's face went pale.
