WHO FIRED HIM?” THE CEO DEMANDED—NO ONE KNEW THE QUIET SINGLE DAD WAS WORTH BILLIONS!
Chapter 8
Jonathan was arrested.
Lawyers descended on Harrington Global.
The board demanded Victoria resign.
Investors panicked.
News channels broadcast the scandal continuously.
But the biggest revelation came from the family trust.
Jonathan wasn’t the sole beneficiary.
There was a third name.
David Carter.
Victoria stared at the document.
“Why would your name be there?”
David shook his head.
“I didn’t know.”
The trust had been created thirty years earlier.
Its purpose was to protect certain assets for future generations.
David wasn’t related to the Harrington family.
At least, not directly.
Then they discovered the connection.
David’s late wife, Sarah, had been Claire Harrington’s niece.
David had married into the family without realizing it.
That meant Emma was a descendant of the Harrington family.
Victoria stared.
“Emma is family.”
David looked stunned.
He had never known.
His wife had deliberately kept the connection private.
Why?
They found Sarah’s old letters.
One contained a warning.
If David ever learns about the Harrington trust, keep him away from it.
David’s hands shook.
Sarah had known.
She had known about the family’s secrets.
Victoria read another letter.
Jonathan cannot be trusted. But neither can our father.
David looked at her.
“Your father.”
Victoria called him.
No answer.
She called again.
Still nothing.
Then the hospital called.
Her father had disappeared.
David immediately understood.
The man who had created the trust was gone.
And the trust had just become the most valuable asset in the entire investigation.
David and Victoria searched the family records.
They found an old code.
A sequence of numbers.
It led to a bank vault.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
And a handwritten confession from Victoria’s father.
He admitted that he had orchestrated Jonathan’s disappearance.
But he also admitted something else.
Jonathan wasn’t the mastermind.
There was another person.
Someone who had been using both brothers.
The name appeared at the bottom.
Marcus Vale.
David recognized it.
The same name Lawson had mentioned.
Victoria whispered:
“Who is Marcus Vale?”
David searched the records.
Nothing.
Then he opened his old company files.
His face changed.
Marcus Vale had been a consultant for David’s former company.
Seven years earlier.
David had fired him.
Why?
Because Marcus had tried to steal proprietary technology.
David had reported him.
Marcus disappeared.
Now he was back.
And he had been manipulating Harrington Global from the shadows.
David looked at Victoria.
“He isn’t after your company.”
“Then what?”
“He’s after mine.”
Victoria frowned.
“You sold your company.”
“Yes.”
“But you still own the patents.”
David nodded.
Most of his wealth came from intellectual property.
Patents worth billions.
Marcus wanted control of those patents.
The Harrington acquisition was merely a distraction.
Jonathan was useful.
Lawson was useful.
Even Victoria was useful.
But David was the real target.
Then David’s phone rang.
A video appeared.
Emma was sitting in a room.
David’s heart stopped.
His daughter looked frightened.
A man stood behind her.
Marcus Vale.
David’s face became completely still.
Victoria whispered:
“Where is she?”
David stared at the screen.
Marcus smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.”
David’s old name.
The name almost nobody knew.
Marcus continued.
“You should have stayed retired.”
David’s voice was cold.
“Let her go.”
“You know I can’t.”
“What do you want?”
“Your patents.”
“You’ll get them.”
Victoria looked at him.
David continued:
“All of them.”
Marcus smiled.
“I knew you’d cooperate.”
The screen went black.
David stood.
Victoria asked:
“What are you going to do?”
David looked at her.
“I’m going to get my daughter back.”
“And the patents?”
David shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“I’m going to make him think he won.”
