Chapter 6 - A Threat in Broad Daylight
Ethan's expression changed when Maya showed him the photograph.
The warmth vanished from his eyes, replaced by a stillness that made even Daniel Price, standing behind him, step back.
“Where was this taken?” Ethan asked.
“Outside Lily's school. Yesterday afternoon.”
“Did you tell anyone about the investigation?”
“No. I haven't even agreed to help you.”
“Someone knows you're connected to me.”
Maya folded her arms tightly across her chest. “Don't turn this into another problem your money can solve.”
“I'm not trying to buy your cooperation. I'm trying to keep Lily safe.”
“And I need to know whether your people are the ones putting her in danger.”
The question landed between them.
Ethan immediately called his head of security and ordered a review of the threat. He also arranged for the school to follow its normal visitor-verification procedures, making sure Maya approved every step. He refused to send strangers to her home or place a bodyguard beside Lily without her consent.
Maya watched him make the calls. He didn't promise that everything would be fine. He promised that he would find out who had done it.
That distinction mattered.
Later that afternoon, Maya agreed to meet the independent investigator at a public law office. Ethan waited in a separate room as she reviewed the original records. One page contained a signature attributed to her father, confirming that he had violated security protocol.
Maya stared at it.
“That isn't his signature.”
The investigator compared it with several verified documents. The handwriting was different. The date was also suspicious: the form had supposedly been signed two days after her father was dismissed.
Someone had forged his name.
The investigator photographed the page and locked it in an evidence envelope.
“Do you recognize the person who witnessed this?” he asked.
Maya read the name.
Graham Voss.
The same executive who now sat beside Ethan at board meetings.
That night, Ethan confronted Graham in his office.
Graham listened without interrupting, then closed the folder with a calm smile.
“You're letting a woman you barely know turn you against the people who built your company.”
“She isn't asking me to do anything. The evidence is.”
Graham leaned forward.
“Then perhaps you should ask why Evelyn Shaw disappeared before you destroy the company she helped create.”
He slid a second folder across the desk.
May you like
Inside was a photograph of Evelyn standing beside a young woman.
The woman was Maya's mother.
