Chapter 11 - THE PERSON I CALLED FAMILY
The words repeated in my mind.
“Someone inside your family.”
For three months, I had searched for a traitor.
I suspected Vanessa.
I suspected Daniel.
I suspected everyone around me.
But I never wanted to believe it could be someone who shared my blood.
My hands tightened around my phone.
“Marcus.”
“Yes, Alexander.”
“Tell me the name.”
There was a pause.
A long one.
Then Marcus answered.
“Your uncle.”
The room became completely silent.
I closed my eyes.
My uncle Martin.
The man who held my father’s hand at his funeral.
The man who told me he would protect me.
The man who always said family was everything.
I remembered being twenty years old.
Lost.
Angry.
Trying to build a company while everyone told me I would fail.
Martin was the one person who stood beside me.
Or at least, that was what I believed.
I arrived at his office thirty minutes later.
He was sitting behind his desk, looking older than I had ever seen him.
He already knew why I was there.
“You found out.”
I didn’t answer.
I placed the accident report on his desk.
“You knew.”
Martin looked down.
“I knew someone was planning something.”
“And you did nothing?”
His eyes filled with regret.
“I was scared.”
I laughed.
A cold, painful laugh.
“You were scared?”
I stepped closer.
“You let someone destroy my life because you were scared?”
His shoulders dropped.
“I thought they would only force you out of the company.”
I stared at him.
“You thought?”
My voice became louder.
“You thought losing everything I built was acceptable?”
He looked away.
“I never wanted you hurt.”
“Then why didn’t you warn me?”
Silence.
The answer was obvious.
Because he had chosen himself.
After everything.
He had chosen himself.
Then Martin whispered:
“Because I owed your father a debt.”
I froze.
“What?”
He reached into his desk drawer.
He pulled out an old envelope.
“This is the reason.”
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
A younger Martin.
And another man standing beside them.
A man I recognized immediately.
Vanessa’s father.
Richard Sterling.
My stomach tightened.
“What is this?”
Martin looked at me.
“Your father and Richard Sterling were business partners.”
I stared at the picture.
“That’s impossible.”
“It ended badly.”
“How badly?”
Martin looked terrified.
“Bad enough that Richard promised he would destroy your family.”
I looked at the photo again.
Suddenly, the accident wasn't about money.
It was revenge.
Then Martin said something that changed everything.
“Alexander…”
I looked at him.
“Your father knew this day might come.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“He left something for you.”
I stared at him.
“Where?”
Martin slowly pointed toward the old family estate.
May you like
“Hidden in the place where he died.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
