Chapter 10 - THE BETRAYAL HIDING IN THE DARK
The footsteps stopped.
The hallway was completely silent.
Ryan stood in front of me, his body tense.
I had never seen my son look this afraid.
Not even when his father died.
Not even when he was a child facing things he couldn’t understand.
This was different.
This was fear for my life.
“Show yourself,” Ryan said.
A low laugh came from the darkness.
Then a figure stepped forward.
The light from the emergency exit revealed his face.
I felt my heart drop.
“Michael…”
The man looked at me.
For a moment, he looked ashamed.
Then that emotion disappeared.
Michael was my husband’s old financial advisor.
The man who had helped us manage our accounts for over fifteen years.
The man who had sat beside me after my husband’s funeral.
The man who told me:
“Ruth, if you ever need anything, I’m here.”
I never imagined those words were a lie.
“You?”
My voice trembled.
Michael looked away.
“Ruth, listen to me.”
“No.”
I stepped back.
“You don’t get to tell me to listen.”
Ryan moved forward.
“You were helping them.”
Michael sighed.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed.
“Actually, I know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
Michael smiled sadly.
“You think you found the truth?”
He looked at the documents in Ryan’s hand.
“You only found the part we wanted you to find.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Michael looked at me.
“The people you trust most are the people who can hurt you the deepest.”
Ryan grabbed his arm.
“Where are Claire and David?”
Michael pulled away.
“You’re too late.”
My blood ran cold.
“What did you do?”
Michael didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
Ryan dragged me out of the building.
We rushed to the car.
The entire time, my mind was spinning.
Claire.
David.
Michael.
Three people.
All connected.
All hiding something.
“How many people knew?” I asked.
Ryan started the engine.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s impossible.”
He looked at me.
“Mom, Dad built a successful company. A lot of people knew about his money.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I looked out the window.
“This wasn’t just about money.”
Ryan became quiet.
Because he knew I was right.
They wanted control.
They wanted everything my husband left behind.
And they wanted me gone.
We arrived at a small hotel where Ryan had hidden backup files.
He opened his laptop.
“I found something last night.”
“What?”
“A message from Dad.”
Ryan opened an encrypted folder.
Inside was a video.
But this time, it wasn’t my husband.
It was someone else.
A young Ryan.
My son.
Years earlier.
He looked nervous.
Confused.
The recording began.
“I don’t know if Mom will ever see this.”
My breath caught.
Ryan looked at the screen.
His younger self continued.
“Dad told me something before he died.”
The young Ryan looked down.
“He said if anything happened, I needed to protect Mom.”
I looked at my son beside me.
He never told me this.
The video continued.
“But Dad also said something else.”
The younger Ryan whispered:
“He said someone inside our family was dangerous.”
The video ended.
Silence filled the room.
Then Ryan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman spoke.
Claire.
“Ryan.”
His face hardened.
“What do you want?”
“I want my family back.”
I almost laughed.
Family?
After everything?
Then Claire said something that made Ryan freeze.
“Because if you don’t come alone tonight…”
May you like
She paused.
“I’ll tell your mother what really happened to her husband.”
