Billionaire Caught Her Janitor Teaching His Daughter Math—Then His Tattoo Exposed a Shocking Secret
Chapter 3
The next morning, Lucas was gone.
His janitor locker was empty.
His staffing agency said he had resigned.
His apartment had been cleared.
His phone was disconnected.
Victoria stood outside the building feeling a strange mixture of anger and disappointment.
She shouldn’t care.
He was an employee.
A stranger.
A man she barely knew.
Yet Emma noticed immediately.
“Where’s Mr. Lucas?”
“He left.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Emma frowned.
“He wouldn’t leave.”
Victoria looked at her daughter.
“How do you know?”
“Because Daddy told him not to.”
Victoria froze.
“What exactly did your father tell him?”
Emma shrugged.
“That if anything bad happened, Mr. Lucas should stay close.”
Victoria knelt.
“Did Daddy say anything else?”
Emma thought.
“He said Mr. Lucas was good at numbers.”
“Anything else?”
“He said he would know when to come back.”
Victoria stood slowly.
Lucas hadn’t abandoned them.
He had disappeared because someone was watching.
She returned to her office.
Her chief financial officer, Adrian Cole, was waiting.
“You look troubled.”
“Do you know Lucas?”
“Who?”
“The janitor.”
Adrian frowned.
“No.”
“You’ve never seen him?”
“Not that I remember.”
Victoria studied him.
“Interesting.”
Adrian smiled.
“Why?”
“Because he knew my husband.”
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Silence.
Then he said,
“Maybe you misunderstood.”
“I don’t think so.”
Her phone rang.
Private number.
She answered.
Nothing.
Then a voice.
“Stop asking questions about Lucas.”
Victoria’s heart raced.
“Who is this?”
“He cannot protect you.”
“Who are you?”
The call ended.
She called security.
“Trace that number.”
“Already gone,” the technician said.
Victoria looked at the office cameras.
She remembered Lucas saying someone had been watching.
She checked the system.
One camera had recorded a person entering the executive floor at 2:14 a.m.
The face was hidden.
But the badge number was visible.
Security Level 7.
Victoria recognized the access level.
Only four people had it.
Her.
Adrian.
The head of security.
And her late husband.
Someone had duplicated Daniel’s access credentials.
She called the security chief.
“Who else has Level 7 access?”
“No one.”
“Check again.”
He hesitated.
“Ms. Bennett, one badge was activated last night.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
“It was your husband’s.”
Victoria’s stomach dropped.
“That badge should be locked.”
“It was.”
“Then who used it?”
“We don’t know.”
She ended the call.
That evening, Emma was doing homework at the kitchen table.
Victoria sat beside her.
“Emma.”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember the first time you met Mr. Lucas?”
She nodded.
“He was cleaning Dad’s office.”
Victoria froze.
“Dad’s old office?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before he died.”
Victoria’s heart hammered.
Lucas had met Emma before Daniel died.
Then he had stayed hidden for three years.
Why?
She remembered something Daniel had said shortly before his death.
If I ever tell you to trust someone, don’t ask why.
She had thought he was talking about his lawyer.
Maybe he wasn’t.
The next morning, Victoria went to Daniel’s old office.
The room had been sealed since his death.
She unlocked it.
Dust covered everything.
His desk remained.
His books.
His photographs.
And a locked drawer.
Victoria found a key hidden beneath a frame.
Inside was a single notebook.
The first pages were financial notes.
Then names.
Then symbols.
She turned the page.
There was the same tattoo symbol.
ORION.
Below it:
Lucas Reed — Protected Asset.
Victoria froze.
She turned another page.
A photograph.
Lucas as a teenager.
Daniel standing beside him.
Emma was there too.
Only three years old.
Victoria stared.
Her husband had secretly brought Lucas into their home.
Why had he never told her?
Then she found the last note.
If Orion returns, Lucas will know what to do.
Victoria’s hands shook.
Suddenly, the office door closed behind her.
She turned.
Adrian stood there.
“How did you get in?”
He smiled.
“Your husband gave me access.”
Victoria looked at the notebook.
“Adrian.”
“Yes?”
“You’re lying.”
His smile disappeared.
He locked the door.
Then whispered,
“You really shouldn’t have opened that drawer.”
