Chapter 7: The Locked Truth
The silver key rested beside the burned red folder.
Nobody touched it.
Not Marcus.
Not Nia.
Not even Veronica.
For several seconds, the funeral chapel remained completely still.
The bright lights above them continued shining. The white flowers around Arthur’s coffin remained perfectly arranged. Everything looked peaceful.
But nothing felt peaceful anymore.
Nia stared at the key.
“Where does it go?””
Harold Jenkins looked at her.
His eyes were filled with regret.
“I don’t know.””
Nia frowned.
“You just said my father gave it to you.””
“He did.””
“Then why don’t you know what it opens?””
Harold looked down.
“Because Arthur told me never to use it.””
Maya shook her head.
“This is unbelievable.””
She wiped her tears.
“Our father leaves behind secret videos, secret folders, secret keys… and everyone expects us to just stand here and accept it?””
Nobody answered.
Because nobody could.
Marcus picked up the key carefully.
He examined it under the chapel lights.
“This isn’t a normal key.””
Nia looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus turned it over.
“There’s an engraving.””
He held it closer.
A tiny symbol was carved into the metal.
Nia leaned forward.
“What is that?””
Marcus looked surprised.
“It’s the old Carter Industries symbol.””
Elaine immediately looked away.
Nia noticed.
“You recognize it.””
Elaine sighed.
“Yes.””
“What is it?””
Elaine hesitated.
“Before the company became successful, Arthur and I had a private storage facility. Somewhere only we knew about.””
Veronica let out a bitter laugh.
“Of course.””
Everyone looked at her.
She shook her head.
“Another secret.””
Nia turned toward her.
“You knew?””
Veronica crossed her arms.
“I knew Arthur kept things.””
“That’s not an answer.””
Veronica looked at the coffin.
“Your father was not the simple, honest man you want him to be.””
Nia felt anger rising.
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
Veronica opened her mouth.
But stopped.
For once, she had no prepared response.
Marcus noticed.
“Interesting.””
Veronica glared at him.
“What?””
“You have had an explanation for everything today.””
He looked at the key.
“But not this.””
The tension grew.
Harold slowly sat down.
“I should have told you years ago.””
Nia turned.
“Told me what?””
The old man looked at her.
“That Arthur was scared.””
Her expression softened slightly.
“My father?””
Harold nodded.
“After Veronica came into his life, he changed.””
Veronica immediately snapped.
“That’s a lie.””
Harold looked at her.
“No. It isn’t.””
The room became silent.
Harold continued.
“Arthur started locking his office. He changed passwords. He stopped discussing company decisions around certain people.””
Nia looked at Veronica.
“Why?””
Harold didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
The silence answered for him.
Veronica stepped forward.
“You’re all blaming me because I’m the easiest person to blame.””
Nia studied her.
“Are you?””
Veronica stared.
For a moment, the confidence returned.
“You have no idea what your father was capable of.””
Nia felt a chill.
“What does that mean?””
Veronica looked toward Arthur’s coffin.
“It means your father had secrets before he met me.””
Elaine’s expression changed.
“Don’t do this.””
Veronica looked at her.
“You don’t get to pretend you’re innocent.””
The words struck the room.
Nia turned toward Elaine.
“What is she talking about?””
Elaine remained silent.
Marcus stepped between them.
“We need to focus.””
He placed the folder back on the table.
“Arthur wanted this opened only after the person responsible was identified.””
Nia looked at him.
“Then how do we identify them?””
Marcus looked around the chapel.
“That’s the problem.””
A phone vibrated.
Everyone froze.
This time, it wasn’t Marcus’s.
It was Veronica’s.
Her face changed immediately.
Nia noticed.
“Who is it?””
Veronica ignored her.
The phone vibrated again.
She looked down.
Then quickly turned the screen away.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Show us.””
“No.””
The answer came too fast.
Nia felt her heartbeat increase.
“Veronica.””
She looked at Nia.
“What?””
“Who is texting you?””
Veronica stared at her.
Then the phone vibrated again.
Marcus reached out.
Veronica pulled it back.
“Don’t.””
That single word changed everything.
Because it wasn’t anger.
It was fear.
Nia looked at the phone.
“What are you hiding?””
Veronica said nothing.
Then Harold quietly spoke.
“Arthur wasn’t afraid of the folder.””
Everyone turned.
“He was afraid of the person who knew what was inside.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Who?””
Harold’s eyes moved toward Veronica.
Then away.
“I never saw the person.””
Nia frowned.
“What person?””
Harold swallowed.
“But Arthur told me one thing.””
“What?””
The old man’s voice dropped.
“He said if anything happened to him…”
He looked at the red folder.
“…the person responsible would come looking for this.””
The phone in Veronica’s hand vibrated one more time.
This time, everyone heard it.
She slowly looked at the screen.
And her face went completely pale.
Nia stepped closer.
“What did they send you?””
Veronica looked up.
Her lips trembled.
“It’s a picture.””
“Of what?””
Veronica turned the phone around.
The image appeared.
Everyone froze.
It was a photo of Arthur.
Alive.
Standing outside the chapel.
Taken the morning of his death.
May you like
And beneath the picture was one sentence:
*He didn’t die alone.*
