Chapter 13: The Person Behind The Curtain
The room remained silent long after the video ended.
Nobody wanted to be the first person to speak.
Because everyone was thinking the same thing.
Someone inside the family had betrayed them.
Someone who had sat at their dinner table.
Someone who had smiled while hiding the truth.
David slowly placed the phone on the table.
“We need every company record from the last fifteen years.””
Michael looked at him.
“You think I did it?””
David looked back.
“I think everyone has lied to me.””
Nobody argued.
Because nobody could.
The next morning, David called an emergency meeting with the company’s financial department.
The employees arrived confused.
They had never seen David so serious.
Jasmine sat beside him, reviewing the documents her mother left behind.
Jessica sat at the far end of the room.
Ethan stayed beside her.
Michael refused to sit.
“I don’t belong here.””
David looked at him.
“You belonged here when you were taking money.””
Michael’s expression hardened.
“I didn’t take anything.””
“Then prove it.””
The financial director placed several folders on the table.
“These are the original company records.””
David opened the first folder.
Numbers.
Transfers.
Accounts.
Then Jasmine noticed something.
“Dad.””
She pointed to a line.
“This account.””
David looked closer.
The account name was hidden under a company title.
But the creation date stood out.
The account had been opened one month before Eleanor died.
“Who authorized this?”” David asked.
The financial director checked the record.
“According to the system…”
He stopped.
David looked up.
“According to who?””
The director swallowed.
“According to Mr. Anderson.””
The room went quiet.
David leaned back.
The lawyer.
Again.
But Mr. Anderson had already admitted helping hide financial problems.
Was he the person Eleanor was talking about?
Jasmine shook her head.
“No.””
Everyone looked at her.
She held her mother’s notebook.
“Mom knew Mr. Anderson was involved.””
David frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“She wrote about him.””
Jasmine opened the notebook.
“She said he was afraid. Not that he was the person behind everything.””
David read the page.
Jasmine was right.
Eleanor had written:
*“Anderson made mistakes, but he is not the one controlling the game.””*
David looked up.
“So who is?””
A message appeared on the company conference room screen.
Nobody had touched the computer.
Everyone turned.
A single file had opened.
A video.
David immediately stood.
“Turn it off.””
But Jasmine stopped him.
“No.””
She looked at the screen.
“We need to know.””
The video started.
A man appeared.
Not Michael.
Not Anderson.
Someone else.
Someone they never expected.
David’s face changed.
“No…”
Jasmine looked at him.
“Who is it?””
David couldn’t answer.
The man in the video was their former financial director.
A man named Richard.
A man who had worked for the family for twenty-five years.
Richard smiled.
“If you’re watching this, you finally discovered what Eleanor tried to expose.””
David stared.
Richard continued.
“I knew she would find out eventually.””
Jasmine felt sick.
The man who handled their family money.
The man who attended their celebrations.
The man who had comforted David after Eleanor’s death.
He was the one.
Richard continued.
“Michael was easy to blame because everyone expected him to want more.””
Michael looked stunned.
“But I was patient.””
The video showed documents.
Hidden accounts.
Secret transfers.
Everything.
Richard’s voice continued.
“I didn’t need the property. I needed control.””
David clenched his fists.
“You destroyed my family.””
The video continued.
“And when Eleanor discovered the truth, she became a problem.””
Jasmine covered her mouth.
David stepped closer to the screen.
“What did you do?””
Richard looked directly into the camera.
“I didn’t push her car.””
A pause.
“But I made sure she couldn’t reach David that night.””
The video ended.
Nobody moved.
Then David’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A voice spoke.
“Now you know.””
David recognized it immediately.
Richard.
“Where are you?””
Richard laughed.
“Somewhere you won’t find me.””
David tightened his grip.
“You killed my wife.””
“No.””
Richard’s voice became colder.
“Your wife was killed by everyone who chose silence.””
The call ended.
Jasmine looked at her father.
“What do we do now?””
David stared at the empty screen.
May you like
Then he answered.
“We finish what your mother started.””
