Chapter 4 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED
By the time Maria and I reached the mansion, the police were already outside.
I jumped from the car.
“What happened?”
Daniel met me at the entrance.
“Come inside.”
I followed him.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
“Where are the boys?”
“Upstairs with security.”
“Good.”
Daniel led me into the study.
On the largest monitor was an old video file.
Timestamp:
11:47 P.M.
The night of the accident.
The camera showed the driveway.
My sons' sports car rolled into view.
Then something else appeared.
A black SUV.
It followed them.
I leaned closer.
“Can you enhance that?”
Daniel nodded.
The image sharpened.
I recognized the vehicle.
It belonged to Rebecca.
My stomach twisted.
The video continued.
Rebecca's SUV stopped near the garage.
A man stepped out.
He walked toward my sons' car.
Then the footage abruptly ended.
I looked at Daniel.
“Where's the rest?”
“Deleted.”
“Can you recover it?”
“We already did.”
He clicked another file.
The footage resumed.
The man opened the hood.
He bent down.
Then he looked directly toward the camera.
His face was visible for barely two seconds.
I recognized him.
“That's Victor Hale.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Who?”
“A former executive from my company.”
“Why would he be working for Rebecca?”
“I fired him three years ago.”
“Why?”
“Fraud.”
Maria stepped forward.
“What kind?”
I stared at the screen.
“Contract manipulation. Bribery. False invoices.”
Daniel nodded.
“He disappeared afterward.”
Maria whispered:
“He didn't disappear.”
I turned.
“What?”
“He came to the rehabilitation center.”
My pulse jumped.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“What did he want?”
“He asked about Ethan and Logan.”
“Did he know you?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Maria looked frightened.
“He wanted to know whether they could walk again.”
A cold silence settled over the room.
Daniel looked at me.
“There's more.”
He opened another file.
A bank transfer.
$2.8 million.
From one of my corporate accounts.
To a shell company.
Then another.
And another.
I stared.
“When did this happen?”
“Over the last fourteen months.”
My voice went cold.
“Someone has been draining my company.”
Daniel nodded.
“And whoever did it had executive-level access.”
I thought about the people who had access.
My CFO.
My assistant.
My sister.
I suddenly remembered something.
“Rebecca knew the trust structure.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Yes.”
“But she couldn't access the trust.”
“No.”
“Unless…”
Daniel finished the sentence.
“Unless someone transferred assets before they entered the trust.”
I felt sick.
“How much?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Almost eighteen million dollars.”
Maria stepped backward.
“That's why she wanted the boys dependent.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“If your sons remained unable to work, you would continue managing everything.”
“And?”
“Rebecca would remain close to your financial decisions.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“She wasn't just trying to inherit your money.”
“She was trying to control it.”
My phone rang.
It was Ethan.
I answered immediately.
“Son?”
His breathing was rapid.
“Dad…”
“What happened?”
“Logan found something.”
“What?”
“He found a recording on his old tablet.”
My blood ran cold.
“Stay upstairs. Don't move.”
I ran.
Maria and Daniel followed.
When I reached the rehabilitation room, Logan held a tablet in trembling hands.
“Play it,” I said.
He did.
The recording was from fourteen months earlier.
It showed our family garage.
Rebecca was there.
And Victor Hale.
But they weren't alone.
A third person stood between them.
I couldn't see the face.
Then the person turned.
I stopped breathing.
It was my CFO.
Thomas Grant.
The man who had worked for me for twelve years.
The man I trusted with every major financial decision.
On the recording, Thomas handed Rebecca an envelope.
Victor said:
“The boys have to stay out of the company.”
Rebecca replied:
“They will.”
Thomas asked:
“And Alexander?”
Rebecca smiled.
“He'll blame himself.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Logan whispered:
“Dad?”
I looked at my son.
“Why did Aunt Rebecca want us out?”
I didn't know how to answer.
Because the truth was beginning to terrify me.
This had never been about a necklace.
It had never been about Maria.
It had never even been about inheritance.
Someone had spent fourteen months destroying my family from the inside.
May you like
And they weren't finished.
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