Chapter 14 - The Person Who Never Left
They escaped before the car reached them.
Back at the mansion, Carter gathered everyone in the library.
Eleanor.
Chloe.
Maya.
Rebecca.
Victor.
His uncle.
Six people.
Six different versions of the same story.
Carter placed every document on the table.
“I want the truth.”
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Eleanor began.
“Your father discovered that someone inside the family company had been creating a second financial network.”
Carter listened.
“They moved assets without his knowledge.”
“Who?”
Eleanor looked at Chloe.
Chloe shook her head.
“Not me.”
Eleanor continued.
“Your father confronted them.”
“And then?”
“They threatened you.”
Carter looked at his uncle.
His uncle nodded.
“They knew you were the one thing Robert couldn't sacrifice.”
Carter stared at the documents.
“Why did everyone lie to me?”
“Because Robert believed the only way to protect you was to make you disappear from the real inheritance.”
Carter looked confused.
“What inheritance?”
Rebecca answered.
“The evidence.”
Carter looked at the hidden archive.
“The cameras.”
“Yes.”
“The documents.”
“Yes.”
“The company records.”
“Yes.”
“All of this was built around me?”
“No.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“It was built around whoever eventually discovered the truth.”
Carter looked at Chloe.
“And you?”
Chloe lowered her eyes.
“I was sent here to watch you.”
Carter's face hardened.
“By whom?”
She looked at the table.
Then she said:
“Your father.”
Silence.
Carter stared.
“You're saying my father ordered you to marry me?”
Chloe nodded.
“But later, I realized he wasn't the person I should have been afraid of.”
“Who was?”
Chloe looked toward the door.
“I don't know.”
Carter followed her gaze.
The door was open.
Maya was standing there.
She looked frightened.
“Mr. Hayes.”
Carter turned.
“What?”
Maya held a phone.
“This was in Mrs. Hayes's room.”
Carter took it.
The screen contained one message.
The sender was listed as:
ROBERT HAYES.
Carter stared.
The message had been sent one minute ago.
It contained only one sentence.
STOP LOOKING FOR ME.
Carter's hands began to shake.
Then another message arrived.
YOU ARE ALMOST THERE.
Carter looked at the timestamp.
May you like
It was impossible.
Because the message was coming from a phone that had been buried with his father six years earlier.
