Chapter 12 - The Father Behind the CurtainMy father walked toward us.
Marcus didn't move.
My mother was crying.
Bianca stayed behind me.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then I asked:
"How long?"
My father looked at me.
"How long what?"
"How long have you been working with Marcus?"
He sighed.
"Twenty years."
My mother's sob escaped.
Bianca whispered:
"Dad..."
He looked at her.
"You weren't supposed to know."
"So Mom knew."
"Yes."
"Victor knew."
"Yes."
"Mara knew."
"No."
Mara had stayed in the car with the security team.
I looked at my father.
"You built all of this."
"No."
He shook his head.
"Marcus did."
"And you joined him."
"Because I thought I could control him."
Marcus laughed.
"You never could."
My father ignored him.
"I saw what you built when you were fifteen."
"I know."
"I knew investors would come after you."
"You became one of them."
"I wanted to protect you."
"You used my money."
"I needed leverage."
"Against whom?"
He looked at Marcus.
"Against him."
Marcus smiled.
"Richard always believed the company belonged to the family."
My father said:
"It should have."
I stared.
"That's what you thought."
"Your mother was supposed to keep you distracted."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
He looked at her.
"She spoiled Bianca because Bianca was easier to control."
My mother's face went white.
"I loved my daughter."
"I know."
He turned toward me.
"But you were different."
I laughed.
"Different?"
"Independent."
"So you punished me."
"No."
He paused.
"I underestimated you."
The words should have felt like an apology.
They didn't.
They felt like a confession.
I took out my phone.
"Everything you've said is recorded."
My father froze.
Marcus smiled.
"Good."
I frowned.
Marcus looked almost relieved.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"You think the meeting today is about ownership."
He stepped closer.
"It's about exposure."
"What exposure?"
He pointed toward the sky.
A drone hovered above the runway.
Then another.
Then five more.
Mara's voice crackled through my earpiece.
"Ava, we're being surrounded."
Cars appeared at the edge of the airfield.
Police.
Reporters.
Federal investigators.
My father looked at Marcus.
"What did you do?"
Marcus smiled.
"What I should have done years ago."
He turned toward me.
"Tell them."
"Tell them what?"
"Everything."
My phone buzzed.
A live stream had started.
The feed showed a document.
My name.
My family.
ValeCore.
And one accusation:
Ava Vale stole $43 million through a hidden family trust.
My face went cold.
Victor had released the files.
Marcus had timed everything perfectly.
The public would see me as a thief.
The youngest billionaire they'd just celebrated...
Would become the suspect in the biggest financial scandal in the country.
My father looked at me.
"Now you know why we needed you invisible."
I looked at the cameras.
Then at my mother.
Then at Bianca.
Finally, I looked at Marcus.
He smiled.
But I noticed one thing.
His right hand was shaking.
Very slightly.
He was afraid.
And suddenly I knew.
He had made one mistake.
May you like
He believed he was the only person who had prepared for this day.
He wasn't.
