She Thought He Was a Poor Taxi Driver… He Was a Billionaire, but Why Was He Hiding His Identity?
Chapter 8
Ethan moved Rachel into a secure location.
She hated it.
“You can’t lock me away.”
“I won’t.”
“Then what?”
“I want you alive.”
Rachel stared at him.
“And what about you?”
“I’ll handle Samuel.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“We handle him.”
Ethan smiled.
“You’re stubborn.”
“So are you.”
They began building a plan.
Ethan would pretend to surrender.
Rachel would trace the financial accounts.
Victoria would provide the trust documents.
Daniel Price would testify.
The goal was to expose Samuel publicly.
But Samuel was ahead of them.
He had already leaked part of the documents.
News outlets began reporting that Ethan’s father had been involved in fraud.
Cole Meridian’s stock fell.
The board panicked.
Some directors demanded Ethan resign.
One journalist asked:
“Did your father steal from investors?”
Ethan answered:
“I don’t know yet.”
It was the truth.
He wouldn’t defend something he couldn’t prove.
Rachel watched the interview.
“You could have lied.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t rebuild anything on another lie.”
She smiled.
“That’s why I trust you.”
He looked at her.
“I need you to keep trusting me.”
“I do.”
Their relationship changed in that moment.
Ethan kissed her.
She kissed him back.
There was no contract.
No strategy.
Just two people who had become important to each other.
Then Victoria arrived.
She had recovered another tape from the family archives.
Ethan’s father.
The recording had been made one month before his death.
“My brother believes he is entitled to my company.”
Ethan’s father’s voice sounded tired.
“He isn’t.”
“He believes I cheated him.”
“I didn’t.”
Then came the revelation.
Samuel had been stealing from the company.
Ethan’s father discovered it.
Victoria confronted him.
Samuel threatened her.
The family split.
Ethan’s mother tried to expose the network.
Samuel retaliated.
But the final recording contained one sentence that changed everything.
“If I die, don’t trust the obvious enemy.”
Ethan stared.
“The obvious enemy.”
Victoria nodded.
Samuel might not be the mastermind.
He could be a decoy.
Rachel looked at the documents again.
She noticed something.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“These payments are older than Samuel.”
Ethan froze.
“How old?”
“Thirty years.”
“The network existed before your uncle.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
Rachel followed the trail.
The original account had been created by someone inside the company decades ago.
Not Samuel.
Not Victoria.
Not his father.
The account’s first authorized signature belonged to…
Ethan’s grandfather.
