Chapter 14 - The Person Behind EverythingMaxwell and Clara reached the warehouse before midnight.
Police surrounded the area.
Chief stayed behind with Lolo.
Inside, there was only one light.
It illuminated a table.
On it was the missing page.
Burning at the edges.
Maxwell stepped closer.
Then a voice spoke.
“You were always smarter than your father thought.”
Maxwell turned.
Lolo stood behind him.
He froze.
“Mum?”
Clara stepped back.
Lolo shook her head.
“Don't be afraid.”
Maxwell's voice trembled.
“You sent the messages.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked toward the shadows.
A woman stepped forward.
Older.
Elegant.
Calm.
Maxwell recognized her immediately.
Grace.
The woman who had brought the second recording.
But she wasn't alone.
The vice chairman stood beside her.
Maxwell stared.
“You.”
Grace smiled.
“Yes.”
Clara looked at her.
“Why?”
Grace walked toward them.
“Because your fathers destroyed my family.”
Maxwell frowned.
“Who are you?”
Grace looked at Clara.
“Your grandmother's daughter.”
Silence.
Clara stared.
“My mother?”
Grace nodded.
“I was Lucy's sister.”
Maxwell's eyes widened.
“Then why were you helping Alexander?”
“I wasn't.”
She looked at the vice chairman.
“He was.”
The vice chairman smiled.
“I've been inside this company for twenty-two years.”
Maxwell realized.
“The missing page.”
“Yes.”
“You stole it.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because that page contains a secret.”
The vice chairman placed a second file on the table.
“Chief Onochie was not the first chairman.”
Maxwell stared.
“Who was?”
“Samuel.”
“No.”
“Your father was chairman for three years.”
Clara stepped forward.
“Then why did Chief control the company?”
“Because Samuel transferred control to him.”
“Why?”
The man looked at Clara.
“Because Samuel knew he was dying.”
Maxwell's jaw tightened.
“What else?”
The vice chairman opened the file.
Inside was a photograph.
Alexander.
Chief.
Samuel.
And another person.
Lolo.
Maxwell stared.
His mother was standing beside them.
The date was seven years before Samuel died.
“What is this?”
Grace answered.
“The meeting where they decided who would inherit the company.”
Maxwell looked at the photograph.
“Why is my mother there?”
“Because she was the final beneficiary.”
“What?”
Grace pointed to the missing page.
“Your mother was never merely your father's wife.”
Maxwell stared.
“She owned shares.”
“Yes.”
“Why hide them?”
“Because Alexander wanted them.”
Lolo stepped closer.
“I gave them to Samuel.”
Maxwell turned.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because every person who knew was being hunted.”
Lolo began crying.
“Maxi, I lost Samuel.”
“I know.”
“I nearly lost you.”
Maxwell looked away.
Grace spoke again.
“There is one truth left.”
Everyone became silent.
“Alexander didn't order Samuel's death.”
Maxwell froze.
“Then who did?”
Grace looked directly at Chief.
“Your father.”
Maxwell stopped breathing.
“What?”
Grace nodded.
“Chief Onochie ordered Samuel's death.”
“No.”
“I have proof.”
She handed Maxwell a recording.
He pressed play.
Chief's younger voice filled the warehouse.
“Samuel cannot continue.”
Another voice asked:
“And the children?”
Chief replied:
“They will never know.”
Maxwell dropped the recorder.
His entire world collapsed.
He remembered the sacrifices.
The locked room.
The stolen documents.
The lies.
The protection.
Everything.
Then Clara whispered:
“Your father killed mine.”
Maxwell looked at her.
But before he could answer, Lolo stepped between them.
“No.”
They both looked at her.
Lolo was crying.
“Chief didn't order Samuel's death.”
Grace laughed.
“You still protect him?”
Lolo shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Maxwell.
“I did.”
Silence.
Maxwell's face went blank.
“What?”
Lolo closed her eyes.
“I was the one who signed the order.”
Maxwell's knees almost gave way.
His mother stared at him.
“I thought Samuel was going to kill you.”
“What did you do?”
“I made a terrible mistake.”
She cried.
“I didn't know the people I hired would kill him.”
Clara covered her mouth.
Maxwell stepped backward.
His voice became almost a whisper.
“My mother…”
Lolo nodded.
“I caused your father's death.”
The warehouse went silent.
Then police sirens sounded outside.
Alexander had confessed to everything.
But Maxwell no longer cared.
Because the person he trusted most had just admitted she was connected to the death that had destroyed his entire family.
And then Lolo said the final sentence.
“But Samuel knew I would betray him.”
Maxwell looked at her.
“What?”
“He prepared another trust.”
May you like
She pointed toward the burning page.
“He knew this day would come.”
