Richard closed his eyes.
“She has the evidence.”
“I know.”
“Then help me.”
Marcus laughed quietly.
“Richard, you still don’t understand.”
A pause.
“Lauren isn’t the biggest problem.”
Richard frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“The USB drive contains a recording you never knew existed.”
Richard stopped breathing.
“What recording?”
“The one showing who actually ordered the accident.”
Richard stood abruptly.
“That is impossible.”
Marcus answered with four chilling words.
“Your signature is there.”
The call disconnected.
Richard stared at the phone.
Then someone knocked on the penthouse door.
His assistant entered, trembling.
“Sir… there’s a woman downstairs.”
“Who?”
“She says her name is Vanessa Bennett.”
Richard’s face turned white.
“That’s impossible. Vanessa is dead.”
The assistant slowly shook her head.
“No, sir.”
“She says she’s here to collect her share.”
12:15 p.m. — The Caldwell Estate
Lauren sat beside Ethan while Detective Harris examined the recovered files.
Suddenly, Harris stopped scrolling.
“Ethan…”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
He turned the laptop toward them.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Lauren standing beside a man in a hospital corridor.
The date was stamped six months before her accident.
Lauren recognized the man immediately.
Her breathing stopped.
It was her father’s personal physician.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
But beneath the photograph was a handwritten note.
SUBJECT: LAUREN CALDWELL
STATUS: MEMORY RESTORATION — UNEXPECTED
INSTRUCTION: DO NOT ALLOW HER TO REMEMBER THE FIRST WITNESS.
Lauren looked at Ethan.
“First witness?”
Ethan slowly stood.
“Who was the first witness?”
Before Harris could answer, another notification appeared on the computer.
An encrypted video had finished uploading.
Its title was:
THE PERSON WHO STARTED EVERYTHING.
Harris pressed play.
The screen went black.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
“Lauren, if you’re watching this, it means Richard failed.”
Lauren’s eyes widened.
Because the voice belonged to someone she thought had died years ago.
Her mother.
And the next sentence changed everything.
“Your father didn’t cause the accident, sweetheart…”
A long pause.
“He was trying to stop me.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
