WHO FIRED HIM?” THE CEO DEMANDED—NO ONE KNEW THE QUIET SINGLE DAD WAS WORTH BILLIONS!
Chapter 5
Victoria spent the next twelve hours searching through her family’s private records.
Birth certificates.
Hospital records.
Old tax documents.
Trust agreements.
Nothing.
Then David found an archived insurance document.
The beneficiary was a woman named Claire Harrington.
Victoria recognized the name.
Her mother.
But the document listed two children.
Victoria.
And another child.
Jonathan Harrington.
Born two years before Victoria.
Declared deceased at birth.
Victoria stared at the screen.
“My father lied.”
David said nothing.
“Why?”
“Maybe Jonathan wasn’t dead.”
They traced the records.
The hospital where Jonathan had supposedly died had closed decades ago.
The doctor who signed the death certificate had emigrated.
The nurse listed as witness had vanished.
David frowned.
“This wasn’t a death.”
“What was it?”
“A disappearance.”
Victoria’s phone rang.
Her father again.
She answered.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From my own brother?”
“He was dangerous.”
Victoria looked at David.
“How?”
“He became obsessed with the company.”
Her father explained.
Jonathan had grown up away from the family.
He believed their father had abandoned him.
When he discovered the Harrington fortune, he became determined to reclaim it.
He built a network.
Purchased companies.
Manipulated markets.
And eventually created a plan to take Harrington Global.
Victoria asked:
“Why didn’t you stop him?”
“I tried.”
Her father paused.
“He stopped me first.”
Victoria felt a chill.
“What does that mean?”
“I had a stroke three months ago.”
Silence.
“Jonathan caused it?”
“I don’t know.”
The call ended.
Victoria sat down.
David looked at her.
“You need to step away.”
“No.”
“This is personal.”
“Exactly.”
She stood.
“I’ll finish it.”
David nodded.
Meanwhile, David’s own secret was beginning to unravel.
A financial journalist had discovered that a mysterious billionaire had disappeared from public records years earlier.
The journalist found connections between that billionaire and David Carter.
Then an article appeared.
IS HARRINGTON GLOBAL’S FIRED EMPLOYEE SECRETLY A BILLIONAIRE?
The story exploded online.
Victoria saw it.
She immediately called David.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.”
She laughed despite herself.
“You’re impossible.”
David looked at his daughter sleeping nearby.
“I wanted a normal life.”
Victoria understood.
Then she asked:
“How much are you worth?”
David paused.
“Enough.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“More than Harrington Global.”
Victoria stared.
The quiet single father she had thought was an ordinary employee was worth billions.
But the story wasn’t finished.
Because the article had also revealed something else.
David had secretly purchased eight percent of Harrington Global six months earlier.
Victoria looked at him.
“You own part of my company.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Eight percent.”
“Why?”
“To investigate the acquisition.”
She stared.
“You could have bought the entire company.”
“I could have.”
“Why didn’t you?”
David looked toward Emma’s room.
“Because money stopped being important to me.”
Victoria became quiet.
Then she understood.
David wasn’t trying to take over Harrington Global.
He was trying to stop someone from destroying it.
That night, David received another message.
YOUR DAUGHTER IS BEAUTIFUL.
He froze.
Then another appeared.
DON’T MAKE US COME TO HER SCHOOL.
David’s expression became cold.
For years, he had avoided becoming the man he used to be.
But now someone had threatened Emma.
And that was the one line nobody was allowed to cross.
He called an old number.
A man answered.
“Mr. Carter?”
David said:
“It’s time.”
