My Father-In-Law Gave Me A 40-Page File And 3 Days To Resign — Then I Checked The Letterhead…
Chapter 10
The boardroom became silent.
Victor looked around.
“You’re making a serious accusation.”
Daniel placed the ledger on the table.
“Then open it.”
Victor didn’t move.
Claire did.
She opened the final pages.
Every transaction was there.
Victor’s private companies.
The bribes.
The transfers.
The hidden ownership.
The board members stared.
Victor finally spoke.
“Forgery.”
Evelyn Cross stepped forward.
“We verified the accounting trail.”
Victor turned.
“Who are you?”
“Your worst problem.”
Several board members started whispering.
Victor’s calm began to disappear.
He looked at Richard.
“You should have stayed retired.”
Richard answered,
“You should have stopped stealing.”
Victor laughed.
“You both still think this is about money.”
Daniel frowned.
“What else?”
Victor looked directly at Claire.
“Family.”
Claire froze.
Victor explained that Susan had hidden the shares because she knew the company would eventually become too powerful.
“The person who controls the family trust controls the company.”
Claire stared.
“And you want me to sign.”
“Yes.”
“You could have asked.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“For years.”
He nodded toward Daniel.
“She chose him instead.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You used our marriage.”
Victor smiled.
“You were useful.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“You created the false investigation.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened my father.”
Victor shrugged.
“He was inconvenient.”
Daniel clenched his fists.
“Did you kill Thomas?”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“Thomas knew too much.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It should be.”
Claire looked at him.
“And my mother?”
Victor stared at her.
“She escaped.”
“Where is she?”
Silence.
Daniel noticed it.
Victor knew.
“She’s alive.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Where?”
Victor smiled.
“You’ll never find her.”
Before he could say more, the boardroom doors opened.
Federal agents entered.
Victor turned.
Evelyn had already sent the evidence.
The case was bigger than Hale Industries.
It involved multiple companies.
Banks.
Private funds.
Victor looked at Daniel.
“You think you’ve won.”
Daniel said nothing.
Victor laughed.
“The company is still compromised.”
Richard stood.
“Not anymore.”
Security escorted Victor away.
The room remained silent.
Then Claire looked at Daniel.
“I don’t know whether to hug you or hit you.”
“Why?”
“You could have been killed.”
“So could you.”
She smiled through tears.
“Fair.”
But there was still one question.
Victor said Susan was alive.
And if that was true…
then Claire’s mother had been hiding for years.
They searched Victor’s records.
A location appeared.
A private clinic overseas.
Claire stared.
“She’s there.”
They left that same night.
The clinic was small.
The woman waiting inside was older.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
But Claire knew her immediately.
“Mom?”
Susan looked up.
Tears filled her eyes.
“My little girl.”
Claire ran to her.
Daniel stood back.
For years, Claire had believed her mother was dead.
Now she had her back.
But Susan wasn’t smiling.
She looked at Daniel.
Then at Richard.
And whispered,
“There is one thing you don’t know.”
“What?”
“Victor was never the mastermind.”
