CEO BROUGHT HIS SICK MOM TO WORK — THE SECRETARY’S ACTION LEFT HIM SPEECHLESS!
Chapter 4
The emergency lights came on.
Daniel immediately moved toward his mother.
Anna stood beside Emily.
Someone had triggered the building’s emergency system.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
STOP DIGGING INTO THE PAST.
Daniel stared at it.
A second message followed.
OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN.
Anna’s face went pale.
Margaret whispered:
“He knows.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Lock the office.”
She did.
Then she checked the security system.
“Someone accessed the executive floor.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel called security.
No response.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Emily looked at him.
“Phones are down.”
Daniel understood.
This wasn’t an accident.
Someone had deliberately isolated the executive floor.
He looked at Anna.
“Stay here.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
“You don’t know what’s happening.”
“I’ve spent thirty-four years not knowing.”
She stood.
“I’m not hiding anymore.”
Daniel nodded.
Then footsteps sounded outside.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
The door handle moved.
Daniel stepped forward.
The door opened.
A man in a gray suit entered.
He was sixty-two.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
Thomas Reed.
His father’s former attorney.
Thomas smiled.
“Daniel.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard your mother wasn’t well.”
“You caused this?”
Thomas laughed.
“I caused nothing.”
Anna stepped forward.
“You know me.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Who were my adoptive parents?”
Thomas remained silent.
Daniel moved closer.
“Answer her.”
Thomas sighed.
“Your father believed he was protecting you.”
“You sold me,” Anna said.
“No.”
“You arranged my adoption.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Margaret.
“Because your father owed money.”
Daniel asked:
“To whom?”
Thomas’s expression changed.
“People you don’t want to know.”
Daniel didn’t back down.
“How much?”
“Enough to destroy the family.”
Margaret whispered:
“I told him not to.”
Thomas continued.
“Your father made a deal.”
“What deal?”
“He gave them Anna.”
Silence.
Anna looked sick.
Daniel’s fists clenched.
“Who were they?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
Daniel grabbed his collar.
“Who?”
Thomas finally said:
“The Whitmore board.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Your father wasn’t the only one afraid of losing the company.”
Thomas explained.
Thirty-four years earlier, Whitmore Industries was nearly bankrupt.
A group of investors wanted control.
Daniel’s father refused.
They threatened to expose financial crimes.
He panicked.
He agreed to surrender company shares.
But the investors wanted more.
They demanded leverage over the family.
Anna became the bargaining chip.
Daniel’s father gave her up.
In exchange, the investors protected him.
Daniel stared at Thomas.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing for thirty-four years.”
“I was bound by privilege.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You hid behind paperwork.”
Thomas looked ashamed.
Then Emily spoke.
“Who were the investors?”
Thomas looked at her.
“They don’t exist anymore.”
“That isn’t true.”
Thomas’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
Emily opened her laptop.
“I traced the original transfers.”
Daniel looked at her.
She displayed a network of shell companies.
The money eventually went to a private trust.
The trust still existed.
And its current beneficiary was…
Daniel.
He stared.
“What?”
Emily explained.
After his father died, the trust had transferred ownership of several assets to Daniel.
Assets worth nearly $600 million.
Daniel had never known.
Thomas looked terrified.
“That isn’t possible.”
Emily smiled.
“It is.”
Daniel realized the hidden trust might contain the proof needed to expose the entire conspiracy.
Then Thomas received a message.
His face changed.
Daniel noticed.
“Who contacted you?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
Daniel took the phone.
One sentence appeared.
KILL THE FILES. NOT THE FAMILY.
Daniel looked up.
Someone was still controlling Thomas.
And whoever it was had just made a mistake.
Because now Daniel knew exactly where to look.
