Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the CurtainI didn't believe her.
Robert had been my father's closest brother.
He had protected me since childhood.
But Paul checked the records.
And within hours, we found the evidence.
Robert had created shell companies.
He had moved money through overseas accounts.
He had used Grant as a front.
Grant wasn't the mastermind.
He was the ambitious fool who thought he could control the operation.
Robert had been using him.
And Natalie had been recruited because she could access family information.
The deeper we looked, the worse it became.
My father's death had not been natural.
He had been poisoned.
Slowly.
Over months.
The official report said heart failure.
Paul found a second medical report buried in an old legal file.
Toxic exposure.
Repeated.
Intentional.
I couldn't breathe.
“Who did it?”
Paul looked at Robert's records.
“We don't know yet.”
Then Grant appeared.
He looked exhausted.
“I need to talk to you.”
I refused.
He stopped me.
“Claire, I never wanted your father dead.”
I stared at him.
“You wanted my company.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my trust.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my sister.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
“But you didn't kill Dad.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Grant looked terrified.
“Robert.”
The room went silent.
Then Grant said:
“He told me if I didn't marry you, he'd destroy me.”
I didn't know whether to believe him.
But for the first time, Grant looked genuinely afraid.
That night, I received another message.
Come to the lake house. Alone.
I knew immediately who had sent it.
Daniel.
The boy from my childhood.
The one I'd never forgotten.
I went.
He was standing beside the dock.
Older now.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
His hair was darker than I remembered.
But his eyes were the same.
He turned.
“Claire.”
My heart stopped.
“Daniel?”
He smiled.
“You remembered.”
I almost cried.
“You disappeared.”
“I was told you didn't want to see me.”
“Who told you?”
He looked toward the lake.
“Your uncle.”
Then he handed me a file.
Inside was a photograph.
Robert.
Grant.
And my father.
The date was eighteen months before Dad died.
Daniel whispered:
“Your father hired me to investigate Robert.”
I looked at him.
“You've been investigating all this time?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Because I promised a little girl by this lake I'd always find her.”
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