They Humiliated the Poor Cleaner… Until the CEO Walked In
Chapter 7
Daniel Reed was the one person Ethan trusted without question.
That made the discovery impossible to accept.
Clara studied the photograph.
“There must be another explanation.”
Ethan said nothing.
The photograph was old.
Daniel appeared thirty years younger.
Beside him stood Richard Cole.
And Michael Bennett.
On the back was a date.
The day before Michael disappeared.
Ethan stared at it.
“Daniel told me he never met my father.”
Clara looked at him.
“Then he’s lying.”
They returned to the city.
Daniel was waiting in Ethan’s office.
“You found something.”
Ethan closed the door.
“Yes.”
Daniel smiled.
“What?”
Ethan placed the photograph on the table.
Daniel’s smile vanished.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel sighed.
“I was hoping you would never find that.”
Clara’s heart sank.
“What did you do to my father?”
“I didn’t hurt him.”
“Then tell us the truth.”
Daniel sat down.
“Orion was created to hide money from an illegal acquisition.”
“Whose money?”
“Investors. Governments. Private companies.”
Clara frowned.
“And my father?”
“He discovered the transfers.”
“Why was he blamed?”
“Because someone needed a scapegoat.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“Your father.”
Ethan’s eyes hardened.
“But you said Richard was innocent.”
“He was.”
“Then why frame him?”
“Because Richard refused to cooperate.”
Daniel explained that the real mastermind was a group of investors who controlled several companies through shell corporations.
Richard tried to expose them.
Michael helped.
Both men became liabilities.
“Where is my father?”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“Alive.”
Her breath caught.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I haven’t seen him in twelve years.”
“Then how do you know he’s alive?”
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Michael standing outside a remote house.
Taken six months ago.
Clara grabbed it.
Her hands shook.
“Where?”
Daniel gave her an address.
A mountain town.
“Why did you hide this?”
“Because someone is watching me too.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Who?”
Daniel stared at them.
“The CEO.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Which CEO?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Clara felt the silence turn dangerous.
Then Daniel whispered,
“Not Ethan.”
Ethan frowned.
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“The chairman.”
Victor Hale.
The man who had publicly supported Ethan’s leadership for years.
The man who had attended every major board meeting.
The man who had welcomed Clara to the hotel when she was hired.
Clara remembered his smile.
Suddenly it looked different.
Daniel stood.
“You have forty-eight hours.”
“Before what?”
“Before Victor moves against both of you.”
He walked away.
Ethan turned to Clara.
“We’re going after your father.”
Clara nodded.
But neither of them noticed the security camera in the hallway.
Someone was watching them.
And someone had already forwarded the video to Victor Hale.
