Chapter 6: The Man Who Sold Us Both
Daniel answered the call.
“Ethan?””
A man's voice came through the speaker.
“Daniel, I heard there was an incident at the wedding.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Where are you?””
“Why?””
“Because we need to talk.””
There was a short laugh.
“About the money?””
Daniel's grip tightened around the phone.
“About everything.””
The voice became colder.
“Then I suggest you stop talking and start thinking about your own future.””
I stepped closer.
“Ethan.””
Silence.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
“Marcus?””
For six years, I had imagined what I would say if I ever heard that voice again.
I had imagined anger.
Accusations.
Questions.
Instead, all I managed was one word.
“Hello.””
Ethan laughed softly.
“Well. This is unexpected.””
“Where are you?””
“Somewhere comfortable.””
“Still working for Richard?””
“Working with him.””
“Did you steal my technology?””
Another pause.
“That's a complicated question.””
“No, it isn't.””
Ethan sighed.
“You always were difficult when you wanted a straight answer.””
I looked at Elizabeth.
She was recording the call through the company's approved legal system.
“Did you send my files to Richard Bennett?””
“Yes.””
The answer came so casually that I almost didn't process it.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel closed his eyes.
I gripped the edge of the table.
“Why?””
“Because Richard offered me something you couldn't.””
“What?””
“Security. Money. A future.””
“You were my partner.””
“And you were going to destroy us.””
I stared at the phone.
“How?””
“You wanted to reinvest every dollar into development. You refused to take a reasonable offer. You thought the company would become the next great technology business.””
“It did.””
“Eventually.””
His voice became bitter.
“After I helped you understand what it was worth.””
I laughed once.
“You stole the technology, Ethan.””
“I made sure it didn't disappear with your little startup.””
Elizabeth's eyes widened.
She wrote something on a notepad.
I continued.
“You transferred our source code to Richard's company.””
“Yes.””
“You gave him our investor contacts.””
“Yes.””
“And you took money to do it.””
“Everyone gets paid, Marcus. That's how business works.””
I looked at Vanessa.
She was crying silently.
“Did Richard pay Vanessa?””
The line went quiet.
Then Ethan said something that changed the room.
“Ask Richard.””
I leaned closer to the phone.
“I'm asking you.””
“Vanessa's involvement was Richard's idea.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“What involvement?””
Ethan sighed.
“Vanessa, you're there?””
She snatched the phone from Daniel.
“Did you use my name to receive money?””
“Listen, I didn't handle the paperwork.””
“Did you?””
“I said I didn't handle it.””
“Then why is my signature on the authorization?””
Ethan paused.
Then he answered.
“Your father told us you had agreed.””
Vanessa's knees seemed to weaken.
“He lied.””
“I don't know what he told you.””
“You knew I didn't know anything!””
Ethan didn't respond.
She began crying harder.
“Did you help my father make Marcus look like a failure?””
“Vanessa, this was business.””
“No! You destroyed his company!””
Ethan's voice hardened.
“Your father wanted you away from Marcus. He thought you deserved someone with a stable future. I helped him make that happen.””
I took the phone from Vanessa.
“Did Richard arrange my breakup?””
Ethan laughed.
“Marcus, don't be dramatic. Nobody forced Vanessa to leave you.””
“Did he give her false information about me?””
“He gave her information about your company.””
“Did he tell her I had stolen money from investors?””
Silence.
That was the answer.
Six years ago, Richard had circulated false allegations that I was financially irresponsible and had misused investor funds.
Vanessa had believed him.
The investor had withdrawn.
My employees had panicked.
And I had spent months trying to prove that I hadn't stolen anything.
I had lost my company before I even understood that someone had engineered its collapse.
Ethan finally spoke.
“Look, I don't owe you an explanation.””
“You owe me the truth.””
“I gave you the truth. You were never going to win against Richard.””
I looked at Elizabeth.
She silently pointed to the recording indicator.
“Thank you, Ethan.””
He chuckled.
“That's all?””
“For now.””
I ended the call.
Daniel sat down heavily.
Vanessa stared at the phone.
“My father did this.””
I nodded.
“Apparently.””
She looked at me.
“And I believed him.””
I didn't answer.
She wiped her face.
“I spent six years telling people you were a failure.””
Her voice broke.
“I told my friends you were obsessed with money. I told Daniel that you couldn't accept responsibility. I even told my father I was glad I had escaped before you dragged me down.””
Daniel looked away.
Elizabeth shut her laptop.
“We need to preserve every piece of evidence. The recorded admission, the emails, the payment authorization, and the transaction records.””
I nodded.
“Have the compliance team send everything to outside counsel.””
“Already underway.””
Then she hesitated.
“Marcus, there's something else.””
“What?””
She turned her laptop toward me.
A newly recovered document was open.
It was an internal memorandum from Reed Holdings, dated three months earlier.
The title read:
*Project Continuity — Contingency Plan Following Carter Global Acquisition.*
I read the first paragraph.
My stomach tightened.
Richard hadn't simply wanted to buy Carter Global.
He had planned to acquire the company, merge its assets into Reed Holdings, and eliminate the historical records connecting him to the original theft.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The final page listed the proposed members of the acquisition integration committee.
Richard Bennett.
Ethan Cole.
Daniel Reed.
And Vanessa Bennett.
Vanessa stared at her own name.
“I've never been on any committee.””
Elizabeth scrolled to the signature page.
There it was.
A signed acceptance dated two months earlier.
Vanessa's name.
Her electronic signature.
She shook her head.
“I didn't sign that either.””
Daniel stood abruptly.
“Wait.””
I turned toward him.
“What?””
He stared at the document.
Then he whispered, “I remember approving this.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“You approved a document with my name on it?””
“I thought your father had already discussed it with you.””
“You thought?””
Daniel rubbed his face.
“I was told it was a routine authorization.””
Elizabeth's expression hardened.
“Mr. Reed, your credentials approved the document.””
Daniel sat down again.
“I didn't know what it was for.””
I looked at him.
“Then who told you to approve it?””
He hesitated.
For several seconds, the only sound in the room was the air conditioner.
Then he said, “Richard.””
I nodded.
“Of course.””
But Daniel wasn't finished.
“There was another instruction.””
“What instruction?””
Daniel looked directly at me.
“Richard told me that once the acquisition closed, you would be removed from the company within thirty days.””
I stared at him.
“Why?””
Daniel swallowed.
“Because he said Carter Global was never supposed to belong to you.””
Vanessa frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel looked at me.
“He said the company was built using stolen intellectual property.””
The room went silent.
I slowly stood.
Richard had spent six years stealing my technology, destroying my first company, and manipulating the people closest to me.
Now he was preparing to claim ownership of everything I had built.
And he had apparently arranged for his own daughter to become part of the plan without her knowledge.
I picked up my jacket.
“Elizabeth, we're going to need a full forensic investigation.””
She nodded.
“Agreed.””
Daniel looked frightened.
“Mr. Carter, what are you going to do?””
I looked at the wedding photograph sitting on the table.
Vanessa and Daniel smiled beneath a canopy of white roses.
A perfect picture.
A perfect celebration.
A perfect lie.
“I'm going to find out who really owns the technology that made Carter Global successful.””
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
Marcus, stop investigating Richard. You have no idea what happened to your original source code.
A second message arrived before I could respond.
And if you want to know why Ethan disappeared six years ago, ask your mother.
I read it twice.
Then I felt the blood drain from my face.
May you like
My mother had died four years earlier.
And as far as I knew, she had never even met Richard Bennett.
