Chapter 6 - THE ATTACK
“ETHAN!”
I ran.
Maria grabbed my arm.
“Wait!”
Another gunshot.
I ignored her.
I raced upstairs.
The hallway was dark.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Security guards shouted.
Then I saw Logan.
He was on the floor.
Ethan was beside him.
“Dad!”
I dropped to my knees.
“Are you hurt?”
Logan shook his head.
“No.”
“Where's the shooter?”
Ethan pointed toward the balcony.
“He ran.”
I looked.
The balcony door was open.
Security officers rushed outside.
Nobody was there.
Then Maria screamed.
“Alexander!”
I turned.
She was holding something.
A bullet casing.
She looked at me.
“This isn't a normal weapon.”
“What?”
She pointed to the marking.
“It's from the same ammunition used in your sons' accident investigation.”
My blood ran cold.
This wasn't random.
Someone was sending a message.
Daniel arrived.
“We have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“The company board is meeting tomorrow morning.”
“So?”
“They're planning to remove you as CEO.”
I stared at him.
“On what grounds?”
“Financial misconduct.”
I laughed bitterly.
“They're accusing me?”
Daniel nodded.
“Thomas has forged documents showing you authorized every transfer.”
I understood.
They weren't merely stealing my company.
They were preparing to blame me.
If I was removed, they could take control.
“And Rebecca?”
“She has already been named as interim trustee.”
My stomach turned.
“She planned everything.”
Daniel nodded.
“But there's one thing they didn't know.”
He handed me a flash drive.
“Maria's brother recorded everything.”
We played it.
The audio was distorted, but the voices were clear.
Rebecca.
Thomas.
Victor.
And another voice.
I recognized it immediately.
My father's former business partner.
Edward Cole.
I whispered his name.
“He's been dead for ten years.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“He isn't.”
The room went silent.
Edward had faked his death.
And he was the architect.
Rebecca wasn't the mastermind.
She was a participant.
I looked at Maria.
“Where is he?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then the audio continued.
Edward's voice said:
“Once Alexander is removed, the company belongs to us.”
Rebecca asked:
“And the boys?”
Edward replied:
“They don't matter.”
I felt something break inside me.
Not anger.
Something deeper.
The realization that my children had been treated like obstacles.
I stood.
“They're coming after my sons.”
Maria nodded.
“That's why we have to move them.”
“To where?”
She looked at me.
“Somewhere nobody knows.”
For the first time, Ethan spoke.
“No.”
We all turned.
He looked at his brother.
“We're done running.”
Logan nodded.
“They've taken enough from us.”
I stared at my sons.
They were still in wheelchairs.
Still recovering.
Still vulnerable.
But something had changed.
They weren't victims anymore.
They were fighting.
And I realized something else.
I had spent fourteen months trying to make them walk again.
But maybe what they needed most wasn't their legs.
It was their father.
I knelt beside them.
“I failed you.”
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
“Then don't fail us again.”
I hugged both boys.
“I won't.”
Behind us, Maria smiled through tears.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“Rebecca has been arrested.”
I stood.
“What happened?”
“She confessed.”
“To everything?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“She says Edward has kidnapped your wife.”
I froze.
“My wife is dead.”
Daniel's face was pale.
“I know.”
He swallowed.
May you like
“She says she wasn't.”
---
