Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW MY FATHER
Victor Voss was waiting in a private lounge.
He looked older than the photographs.
Late sixties.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
A gold watch.
A calm smile.
He stood when I entered.
“Aria.”
I didn't sit.
“You know who I am.”
He smiled.
“I've known who you were since the day you were born.”
That sentence immediately made me suspicious.
Arthur stood behind me.
Victor glanced at him.
“You still protect her.”
“Yes.”
“You always were loyal.”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“Don't.”
Victor ignored him.
He looked back at me.
“Your father was a complicated man.”
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me why your name is on a contract controlling my family's assets.”
Victor smiled.
“Because your father asked me to help him.”
“Help him do what?”
“Protect the family.”
I almost laughed.
“By taking control of it?”
“It was temporary.”
“The agreement lasted twenty-seven years.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“There were complications.”
“What complications?”
He sat down.
“You.”
I frowned.
“Me?”
“Your father believed you were in danger.”
“From whom?”
Victor looked toward Arthur.
“Ask him.”
I turned to Arthur.
He said nothing.
Victor continued.
“Your father discovered that someone inside the Monroe family was stealing money.”
“Who?”
“Your grandfather.”
I froze.
“My grandfather?”
Victor nodded.
“He had been moving assets through shell companies.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted control of the family trust.”
“And my father stopped him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he need you?”
Victor leaned forward.
“Because your father was dying.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He knew he didn't have long.”
I looked at Arthur.
He finally spoke.
“Your father had a heart condition.”
I shook my head.
“He died in an accident.”
“That is what everyone was told.”
I felt my pulse racing.
Victor placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my father in a hospital.
He was sitting in a wheelchair.
He looked thin.
Sick.
And beside him stood Arthur.
I picked up the photograph.
“When was this taken?”
“Three weeks before his death.”
I looked at Arthur.
“You knew he was sick.”
“Yes.”
“You told me it was an accident.”
“He didn't want you to know.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed someone was trying to kill him.”
I stared.
Victor nodded.
“He was right.”
The room felt colder.
“Who?”
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he opened a folder.
Inside were medical reports.
Financial records.
Private correspondence.
And one letter written by my father.
I recognized his handwriting immediately.
Victor,
If anything happens to me, protect Aria.
Do not let her inherit the trust until she knows the truth.
She cannot know who betrayed us.
My hands trembled.
“Who betrayed him?”
Victor looked at me.
“Your grandmother.”
I stopped breathing.
“My grandmother?”
“She wanted the company.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“She believed the foundation should belong to the family, not you.”
“But why?”
Victor looked at Arthur.
“Because your father chose your mother over the family.”
I felt tears in my eyes.
“What does my mother have to do with this?”
Victor sighed.
“Everything.”
He explained that my mother had discovered the financial fraud.
She had threatened to expose my grandmother.
My grandmother retaliated.
She tried to have my mother declared mentally incompetent.
She failed.
Then she began targeting my father.
My father moved his assets into protected trusts.
He created the foundation.
He transferred ownership to me.
And he asked Arthur to protect me.
But there was one thing he couldn't protect me from.
The family.
I sat down.
I felt exhausted.
“All these years…”
Victor nodded.
“You believed your family was simply wealthy.”
“They were hiding all of this.”
“Yes.”
“Why did Selena attack me tonight?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because she discovered that your foundation owns the hospital properties her family wants.”
I frowned.
“What properties?”
Victor smiled.
“Now you're asking the right question.”
He showed me a map.
The foundation owned land beneath three major medical centers.
The land had been purchased decades ago.
Those properties were now worth hundreds of millions.
Selena's family had been trying to acquire them.
But the foundation refused.
“So she humiliated me to make me look weak.”
“Yes.”
“And if I looked weak…”
“Investors would lose confidence.”
“And the board would remove me.”
Victor nodded.
Then Arthur interrupted.
“There's more.”
I looked at him.
He opened another document.
It was a board resolution.
The date was tomorrow.
The board planned to vote on removing me.
I stared.
“Who requested the vote?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Selena.”
My heart sank.
“She's not even on the board.”
“No.”
“Then who is?”
Arthur placed a list in front of me.
Six names.
Five of them were people I knew.
One wasn't.
I pointed to the unfamiliar name.
“Who is this?”
Victor's face changed.
“That man works for Selena's father.”
I looked at Arthur.
“How many votes do they have?”
“Enough.”
I stood.
“Then we stop them.”
Arthur smiled.
“That sounds like my girl.”
I looked toward the ballroom downstairs.
The gala was ending.
Guests were leaving.
Reporters were waiting outside.
Everyone thought the night's scandal was over.
It wasn't.
It had only begun.
I turned to Marcus.
“Can you secure every foundation document tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Every account?”
“Yes.”
“Every board communication?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Arthur.
“And tomorrow morning?”
He smiled.
“We go to war.”
But before we could leave, my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
You should have left the gala when Selena told you to.
Another message appeared.
Now your mother will pay for your mistake.
I froze.
Arthur immediately noticed my expression.
“What happened?”
I handed him the phone.
He read the message.
His face hardened.
“Where is your mother?”
I called her.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a third message arrived.
This time there was a photograph.
My mother was sitting inside a car.
Her hands were tied.
My blood ran cold.
May you like
Beneath the photograph were five words:
BRING US THE TRUST.
