Chapter 5 - Clara's FatherChief walked slowly into the house.
Maxwell followed.
Every step felt like walking backward into his childhood.
The portraits.
The polished floors.
The old staircase.
Nothing had changed.
Except him.
Chief stopped beneath the staircase.
He touched the wall.
Then pressed a hidden panel.
A section of the wooden floor shifted.
A narrow door appeared.
Maxwell stared.
“You remember this.”
“Yes.”
“You were forbidden from entering.”
“I was seven.”
Chief looked at him.
“You almost opened it.”
Maxwell frowned.
“What was inside?”
Chief entered.
Maxwell followed.
The room was small.
Cold.
And filled with metal cabinets.
There were files stacked everywhere.
Chief opened one.
He pulled out a photograph.
Maxwell looked at it.
It was his father, much younger.
Standing beside another man.
Maxwell stared at the man's face.
He looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Clara.
Her eyes.
Her jaw.
Her smile.
“My father.”
Chief nodded.
“Samuel Adeyemi.”
Maxwell's voice became quiet.
“You knew him.”
“We were partners.”
“In what?”
“Business.”
Chief opened another file.
“Your father and I started a company together.”
“What company?”
“Before Onochie Holdings became what it is.”
Maxwell looked through the papers.
There were signatures.
Contracts.
Property documents.
Investment reports.
Then he found something.
A death certificate.
Samuel Adeyemi.
Cause of death: vehicle accident.
Maxwell looked up.
“When did he die?”
“Seven years ago.”
“And Clara?”
“His only daughter.”
Maxwell stared at the documents.
“You knew she was in the house?”
“No.”
“Then why is her name in the trust?”
Chief hesitated.
“That trust was created for both children.”
“Both children?”
“Yes.”
Maxwell looked at him.
“You and Clara?”
Chief nodded.
“Your fathers built the company together.”
Maxwell's mind raced.
“Then why was I never told?”
“Because the company was stolen.”
His voice was bitter.
“By whom?”
Chief looked at him.
“You already know.”
Maxwell's face hardened.
“You?”
Chief shook his head.
“No.”
He placed another file on the table.
“Your uncle.”
Maxwell opened it.
A photograph.
A man standing beside Samuel and Chief.
The third partner.
Chief continued.
“He wanted control.”
“So he killed Samuel?”
“I never proved it.”
“You blamed him?”
“I had no choice.”
Maxwell turned another page.
There were bank transfers.
Millions moved.
Properties disappeared.
Shares changed hands.
Then Maxwell noticed something.
One transfer had been made six months ago.
From Onochie Holdings.
To a private account.
The recipient:
ALEXANDER ADEYEMI.
Clara's father's surname.
Maxwell looked at Chief.
“Samuel is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who is Alexander?”
Chief's face went pale.
“I don't know.”
A sound came from behind the door.
They both turned.
Clara stood there.
Her face was white.
Maxwell stared.
“You're okay.”
She nodded.
“I escaped through another door.”
Chief looked at her.
“Clara.”
She raised her hand.
“Don't.”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“You knew my father.”
Chief said nothing.
“You knew my father!”
“I did.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“You were protecting yourself.”
She threw a phone onto the table.
A recording began playing.
Samuel's voice.
Chief froze.
“If anything happens to me, the shares belong to Maxwell and Clara.”
Maxwell stared at the phone.
The recording continued.
“If my death is ruled an accident, don't believe it.”
Chief's face changed.
Samuel's voice became weaker.
“There is someone inside our company.”
Then the recording stopped.
Silence.
Clara looked at Maxwell.
“My father recorded that three days before he died.”
Chief whispered.
“Where did you get it?”
“I found it in the study.”
Maxwell looked at her.
“And your father knew he was going to die.”
Clara wiped her eyes.
“He knew someone wanted him dead.”
Chief sat down.
For the first time, he looked old.
“Then they have started again.”
Maxwell stepped toward him.
“Who?”
Chief looked directly into his son's eyes.
“The same people who took your father's life.”
“And now they're after us.”
Chief nodded.
“But there's something you don't know.”
Maxwell waited.
Chief said quietly:
“The trust expires in three days.”
Maxwell's blood ran cold.
“What happens then?”
“The company changes hands.”
“To whom?”
Chief didn't answer.
Clara's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice said:
“You found the recording.”
Clara froze.
The voice continued.
“Now find the second one.”
“What second recording?”
The caller laughed.
“The one that proves who killed your father.”
The line went dead.
Maxwell looked at her.
“What did he say?”
Clara slowly lifted her eyes.
May you like
“He said my father was murdered.”
And then the lights in the hidden room went out.
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