Chapter 3 - My Father’s Messenger
Arthur moved between us.
“Who are you?”
The man removed his catering cap. He was in his late fifties, with tired eyes and a scar near his left temple.
“My name is Daniel Mercer. I was head of internal security under Robert Hayes.”
My father.
I recognized the name. Daniel had disappeared from the company three weeks before Dad died.
“Why are you dressed like that?” I asked.
“Because Ethan’s people watch every entrance.”
Arthur reached for the emergency button.
Daniel lifted both hands. “I’m not here to hurt her.”
“Then start talking,” Arthur said.
Daniel looked at the camera above us.
“Not in here.”
The elevator shuddered.
The lights went out.
My stomach tightened as we dropped half a floor. Arthur slammed one hand against the wall and used the other to steady me.
The emergency lights flickered on.
“Claire?” Arthur asked.
“I’m okay.”
Daniel looked toward the control panel. “That wasn’t an accident.”
The elevator stopped between floors.
I took out my phone. No signal.
Arthur pressed the alarm.
Nothing happened.
Daniel pulled a small screwdriver from his pocket and opened the service panel.
“You were expecting this?” I asked.
“I expected Ethan to stop the meeting. I didn’t know how.”
Pain moved across my lower abdomen.
Not a contraction, I told myself.
Just stress.
Daniel worked quickly while he spoke.
“Your father suspected money was being stolen through shell vendors. He asked me to investigate. The trail led to Ethan and someone inside the legal department.”
“Vanessa?”
“I didn’t know her name then.”
“What did my father find?”
“Enough to remove Ethan. Not enough to prosecute him.”
“Why didn’t Dad tell me?”
“He tried. You stopped taking his calls.”
Shame burned hotter than the pain in my back.
During Dad’s final month, Ethan told me every call turned into an attack on our marriage. I had convinced myself that distance was healthier for everyone.
Daniel forced two wires together.
The lights brightened, and the elevator crept upward.
“Your father created a backup archive,” he continued. “Financial records, recordings, internal reports. He gave me half the access key.”
“And the other half?”
“He left it to you.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Yes, you do. You just don’t know what it is.”
The elevator reached the executive floor.
When the doors opened, two security guards were waiting.
Neither wore a company badge.
Ethan stood behind them.
He looked at Daniel and smiled.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
Arthur stepped forward. “Move your men.”
Ethan ignored him. His eyes stayed on me.
“Claire, give me your phone.”
“No.”
One guard moved toward me.
Daniel stepped between us.
The second guard reached inside his jacket.
Then a woman’s voice rang down the hallway.
“Touch my client, and I’ll have all four of you arrested.”
Rachel Kim walked toward us, holding a thick folder.
She stopped beside me and looked at Ethan.
“I also brought the original amendment to Robert Hayes’s trust.”
Ethan’s smile disappeared.
May you like
Rachel opened the folder.
“But that isn’t the document you should be afraid of.”
