Billionaire CEO Goes Undercover—And Finds His Company’s Biggest Secret
Chapter 9
Nathan read the message over and over.
I wanted you to inherit the truth.
He finally understood why his father had left the account dormant.
It wasn’t about money.
It was evidence.
A digital archive.
Bank records.
Names.
Contracts.
Photographs.
Voice recordings.
Everything.
And in the middle was one final recording.
His father.
“If you’re seeing this, Richard probably believes he has won.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“I need you to know that I tried.”
His father’s voice cracked.
“I failed to protect your mother.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“She was threatened.”
“She signed things because Richard promised he’d hurt you.”
“He used her.”
“He used everyone.”
Nathan wiped his face.
Then his father continued.
“The man you should be most afraid of is not the loudest.”
Nathan listened.
“It is the person who always appears helpful.”
The recording ended.
Nathan immediately thought of Richard.
But another possibility existed.
James Foster.
The director who had claimed to know everything.
The man who had brought the investigators into the boardroom.
The man who had known about his mother’s role.
Nathan ordered a background check.
James had worked for the company for twenty-two years.
He had been one of his father’s closest advisors.
He had also received payments from the same shell companies.
Nathan stared at the records.
“It’s James.”
But before he could confront him, James disappeared.
His office was empty.
His house was empty.
His phone was disconnected.
Nathan’s security team searched.
Nothing.
Then Claire arrived.
“I found something.”
She handed Nathan a photograph.
James Foster standing beside Richard.
The image was dated three days after Nathan’s father’s death.
Nathan felt the anger rise.
“Call the investigators.”
Claire nodded.
But then her phone rang.
Sam.
His voice was panicked.
“Claire, they’re here.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do they want?”
“They’re looking for the files.”
The line went dead.
Nathan and Claire rushed to Sam’s house.
The front door was open.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
Sam was gone.
His computer was destroyed.
The boxes of evidence were missing.
Nathan’s phone buzzed.
A message.
You should have left the past alone.
Then another.
Your friend won’t survive.
Nathan’s heart sank.
Claire looked at him.
“They took him.”
Nathan called the investigators.
But they were already on their way.
They tracked the message.
It came from a disposable phone.
Near an abandoned Cole Industries warehouse.
Nathan knew the building.
It had been closed for years.
They arrived with federal agents.
Inside, they found Sam tied to a chair.
Alive.
Shaken.
But conscious.
Nathan ran to him.
“Are you okay?”
Sam nodded.
“They wanted the account.”
“Who?”
Sam pointed.
A man was standing at the far end of the warehouse.
James Foster.
Nathan stared.
James raised his hands.
“Don’t shoot.”
Agents surrounded him.
Nathan stepped forward.
“Why?”
James laughed bitterly.
“You think Richard was the mastermind.”
“Wasn’t he?”
“No.”
James shook his head.
“He was a coward.”
“Then who?”
James looked at Nathan.
“Your father.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
“Your father created the scheme.”
“No.”
“He started Project Northstar.”
“That’s not true.”
“He used Victor.”
“He protected employees.”
“Exactly.”
James smiled.
“Because he knew what would happen when the company collapsed.”
Nathan stared.
“What?”
“Your father wanted to destroy Cole Industries and rebuild it.”
Nathan’s mind raced.
James continued.
“He knew the company was rotten.”
“So?”
“He wanted to start over.”
Nathan looked at the files.
The hidden trust.
The secret operation.
The employee protection.
His father had indeed been dismantling his own empire.
But James was smiling.
Why?
“Then why did you fight him?”
James’s face changed.
“Because I wanted the company for myself.”
The truth finally became clear.
James had manipulated Richard.
Used Victor.
Used Nathan’s mother.
And turned the family against itself.
He had been the real architect.
