Single Dad Applied as a Janitor — Then the Billionaire CEO Recognized His Name
Chapter 2
Daniel stood frozen in the hallway.
Evelyn Sterling bent down and picked up the résumé.
Her hands were no longer perfectly steady.
“What did you say?” Daniel asked.
She looked at him.
“Thomas Brooks.”
“Yes.”
“I knew him.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Evelyn glanced down the hallway.
“Not here.”
Daniel followed her into a private conference room.
She closed the door.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Evelyn sat.
“How old were you when your father died?”
“Twenty-four.”
She nodded slowly.
“So you never knew.”
“Knew what?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Your father worked for my family.”
Daniel frowned.
“My father was an accountant.”
“He was more than that.”
She opened her laptop.
A scanned photograph appeared.
Three men stood in front of an old factory.
One was Evelyn’s father, Robert Sterling.
One was Daniel’s father, Thomas Brooks.
The third man was unfamiliar.
Daniel recognized his father immediately.
“I’ve never seen this.”
“I have.”
“Why?”
“Because that photograph was taken the night your father saved my life.”
Daniel stared.
“What happened?”
Evelyn leaned back.
“I was nineteen.”
“My father had just died.”
“Robert was running Sterling Global at the time.”
“Someone inside the company was trying to take control.”
“Thomas discovered it.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“Financial fraud.”
She continued.
“Millions were being diverted through shell companies.”
“Thomas found the transactions.”
“Then he was threatened.”
“By whom?”
Evelyn paused.
“My father’s closest adviser.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Who?”
“Victor Shaw.”
The name meant nothing to Daniel.
Evelyn opened another file.
“Thomas tried to expose him.”
“And?”
“My father believed him.”
Daniel waited.
“Then there was a car accident.”
His stomach tightened.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“He died in an accident.”
“That’s what the official report said.”
Daniel stared.
“You don’t believe it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Evelyn looked at the photograph.
“Because Thomas called me the night before.”
Daniel’s heartbeat increased.
“What did he say?”
“He told me someone was going to kill him.”
“Did you tell the police?”
“I was nineteen.”
“My father was dead the next morning.”
Daniel sat down.
For years, he had believed his father’s death was tragic.
Now he was hearing that someone might have murdered him.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because your father left instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“That you were never to know.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Apparently everyone knew except me.”
“Not everyone.”
She closed the laptop.
“I didn’t know where you were.”
“Why not?”
“Thomas disappeared from our records before his death.”
“His employment history was erased.”
“His personal files disappeared.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who did that?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Evelyn looked at his résumé again.
“You came here for a janitor’s position.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel told her about Lily.
The divorce.
The lost job.
The investigation.
The mortgage.
Every humiliating detail he’d tried to keep private.
Evelyn listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she said,
“You can have the job.”
Daniel nodded.
“Thank you.”
“But not as a janitor.”
He looked surprised.
“I don’t want charity.”
“It isn’t charity.”
“What is it?”
She leaned forward.
“I want you in my office.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t have the qualifications.”
“Your résumé says otherwise.”
“I haven’t worked in strategy in years.”
“That can change.”
He stood.
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because my daughter needs stability.”
“And a janitor’s salary will provide that?”
Daniel flinched.
She softened.
“I apologize.”
She stood.
“I’m not trying to insult you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“I’m trying to figure out why my father disappeared from your father’s life…”
“and why someone has spent thirteen years making sure nobody asks questions.”
Daniel stared.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing.”
She paused.
“I want the truth.”
Outside the conference room, an assistant rushed toward Evelyn.
“Ms. Sterling.”
“What?”
“Your father just called.”
Evelyn froze.
Daniel looked at her.
“Your father is alive?”
“No.”
She whispered,
“He’s been dead for six years.”
Then her assistant handed her a phone.
“Someone left a message using his voice.”
