Single Dad Turned Down His CEO Boss Twice—Then She Proposed in Front of the Board
Chapter 10
Victoria didn’t sleep.
Neither did Daniel after she showed him the letter.
“What could my family possibly have to do with you?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
The message offered no explanation.
Then another envelope arrived.
This time, there was a photograph.
Daniel stared at it.
It showed his late wife, Emily, standing outside Sterling Innovations.
Daniel’s hands began shaking.
“When was this taken?”
Victoria studied the image.
“Four years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Emily never worked here.”
Victoria looked closer.
“Are you sure?”
Daniel nodded.
“She was a teacher.”
Victoria zoomed in on the image.
Emily was standing beside Thomas Hale.
Daniel’s breath caught.
“What was she doing with him?”
They contacted Thomas immediately.
When he saw the photograph, his expression changed.
“Emily knew about the warehouse fire.”
Daniel stood.
“What?”
Thomas nodded.
“She was an accountant at one of the subcontractors.”
Daniel stared at him.
“She never told me.”
“She was afraid.”
Victoria asked,
“Why?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Because your father helped her disappear from the investigation.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“My wife knew all this?”
“Yes.”
“And she kept it from me?”
“She was trying to protect you.”
Daniel looked away.
He had spent four years believing his wife had died without secrets.
Now he realized grief had hidden things from him too.
Thomas handed him another document.
A letter from Emily.
Daniel recognized the handwriting immediately.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, something has gone wrong.
I wanted to tell you everything.
I never found the courage.
There are people who believe the warehouse records still exist.
They don’t know I kept copies.
I left them somewhere only you could find.
Victoria read over his shoulder.
“Where?”
Daniel continued.
She wrote:
The place where you first promised me forever.
Daniel’s eyes filled.
He knew immediately.
Their first date.
A small lakeside cabin.
The place where he had proposed.
Three days later, Daniel and Victoria traveled there.
They searched the cabin.
Nothing.
Then Daniel noticed a loose board beneath the bedroom floor.
Inside was a sealed metal case.
The contents included financial records, names, bank transfers, and one final recording.
Emily’s voice.
“I don’t know who will hear this.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She sounds scared.”
Victoria nodded.
Emily continued.
“Richard Sloan wasn’t acting alone.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
The recording revealed another name.
Martin Sterling.
Victoria’s uncle.
Her father’s younger brother.
She stared at Daniel.
“My uncle.”
The recording continued.
“Martin ordered the financial transfers. Richard handled the cleanup. Your father discovered them later.”
Daniel looked at Victoria.
“This is why your father stayed silent.”
She nodded.
“They were family.”
Daniel took her hand.
Victoria whispered,
“I thought the worst secret was behind me.”
Daniel looked at the evidence.
“It wasn’t.”
She stared at him.
“What do we do?”
Daniel answered,
“We finish it.”
But neither of them knew that exposing Martin Sterling would force Victoria to make the hardest decision of her life.
And it would test whether Daniel truly trusted her.
