Poor Janitor Single Dad Saved an 8-Year-Old From a Sinking Bus — Unaware Her Mom Was a Billionaire
Chapter 4
Vanessa immediately locked the building down.
Security access was restricted.
Employee badges were reviewed.
The company began a quiet internal investigation.
Daniel was offered a temporary office.
He refused.
“I’d rather work from home.”
Vanessa smiled.
“You really don’t like executive offices.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Too many windows.”
She laughed.
But the tension remained.
That evening, Daniel took Lily to dinner.
He tried to act normal.
She noticed immediately.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Are we in trouble?”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
“You’re doing your serious face.”
He smiled.
“Maybe a little.”
She reached across the table.
“I’m not scared.”
“Good.”
“Because you’re here.”
Daniel squeezed her hand.
“I’ll always be here.”
Later that night, Vanessa called.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The security vehicle was assigned to Graham Sterling’s office.”
Daniel frowned.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he watch me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then ask him.”
“I will.”
The next morning, Vanessa confronted Graham.
He was fifty-three.
Elegant.
Calm.
The kind of man who had never needed to raise his voice.
“You had Daniel followed.”
Graham smiled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your security department’s vehicle was outside his daughter’s school.”
“That doesn’t mean I ordered it.”
“Who did?”
He shrugged.
“Maybe someone wanted to protect him.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Graham’s smile vanished.
“You’ve become reckless.”
“Because I want the truth?”
“Because you’re destroying the family.”
Vanessa stared.
“What family?”
“The Sterling family.”
“You’ve been stealing from the company.”
He laughed.
“Prove it.”
She placed the documents on the table.
Graham looked at them.
“You’ve been busy.”
“So have you.”
Graham leaned forward.
“Tell your janitor friend to stop digging.”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“Leave him alone.”
Graham smiled.
“You care about him.”
She said nothing.
Graham stood.
“That makes him useful.”
He walked away.
Vanessa immediately called Daniel.
“Don’t go anywhere alone.”
“Why?”
“Graham knows.”
Daniel understood.
That night, Daniel reviewed the financial records again.
He found something.
A shell company received payments every month.
The company had one employee.
That employee was Graham’s assistant.
But the bank account belonged to someone else.
A woman named Rachel Reed.
Daniel froze.
Reed.
His late wife’s maiden name.
He called Vanessa.
“Can you look up Rachel Reed?”
She did.
Rachel Reed had worked for Sterling Global twelve years earlier.
Position:
Executive accountant.
Daniel stared.
“Why would she have a shell company?”
Vanessa frowned.
“Maybe she doesn’t.”
Then another file appeared.
Rachel had been investigating Graham.
She disappeared eleven years ago.
Officially, she had resigned.
Daniel’s hands shook.
“What if she was trying to expose him?”
Vanessa looked at the records.
“Then your wife may have known something.”
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
“My wife?”
Vanessa stared.
“Daniel…”
He remembered something.
Sarah had once told him she was worried about someone at Sterling.
He had forgotten.
She had died three years earlier.
He had always believed the death was an accident.
But now another possibility was forming.
Daniel opened old family files.
One document showed Sarah had attended a corporate meeting shortly before her death.
At Sterling Global.
She had never told him.
Vanessa looked at him.
“We need to find out why.”
Daniel nodded.
But before they could investigate, the building’s fire alarm sounded.
Everyone evacuated.
Daniel saw smoke near the executive archives.
The fire was small.
Contained quickly.
But someone had entered the archive room before the alarm.
The security footage showed a man.
Daniel recognized him.
Graham’s assistant.
And he was carrying a file.
Sarah Reed.
