Chapter 14 - The Last LieMark went pale.
“What?”
Claudia looked at him.
“Tell him.”
Mark shook his head.
“No.”
Richard stared.
“You started this?”
Claudia laughed bitterly.
“Not alone.”
She explained.
Years ago, Mark discovered his father's plans to expand the company.
He believed Richard would eventually give control to someone outside the family.
He became obsessed with inheriting the company.
Marcus exploited that weakness.
But Mark initially wanted only control.
Not murder.
Not kidnapping.
Not fraud.
He had approached Marcus.
Together they designed a plan.
They would gradually move assets.
Forge documents.
Make Richard look unstable.
Then Mark would become president.
Claudia entered later.
Elena discovered the scheme.
She confronted Mark.
Mark begged her to stay silent.
She refused.
That's when everything spiraled.
Marcus took over.
Threats escalated.
Elena vanished.
Richard looked at his son.
“You did this.”
Mark broke down.
“I never wanted her hurt.”
“But she was.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe she was dead.”
“I was afraid.”
Richard's face hardened.
“You were afraid of losing money.”
“No.”
Mark looked toward Noah.
“I was afraid of losing him.”
Richard answered:
“You lost him anyway.”
Silence.
Noah reached for Elena.
Mark saw it.
The pain on his face was unmistakable.
He stepped back.
Claudia looked at him.
“You don't understand what will happen next.”
Mark stared.
“What?”
“Everyone will know.”
Claudia turned to Richard.
“The evidence is online.”
“Yes.”
“The police will come.”
“Yes.”
“The company will collapse.”
“Maybe.”
Richard looked at her.
“But the truth won't.”
Claudia smiled.
“You still don't know who funded Marcus.”
Richard narrowed his eyes.
“Who?”
Claudia glanced toward the fallen Marcus.
“He had a partner.”
Marcus moved suddenly.
He grabbed a weapon from the floor.
Elena screamed.
Richard pulled Noah away.
A gunshot exploded.
Marcus missed.
Daniel tackled him.
The weapon slid across the floor.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Authorities stormed the tunnel.
Detective Reed was among them.
He walked in with his hands raised.
Richard stared.
“You.”
Reed swallowed.
“I came to surrender.”
He dropped a folder on the floor.
Inside were payment records.
Names.
Dates.
Bank accounts.
Richard opened it.
His face changed.
The person funding Marcus wasn't a stranger.
It was someone within the company's board.
Someone who had been beside Richard for years.
Richard turned.
Daniel.
Daniel looked shocked.
“No.”
Richard stared at him.
The folder contained Daniel's signatures.
Transfers.
Approvals.
But Elena stepped forward.
“Wait.”
She took the folder.
“These aren't Daniel's signatures.”
Richard looked closer.
The handwriting was almost identical.
But one detail was wrong.
The initials were reversed.
Elena looked at Reed.
“Who gave you this?”
Reed hesitated.
“A man who said he worked for Marcus.”
“Name.”
Reed said:
“Ethan Vale.”
Richard froze.
His dead nephew.
Another ghost.
Another false death.
Another lie.
Richard looked at Mark.
“How many people are supposed to be dead?”
Mark whispered:
“I don't know.”
Elena suddenly pointed toward Marcus.
“He knows.”
Everyone turned.
Marcus was bleeding, but conscious.
Richard stepped closer.
“Ethan.”
Marcus smiled.
“You finally figured it out.”
Richard crouched.
“Where is he?”
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
“Closer than you think.”
The lights flickered.
A phone rang.
Everyone turned.
Richard's phone.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Hello, Uncle.”
Richard's face went white.
Ethan.
The line went dead.
Then every screen in the control room turned on.
A live video appeared.
Ethan stood inside Richard's main company office.
Behind him were Richard's lawyers.
His board members.
And the corporate safe.
Ethan smiled at the camera.
“You thought the game was over.”
He held up a document.
“But there is one thing Elena never found.”
The screen zoomed.
A second ownership certificate.
Different from the one in Richard's hand.
Ethan said:
May you like
“The company belongs to me.”
Then the screen went black.
