CEO Ordered a Single Dad’s Locker Opened in Front of Everyone—Then One Discovery Changed Everything
Chapter 2
No one spoke.
Elena stared at the notebook as if it had suddenly become something dangerous.
David stood perfectly still.
The security director looked between them.
“Ms. Whitmore?”
Elena closed the notebook.
“Everyone back to work.”
Nobody moved.
She raised her voice.
“I said back to work.”
The hallway emptied within seconds.
David remained.
So did two security officers.
Elena turned toward them.
“Leave us.”
The officers hesitated.
“Now.”
They left.
The hallway door closed.
Elena looked at David.
“Where did you get this?”
David rubbed his hands together.
“Three years ago.”
“From whom?”
“Your father.”
Elena’s breathing changed.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“You expect me to believe you met him?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
David looked down at the notebook.
“He came to the warehouse one night.”
Elena stared.
“My father never worked at the warehouse.”
“He wasn’t there for work.”
“What was he doing?”
“Looking for someone.”
“Who?”
David hesitated.
“Me.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Why would my father be looking for you?”
David looked at the photograph still lying on the floor.
His daughter smiled from the picture.
He picked it up.
“I don’t know everything.”
“That isn’t good enough.”
“I know.”
He handed Elena the notebook.
“My daughter found it after he gave it to me.”
Elena frowned.
“Your daughter?”
“Lily.”
“What does she have to do with my father?”
David’s jaw tightened.
“More than either of us knew.”
Elena opened the notebook again.
The first pages contained financial records.
Payments.
Shipping numbers.
Supplier codes.
Then she noticed something.
A company name appeared repeatedly.
Northbridge Logistics.
She knew it.
Northbridge had been one of Whitmore Industries’ largest suppliers twelve years earlier.
Her father had accused the company of fraud shortly before his death.
But the case had disappeared.
Elena turned another page.
There were dates.
Eleven years ago.
Ten years ago.
Nine.
Someone had continued recording transactions long after her father died.
“Who wrote the newer entries?”
David answered quietly.
“I did.”
Elena looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father asked me to keep looking.”
“Why would he trust you?”
“Because he saved my life.”
Elena stared.
David finally told her the story.
Six years earlier, David had been working late in the warehouse when a fire broke out.
He had been trapped inside.
An older man had dragged him through a side exit.
That man was Robert Whitmore.
David had recognized him from photographs only afterward.
Robert had survived the fire but was already suffering from the illness that would eventually kill him.
Before leaving, Robert had given David the notebook.
He had one request.
“If they ever come looking for it,” Robert had said, “don’t let them find it before Elena does.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the cover.
“Why didn’t you give it to me?”
David looked at her.
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
Her expression hardened.
“You didn’t trust me?”
“I didn’t know who around you could be trusted.”
Elena glanced toward the empty hallway.
Then back at the notebook.
“Who came looking for it?”
David’s voice dropped.
“Someone inside this company.”
