Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW MY FATHER"Who is that?"
Flynn's voice was too calm.
I locked my phone.
"No one."
He smiled.
It wasn't a normal smile.
It was the expression of a man trying to determine whether he was still in control.
"You should sleep."
"I will."
He turned away.
I watched him walk down the hall.
Then I noticed something.
He wasn't heading toward his office.
He was going downstairs.
Toward the garage.
I waited thirty seconds.
Then I followed.
From behind the staircase, I watched Flynn get into his car.
He drove away.
At one in the morning.
I grabbed my coat.
For the first time in twelve years, I followed my husband.
He drove toward downtown Boston.
Then into the underground parking garage of the Vance Global headquarters.
I parked three cars behind him.
Flynn entered the building through a private entrance.
I waited.
Five minutes.
Then ten.
I followed.
The security desk was empty.
I knew the building well.
I'd visited dozens of times during Flynn's early years as CEO.
The elevator required a keycard.
I didn't have one.
Then a door opened.
Selina stepped out.
I froze.
She was wearing a black coat over the same blouse she'd worn earlier.
Her hair was wet from the rain.
She looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
"You're not supposed to be here."
"I could say the same thing."
She glanced toward the elevator.
"You need to leave."
"Why?"
"Because your husband isn't meeting me."
My stomach tightened.
"Then who is he meeting?"
Selina looked around nervously.
"Your father's lawyer."
I went cold.
"My father died three years ago."
"I know."
"Then why is his lawyer meeting Flynn?"
Selina swallowed.
"Because the lawyer has something Flynn desperately wants."
"What?"
She looked straight into my eyes.
"The original trust."
Before I could respond, the elevator doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Silver hair.
Black suit.
I knew him.
I'd seen him once at my father's funeral.
Richard Vale.
My father's attorney.
He looked at me.
Then at Selina.
Then his face changed.
"Oh God."
"What?" I asked.
He walked toward me.
"You shouldn't have been brought here."
"I wasn't brought here."
Richard lowered his voice.
"Did you open the folder?"
My blood ran cold.
"How do you know about the folder?"
He closed his eyes.
"Because your father made me promise that if you ever opened it, I would tell you everything."
"Then tell me."
Richard looked toward the elevator.
"No. Not here."
"Why?"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Because Flynn has been watching you for years."
My breathing stopped.
Richard grabbed my wrist.
"Come with me."
Before I could move, the elevator doors opened again.
Flynn stepped out.
He saw us.
His face became expressionless.
Then he looked at Richard.
"What did you tell her?"
Richard's grip tightened around my wrist.
Flynn's eyes moved to Selina.
"Get out."
Selina didn't move.
Flynn took one step forward.
"Now."
Selina finally walked away.
I looked at my husband.
"Why is my father's lawyer meeting you?"
Flynn said nothing.
"What is the original trust?"
Still nothing.
Then Richard spoke.
"Your father transferred control of Vance Global to Mabel eleven years ago."
The world tilted.
I looked at Flynn.
"What?"
His silence was my answer.
Richard continued.
"Flynn doesn't actually own the controlling shares."
I stared at my husband.
"You lied to me."
"I had no choice."
"Who owns the company?"
Richard's eyes met mine.
"You do."
Silence filled the garage.
I heard a distant car horn.
Then Flynn whispered:
"Your father wanted you to inherit everything."
I stared at him.
"Then why did I spend twelve years believing you built this company?"
Flynn looked away.
"Because your father told me that if I wanted to marry you, I had to make sure you never knew."
I felt something inside me break.
"Why?"
Flynn finally looked at me.
"Because there are people who would kill you for those shares."
Richard stepped closer.
"Your father was one of them."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Richard's face went pale.
"He didn't die naturally."
He opened his briefcase.
Inside was a photograph of my father's car.
The windshield was shattered.
The driver's side door was burned.
And beneath it was a police report.
CAUSE OF DEATH: CARDIAC ARREST FOLLOWING VEHICLE COLLISION.
Richard pointed at one sentence.
"Look at the date."
I did.
It was three years ago.
Then I noticed something.
The report had been amended.
Three months after my father's death.
Someone had changed the official cause of the accident.
May you like
Richard whispered:
"The original report said the brakes had been deliberately sabotaged."
