Chapter 7 - The RecordingDarkness filled the estate.
Security alarms screamed.
Lily started crying.
I held her.
Marcus whispered:
“Stay behind me.”
Emergency lights came on.
Red.
Flashing.
Then the security screens activated.
Every monitor showed Vanessa.
She was standing inside the security room.
“Marcus.”
He stared.
“Listen carefully.”
Her voice came through the speakers.
“Your father wasn't the mastermind.”
Marcus froze.
“Then who was?”
Vanessa smiled.
“Your mother.”
Eleanor's face went pale.
“What?”
Vanessa continued.
“Your mother built the foundation network.”
Marcus looked at Eleanor.
She shook her head.
“It's a lie.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Ask her.”
Marcus looked at his mother.
“Mom?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“I did.”
Marcus stepped back.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From what?”
“Your father.”
She explained.
Richard had wanted to continue the old network.
Eleanor wanted to destroy it.
The foundation had been her weapon.
She redirected money away from criminal operations.
She protected employees.
She created secret accounts.
She had been working against the family for decades.
The missing eight million wasn't stolen.
It had been moved to protect hundreds of families.
Vanessa had discovered the transfers and assumed they were fraud.
Marcus looked at me.
“Lily found the evidence.”
I understood.
My daughter had accidentally walked into the security room and uncovered the one thing everyone had been trying to hide.
The recording ended.
Then another video appeared.
Richard.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Marcus, if you're watching this, I'm sorry.”
He paused.
“I wasn't trying to destroy you.”
Then the screen went black.
May you like
A single sentence appeared.
COME TO THE GREENHOUSE. ALONE.
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