Chapter 8 - THE MAN AT THE GATE
Daniel went very still when Elaine read the email timestamp aloud.
“What?” I asked.
He looked at Peter, then back at me.
“I gave Vivian your laptop that night.”
“You told me it was damaged in the crash.”
“She asked me to say that.”
“Why?”
“She said private messages would embarrass you. She said she was protecting the family.”
“And you helped.”
“Yes.”
Elaine stopped taking notes.
Nobody tried to rescue him.
“Did you delete the camera footage?”
“No. I didn’t know about that, the medication, any of it.”
“How am I supposed to know where your ignorance ends?”
He looked down.
“You shouldn’t take my word for it.”
I dismissed him from the investigation and revoked his access pending review.
He accepted without asking me to remember his years of service.
Elaine contacted an independent investigator, Frank Mercer, who had no history with my family.
I supplied everything Daniel had collected, including the evidence seals and photographs.
Frank arranged secure custody and documented the handover.
Nothing would disappear into another loyal man’s drawer.
By evening, the house felt stripped of people I had trusted.
I stood in the kitchen while Mrs. Ricci prepared soup neither of us expected me to eat.
“You should go home,” I told her.
“Do you want me to resign?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She covered the pot.
“All right.”
Then Emma called.
Lily wanted to know if I had finished the storybook.
“I haven’t,” I admitted.
“She says the bear gets home. You don’t have to worry.”
My throat tightened before I could stop it.
“Tell her I’m glad.”
After the call, Frank showed me the notice delivered to headquarters.
Dr. Vale had signed an assessment describing impaired judgment, paranoia, and treatment refusal.
Vivian had attached it to her request to activate the proxy.
Elaine immediately disputed whether it met the agreement’s independent-assessment requirement.
But the document had already reached the directors.
“They’re using your reaction to the tampering as proof you’re unwell,” she said.
A security alert lit up Frank’s phone.
May you like
Nicholas had changed the visitor permissions at the corporate tower.
My own name was on the denied-entry list.
