Single Dad Applied to Be the CEO’s Assistant — Then She Read His Resume
Chapter 8
They spent the next week tracing Thomas Sterling.
His identity appeared in old corporate records.
Then vanished.
No current address.
No tax records.
No photographs.
No bank accounts.
It was as if he had never existed.
Ethan recognized the pattern.
“Someone powerful has been erasing him.”
Amelia nodded.
“But why?”
“Because if we find him, we find the person behind Atlas.”
They contacted former employees.
Most refused.
One agreed.
Her name was Sophia Lane.
She had worked with Richard Sterling for thirty years.
She met them in a quiet restaurant.
“Your father didn’t trust Thomas.”
Amelia asked:
“Why?”
“Because Thomas believed the company should control the supply chain.”
“What does that mean?”
“He wanted Sterling to own distribution, not just technology.”
Sophia explained.
Thomas created secret subsidiaries.
He bought logistics companies.
Warehouses.
Shipping routes.
Food suppliers.
Pharmaceutical distributors.
The plan was to make Sterling International impossible to compete with.
Then Atlas would automate the entire network.
Ethan listened.
“That isn’t just a company.”
“No.”
“It’s infrastructure.”
“Yes.”
Amelia looked sick.
“If he controlled it…”
“He could influence prices, shortages, deliveries.”
“Millions of lives.”
Sophia nodded.
“That’s why your father tried to stop him.”
“What happened to my father?”
Sophia looked down.
“He planned to expose Thomas.”
“And?”
“Thomas found out.”
Amelia’s voice broke.
“Did he kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophia handed them a key.
“Your father left this.”
Ethan recognized it.
His father had carried the same type of key.
“What does it open?”
“An old warehouse.”
They went there that night.
The key opened a locker.
Inside were notebooks.
Blueprints.
Letters.
And an old audio recorder.
Ethan pressed play.
His father’s voice filled the room.
“Thomas is not acting alone.”
Amelia leaned closer.
“He has someone on the board.”
Daniel continued.
“Someone I trusted.”
A name followed.
“Martin Cole.”
Amelia froze.
Again.
The CFO.
Her trusted executive.
Ethan shook his head.
“Your father was certain.”
“But the files said Martin was being used.”
“Maybe both are true.”
The recording continued.
“Martin isn’t the mastermind.”
“Someone above him is.”
Ethan looked at Amelia.
“Who’s above him?”
The recording answered.
“Margaret.”
Amelia’s eyes widened.
Her grandmother.
Ethan closed his eyes.
They had trusted her.
But perhaps she had been controlling the game too.
Then the recorder crackled.
Daniel’s final message:
“Ethan, if you ever hear this…”
Ethan froze.
“If you’re close to Amelia, don’t trust anyone who tells you they are protecting her.”
The recording ended.
Amelia looked at Ethan.
“So your father thought my grandmother was involved.”
“Yes.”
“But she helped us.”
“Or she wanted us to think she did.”
Amelia stared at the floor.
“My whole family is lying.”
Ethan reached for her hand.
“Not everyone.”
She looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I haven’t lied to you.”
She smiled sadly.
“You still haven’t told me everything.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When I know it won’t hurt you.”
She frowned.
“You sound exactly like my father.”
Ethan looked away.
“That’s what scares me.”
The next morning, Martin Cole disappeared.
His office was empty.
His phone was gone.
His house had been abandoned.
And on Amelia’s desk was one note.
Ask Ethan what happened to his father the night he died.
