A Billionaire Heiress Walked Into My Clinic and Gave Me 3 Days to Marry Her… Then I Discovered Why
Chapter 4
The files changed everything.
Ethan spent the next four hours reading them.
Project Meridian wasn’t a business project.
It was a surveillance operation.
Richard Vale had secretly monitored members of the Whitmore family, employees, competitors, lawyers, and anyone connected to Alexander Whitmore.
Michael Carter was listed as a primary subject.
Ethan’s name appeared eighteen years ago.
His age at the time:
Ten.
His stomach tightened.
“Why would they monitor a ten-year-old?”
Charlotte didn’t answer.
She was staring at another file.
“Look.”
It contained an old photograph.
Michael Carter and Alexander Whitmore were standing outside a hospital.
The same hospital where Ethan’s father had supposedly been working when he died.
Beneath the photograph was a date.
Three days before the accident.
Ethan read the report.
Subject Carter attempted to transfer evidence to Whitmore family trust.
Another line:
Intervention authorized.
Ethan looked at Charlotte.
“What does intervention mean?”
She didn’t answer.
They both knew.
Ethan closed the file.
“I need to know how my father died.”
Charlotte nodded.
“I know someone who can help.”
“Who?”
“My father’s old physician.”
They drove to a quiet neighborhood outside Boston.
Dr. Samuel Grant was eighty-one.
He opened the door and stared at Ethan.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then:
“Michael’s boy.”
Ethan felt his throat tighten.
“You knew my father?”
Grant nodded.
“He was one of the finest men I ever knew.”
“How did he die?”
Grant looked toward Charlotte.
“Your father never told you?”
“No.”
“Because he was trying to protect you.”
Ethan stepped inside.
Grant sat down.
“Michael came to me two weeks before his death.”
“Why?”
“He believed someone was poisoning him.”
Ethan froze.
“Poisoning?”
“Slowly.”
Charlotte covered her mouth.
Grant continued.
“He had headaches. Tremors. Memory problems.”
“But the official report said an accident.”
“Because the toxicology report disappeared.”
Ethan stared.
“Who made it disappear?”
Grant looked at him.
“Richard Vale.”
Silence.
“Why?”
“Because Michael had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Grant stood and walked to a cabinet.
He removed an old medical file.
“Your father’s blood work.”
Ethan opened it.
The results showed traces of a rare toxin.
His hands began shaking.
“My father was murdered.”
Grant nodded.
“Yes.”
Charlotte took Ethan’s hand.
He didn’t pull away.
“What was he trying to expose?”
Grant looked at Charlotte.
“Your father.”
“Alexander?”
“He discovered that Richard Vale was stealing from the company.”
“How much?”
“Enough to destroy it.”
Ethan looked at the documents.
“Then why didn’t Alexander fire him?”
“Because Vale had leverage.”
“What leverage?”
Grant lowered his voice.
“Your father.”
Ethan frowned.
“Michael?”
“Michael had helped create the trust that protected Charlotte.”
Charlotte stared.
“My father couldn’t remove Vale without triggering something.”
“Triggering what?”
“A clause.”
Grant paused.
“One that would transfer control of the company.”
“To whom?”
He looked directly at Ethan.
“Michael’s son.”
Ethan felt the room spin.
“Me?”
Grant nodded.
“Your father spent years ensuring that if anything happened to him, you would eventually become the person capable of stopping Vale.”
Charlotte whispered:
“That’s why my father told me to find you.”
Grant looked at them both.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Michael didn’t die immediately.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“He survived the accident for six hours.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“Because he asked me not to tell you.”
“Why?”
Grant’s eyes filled with sadness.
“Because he knew the people who caused the accident were still watching you.”
Ethan couldn’t breathe.
“Did he say anything?”
Grant nodded.
“He gave me a message.”
“What message?”
Grant looked at Charlotte.
Then Ethan.
“He said, ‘When my son finally meets Alexander’s daughter, tell them the truth is under the house.'”
