Chapter 10 - The World OpensThe release was impossible to stop.
By the time we reached the surface, reporters were already calling.
News alerts flooded my phone.
HALCYON SYSTEMS FACES MASSIVE FRAUD INVESTIGATION
MYSTERIOUS BLACKLINE FILES RELEASED
EXECUTIVES NAMED IN CORRUPTION DATABASE
Rachel looked at me.
“How did it send so fast?”
“It was designed to.”
Then my phone buzzed again.
A notification from Halcyon's board portal.
Emergency meeting.
Ten minutes.
I laughed.
“They're already trying to control the damage.”
We arrived at headquarters surrounded by police.
Employees stood in the lobby staring at their phones.
My father's name was everywhere.
So was Elias Grant's.
So was mine.
The first documents still identified me as the architect.
But thousands of files had been released beneath them.
The cover-up collapsed within minutes.
Emails showed Victor manipulating contracts.
Bank records showed Elias receiving hidden payments.
Internal messages showed executives coordinating fake audits.
And then came the one file nobody expected.
Dylan's statement.
A recorded confession.
He admitted attacking me.
He admitted lying to investigators.
He admitted believing our father.
But he also explained everything.
The public response was immediate.
People hated him.
Then some began reading the rest.
The part about Victor manipulating both his sons.
The part about using Dylan as a weapon.
The part about making me the scapegoat.
The board convened.
Rachel walked into the room first.
I followed.
One director stood.
“Daniel, you cannot participate in this meeting.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Your name appears in the evidence.”
“So does yours.”
Silence.
I sat down anyway.
Rachel placed a folder on the table.
“This company has been under criminal control for more than a decade.”
The director looked furious.
“Where is Elias?”
“Missing.”
“Victor?”
“Missing.”
Everyone looked at me.
For once, I wasn't afraid.
Because the truth was finally bigger than the lies.
Then a police officer entered.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“We found your father.”
Every person in the room went silent.
“Where?”
“He surrendered.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
The officer looked at me.
“He wants to speak to you.”
I followed him downstairs.
Victor was sitting in an interrogation room.
No handcuffs.
No lawyer.
Just him.
He looked older.
Smaller.
When he saw me, he smiled sadly.
“You were always too clever.”
I sat across from him.
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because you were dangerous.”
“I was your son.”
“No.”
The word came softly.
“You were Elias's mistake.”
I stared at him.
“He loved your mother.”
“And you hated him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor leaned forward.
“Because he took everything from me.”
“What?”
“My company.”
“My wife.”
Then his eyes narrowed.
“And you.”
I frowned.
“You?”
“You were proof she chose him.”
I couldn't speak.
Victor continued.
“But I discovered something later.”
“What?”
He smiled.
“You weren't the weakness.”
“Then what was I?”
“The weapon.”
I felt cold.
“Against Elias?”
Victor nodded.
“Your intelligence. Your position. Your memory.”
He leaned closer.
“The entire purpose of Blackline was to put you close enough to destroy him.”
I stared at him.
“So you engineered my career to use me.”
“Yes.”
“You destroyed my childhood.”
“Yes.”
“You protected Dylan.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let Dylan attack me?”
Victor's expression changed.
“I didn't.”
I froze.
“What?”
He looked into my eyes.
“I ordered him to scare you.”
“Not kill you.”
“He went too far.”
I stood.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Because I know something you don't.”
“What?”
He whispered:
“Dylan wasn't acting alone.”
The door opened.
Detective Ortiz entered.
She looked at me.
“We just received new footage.”
“What footage?”
“The missing seven minutes.”
My heart dropped.
“Where did you get it?”
May you like
Ortiz looked toward the hallway.
“From your brother.”
