Billionaire Caught Her Janitor Teaching His Daughter Math—Then His Tattoo Exposed a Shocking Secret
Chapter 2
Victoria dismissed everyone from the executive floor.
She locked the learning room.
Emma sat on the couch holding a stuffed rabbit.
Lucas stood near the window.
Victoria folded her arms.
“Start talking.”
Lucas shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“You walked into my office, taught my daughter mathematics, and showed me a symbol linked to a secret investigation my father buried.”
“I didn’t show you.”
“Your tattoo did.”
He looked down.
For the first time, Victoria saw something besides calm in his expression.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For Emma.
“Where did you learn mathematics like that?”
“My mother.”
“Your mother was a mathematician?”
“She worked in intelligence.”
Victoria stared.
“Intelligence?”
Lucas nodded.
“She specialized in encrypted financial systems.”
That sounded impossible.
Yet it fit the strange complexity of his work.
“Then what are you doing as a janitor?”
“Working.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It pays.”
“You could make more somewhere else.”
“Probably.”
“Then why here?”
He looked toward Emma.
“Because I was asked.”
“By whom?”
Lucas said nothing.
Victoria’s pulse increased.
“My husband?”
Lucas didn’t answer.
“That means yes.”
He looked away.
Victoria felt anger and fear collide.
“Daniel knew you?”
“Yes.”
“Before he died?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he didn’t want you involved.”
Victoria almost laughed.
“That’s everyone else’s favorite excuse.”
Lucas looked at her.
“He was trying to protect you.”
She stepped closer.
“Protect me from what?”
“Orion.”
The name made her blood run cold.
“My father investigated it.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“He found traces of it too.”
Victoria stared.
“My husband was investigating my company?”
Lucas nodded.
“What did he discover?”
“That someone inside Bennett Global was using your family’s old network.”
Victoria shook her head.
“That network was dismantled twenty years ago.”
“No.”
“It was.”
“Some parts were.”
He touched the tattoo.
“Not all.”
Emma suddenly spoke.
“Mom.”
Victoria turned.
“What?”
“Mr. Lucas says numbers can hide pictures.”
Victoria looked at him.
“What does she mean?”
Lucas smiled faintly.
“I was teaching her a pattern.”
Emma handed Victoria the paper.
There were columns of numbers.
At first they looked random.
Then Victoria saw the highlighted sequence.
The same number on Lucas’s tattoo.
“What is this?”
“A location.”
“Where?”
Lucas hesitated.
“Your father’s old private warehouse.”
Victoria stared.
She had never known about a warehouse.
“Why would that be important?”
“Because that’s where Daniel found the first evidence.”
She stepped closer.
“You keep mentioning my husband.”
Lucas looked at her.
“Because your husband is the reason I’m here.”
Victoria’s voice softened.
“Did he hire you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because he saved my life.”
Silence.
Lucas explained that years earlier, Daniel had discovered that Orion was still operating through shell companies.
He found a young man trapped inside the system.
Lucas.
Daniel helped him escape.
Then he asked Lucas to disappear.
To live quietly.
And to watch over Emma if something happened.
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
“Why didn’t Daniel tell me?”
“Because he knew you would try to fight.”
“I would have.”
“I know.”
She sat.
For the first time, Lucas seemed less like an employee and more like a man carrying a promise.
Victoria looked at his tattoo again.
“What’s 741?”
Lucas answered,
“The coordinates of the warehouse.”
“Then we’re going.”
He shook his head.
“Not tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because the person using your company hasn’t realized we’ve found it yet.”
Victoria frowned.
“You think they’re watching?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
Lucas looked at the camera above the door.
“The camera has been pointed at us for the last ten minutes.”
Victoria turned.
The indicator light was on.
But according to the security system, it should have been inactive.
Someone was watching.
Someone who now knew Victoria had seen the tattoo.
And somewhere inside Bennett Global, a person was already deleting records.
