Chapter 12 - THE WITNESS WHO VANISHED
The door opened slowly.
I held my breath.
Michael moved in front of me.
Ready.
Prepared.
But when the person stepped inside…
Nobody moved.
Because it wasn’t Richard.
It wasn’t Vanessa.
It wasn’t Sarah.
It was a woman.
Older.
Tired.
Her face carried years of fear.
My heart stopped.
“Aunt Clara?”
She looked at me.
And tears filled her eyes.
“Emma.”
I couldn’t move.
For ten years, I believed she was gone.
Everyone told me she had left the country.
Everyone told me she wanted nothing to do with the family.
But she was standing in front of me.
Alive.
Terrified.
Michael lowered his guard slightly.
“How did you find us?”
Clara looked at him.
“I didn’t.”
Her eyes moved around the room.
“They found me.”
A cold feeling entered my chest.
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“Richard.”
Silence.
She sat down.
Her hands were shaking.
“I should have come sooner.”
I walked closer.
“Why didn’t you?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because your father made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“To protect you by staying away.”
I felt anger rising.
“Everyone keeps saying they protected me.”
My voice cracked.
“But nobody told me anything.”
Clara looked down.
“You’re right.”
The honesty surprised me.
“You deserved the truth.”
Michael sat across from her.
“Tell us what happened the night James died.”
Clara closed her eyes.
And for a moment…
She looked like someone reliving the worst day of her life.
“Your father wasn’t supposed to be driving that night.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He was meeting someone.”
“Who?”
She looked at Michael.
Then at me.
“Richard.”
The room became silent.
“He wanted to make a deal.”
“A deal?”
Clara nodded.
“Richard wanted control of the company.”
“And my father refused.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Clara swallowed.
“Your father discovered Richard had been moving money.”
My hands tightened.
“The same thing Daniel did?”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“Richard taught them.”
Clara nodded.
“He taught people how to manipulate.”
“How to steal.”
“How to make someone look innocent while destroying them.”
Michael leaned forward.
“Why did you disappear?”
Clara looked at me.
“Because I saw something.”
“What?”
Her voice dropped.
“I saw Vanessa at the scene.”
My breathing stopped.
“What?”
“She wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Clara looked terrified.
“She was standing with Richard.”
Everything connected.
The affair.
The money.
The betrayal.
The revenge.
But then Clara said something that changed everything.
“There’s more.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She reached into her bag.
And pulled out a small flash drive.
“I took this from Richard’s office years ago.”
Michael stood.
“What’s on it?”
Clara looked at me.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Her answer was barely a whisper.
“Proof that your father’s death was planned.”
The room went completely silent.
I stared at the flash drive.
Ten years of unanswered questions.
Ten years of believing I had lost my father to an accident.
And now…
The truth was sitting in Clara’s hand.
Then suddenly—
The office windows shattered.
Everyone dropped.
Michael pulled me down.
A loud crash echoed through the room.
When I looked up…
Clara was gone.
And the flash drive was missing.
Michael ran toward the broken window.
I stood frozen.
Because on the floor beside me…
Was a note.
Three words.
May you like
Written in black ink.
STOP DIGGING, EMMA.
