Chapter 9 - THE CASE VICTOR WANTED US TO FIND
The black case should have made me feel relieved.
Instead, it terrified me.
Victor had stolen it.
Now someone had returned it directly to Rachel.
That meant either Victor wanted us to have it—
or someone else was playing a different game.
Hospital security locked down the maternity floor.
Police reviewed cameras.
The person who entered Rachel’s room wore scrubs, a cap, and a surgical mask.
No identification.
No clear face.
The case itself contained exactly what Harold promised.
Original contracts.
Bank statements.
A voice recorder.
And one envelope marked:
FOR RACHEL.
She opened it with trembling hands.
Inside was a letter from her father.
Rachel, if you are reading this, I failed to protect you from something I should have stopped years ago.
She cried silently.
I sat beside her.
Harold explained that Victor had tried to buy Bennett Logistics years earlier.
When Harold refused, Victor used Cole Dynamics contracts to pressure the company.
Harold investigated.
That was how he discovered the financial network.
Then came the part that changed everything.
Victor is not working alone.
Rachel looked at me.
I kept reading.
The second person is someone Nathan trusts more than Victor.
My stomach dropped.
There were not many people I trusted more than Victor.
Claire.
Martin Shaw.
My younger brother, Daniel.
Daniel.
I hadn’t spoken to him in nearly a year.
We had fought over our mother’s estate, then over his repeated requests for investment money.
Harold’s letter continued.
I never learned the second person’s identity, but I heard Victor call him “the family problem.”
Rachel whispered, “Nathan…”
I already knew.
Daniel had spent years resenting Cole Dynamics.
He said I had built my fortune while our family fell apart.
He blamed me for missing our mother’s final months.
He wasn’t entirely wrong.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
You finally opened Dad’s case.
Rachel stared.
Another message followed.
Victor isn’t the only liar.
Then a photograph.
Daniel.
Standing beside Victor Hale.
Taken that morning.
I called immediately.
He answered.
“Hey, big brother.”
My voice turned cold.
“What did you do?”
Daniel laughed.
“The better question is what did you do.”
“What does that mean?”
“You built an empire on money that was never yours.”
I stopped breathing.
Rachel watched me.
Daniel continued.
“Ask Claire where Cole Dynamics’ first million dollars really came from.”
Then he hung up.
May you like
I looked at Claire.
For the first time since she became my assistant, she refused to meet my eyes.
