He Lost His Job, His Wife Left Him… Then He Found a Fortune He Forgot
Chapter 5
Daniel moved Sarah and Emily to a secure property owned by the family trust.
Emily was twelve.
She had questions.
“Why are we staying here?”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“Because I need to make sure you’re safe.”
“From who?”
“People I don’t understand yet.”
She looked at him.
“Are you rich now?”
Daniel smiled.
“Apparently.”
“Cool.”
Sarah laughed despite herself.
It was the first time Daniel had heard that laugh in months.
For a few days, the family felt almost normal.
Then Daniel returned to the warehouse.
Collins had discovered something.
A series of transfers had been made from one of the trust accounts.
Someone was draining money.
“Can they steal everything?” Daniel asked.
“Not legally.”
“Then how?”
“By making you look incapable of managing it.”
Collins handed him a newspaper.
A story had appeared that morning.
DISGRACED FINANCIAL ANALYST INHERITS SECRET FORTUNE
Daniel’s photo was on the front page.
The article accused him of hiding assets.
Another claimed his father had created the fortune through illegal dealings.
A third suggested Daniel had deliberately manipulated his employer’s accounts.
Daniel realized what was happening.
Someone was building a case against him before he could even understand the inheritance.
“Voss.”
Collins nodded.
“We think so.”
“Why not arrest him?”
“Because suspicion isn’t evidence.”
Daniel looked at the papers.
“What did my father know?”
Collins opened another file.
“Your father spent the last year of his life investigating Voss.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed Voss had stolen more than money.”
Daniel found an old audio recorder.
Collins pressed play.
His father’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re hearing this, Danny, something went wrong.”
Daniel froze.
“I made mistakes in business. But the worst mistake was trusting Richard.”
A pause.
“I discovered he was using our properties to move money for people I never wanted to know.”
Daniel looked at Collins.
“Illegal money?”
“Yes.”
The recording continued.
“I stopped him. But I couldn’t recover everything.”
Another pause.
“If Richard ever learns about the trust, he’ll come for you.”
Daniel’s father sounded tired.
“Don’t fight him with money.”
The recording ended.
Daniel stared at the device.
“Then what am I supposed to fight him with?”
Collins looked at him.
“Proof.”
That afternoon, Daniel returned to the warehouse alone.
He searched every box.
At the bottom of an old filing cabinet, he found a second key.
It opened a hidden compartment behind the wall.
Inside was a small safe.
Daniel entered the combination from his father’s birthday.
The safe opened.
Inside was a single envelope.
His name was written across it.
Daniel opened it.
There was only one sentence.
The fortune isn’t the inheritance, Danny. The truth is.
Beneath it was a list of bank account numbers.
Daniel recognized the first one.
It belonged to the company that had fired him.
