Chapter 2 - The Night My Mother DiedThe investigator's name was Claire Morgan.
She didn't sit.
Neither did Dad.
Ryan stood at the other end of the room, surrounded by people who had spent minutes earlier being terrified of him.
Now he looked like a trapped animal.
Claire opened the folder.
"Three years ago, a man named Daniel Brooks died in a car accident."
Ryan stared at her.
"So?"
Claire looked at me.
"Mr. Brooks worked for Carter Global."
My throat tightened.
"Why does that matter?"
She looked at Dad.
Richard Carter didn't answer.
Claire continued.
"Mr. Brooks was conducting an internal investigation into financial irregularities involving several subsidiaries."
Ryan's face didn't move.
But I saw his fingers twitch.
Claire noticed too.
"What was he investigating?" I asked.
"Money laundering."
The room became still.
I looked at Ryan.
"Your company?"
Ryan immediately shook his head.
"This is ridiculous."
Claire ignored him.
"Two days before his death, Mr. Brooks sent encrypted files to someone outside the company."
"Who?"
Claire looked at me.
"Your mother."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Dad closed his eyes.
I stared at him.
"You knew?"
He didn't answer.
"You knew Mom received the files?"
"Emma..."
"You knew?"
Dad finally looked at me.
"Yes."
The word broke something inside me.
My mother had died when I was seventeen.
Everyone had told me it was an accident.
A drunk driver.
A wet road.
A terrible night.
I had believed them.
Because Dad had told me to.
He had hugged me at the funeral.
He had promised that he would protect me.
And all these years later, I was discovering that my mother had been investigating a criminal operation.
Ryan interrupted.
"This has nothing to do with me."
Claire turned.
"Actually, Mr. Hayes, your name appears in those files."
Ryan went pale.
I stared at him.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you shaking?"
"I'm not."
Dad walked toward the table.
"Show her."
Claire hesitated.
Then opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Standing beside Ryan.
Three months before Ryan and I met.
I couldn't breathe.
"No."
I picked up the photograph.
It was real.
My mother was unmistakable.
She stood beside Ryan outside a restaurant.
Ryan looked younger.
Confident.
Smiling.
My hand began to shake.
"When was this taken?"
"Three years and eight months ago."
I looked at Ryan.
"We didn't even know each other then."
Ryan's face hardened.
"Your mother approached me."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
I turned to Dad.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Dad's silence answered more than words.
I felt betrayed.
Not by Ryan.
Not anymore.
By my father.
"You knew he had met her."
"Yes."
"You knew she was investigating him."
"Yes."
"And you let me marry him."
Dad's face tightened.
"I thought I was protecting you."
"Protecting me?"
I laughed, but the sound came out broken.
"You watched me marry the man who may have been connected to her death."
"I did not know he was responsible."
"But you suspected."
Dad didn't deny it.
Ryan suddenly lunged toward the photograph.
Dad stepped between us instantly.
"Don't."
Ryan stopped.
He looked at Claire.
"What do you want?"
"Truth."
"I've told you everything."
"No."
Claire opened another document.
"This is a transfer record from one of your offshore accounts."
Ryan stared.
"That account doesn't belong to me."
Claire smiled faintly.
"It does."
Ryan's breathing changed.
The account had transferred nearly twelve million dollars.
Three days before Daniel Brooks died.
I looked at Ryan.
"Where did the money go?"
He didn't answer.
Claire answered instead.
"It was transferred to a company owned by a man named Victor Hale."
Dad's expression changed.
I noticed.
"Who is Victor Hale?"
Dad looked at Claire.
"How much do you know?"
"Enough."
Dad walked toward the window.
"Victor Hale used to work for Carter Global."
I looked at him.
"And?"
"He was my head of security."
My stomach tightened.
"Used to?"
Dad nodded.
"He disappeared the same night your mother died."
Silence.
Ryan suddenly laughed.
Everyone looked at him.
His smile was strange.
Almost relieved.
"You people really want to know what happened?"
Claire stepped forward.
"What?"
Ryan looked at me.
"You think I'm the villain."
His eyes moved to Dad.
"But your father has been lying to you far longer than I have."
Dad's voice became dangerously calm.
"Choose your next words carefully."
Ryan smiled.
"Ask him what happened the night your mother died."
Then the lights went out.
Every screen in the penthouse went black.
May you like
The security system screamed.
And somewhere in the darkness, a gunshot echoed.
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