CHAPTER 5 – The Billionaire Everyone Trusted Was the Real Monster
The bloodstained envelope lay untouched in the center of the table.
No one wanted to open it.
No one wanted to know the truth.
Victoria slid it toward the lead federal investigator.
"Read it."
His hands trembled as he broke the wax seal.
Inside was a handwritten confession... and one photograph.
The moment he saw the picture, his face turned white.
"This... this can't be possible."
"Say it," Victoria demanded.
The investigator looked around the room before reading the final line aloud.
"The person responsible for Daniel Brooks' death..."
"...is Richard Langston."
Silence.
Every executive instinctively turned toward the empty leather chair at the head of the boardroom.
Richard Langston.
Founder of Langston Capital.
The billionaire investor who had rescued Cole Dynamics twenty years earlier.
The man praised as a visionary.
The mentor who had guided Adrian's career.
The same man scheduled to arrive at the board meeting in less than five minutes.
Before anyone could react...
The boardroom doors slowly opened.
Richard walked in wearing an expensive navy suit, smiling as if nothing had happened.
"What an interesting meeting," he said calmly.
His eyes landed on the open confession.
For the first time in decades...
His smile disappeared.
"So..."
"You finally found it."
Adrian stared at him in disbelief.
"You knew?"
Richard chuckled.
"I knew everything."
"You think I invested in your company because I believed in you?"
"I invested because I needed to control it."
Victoria clenched her fists.
"You murdered Daniel."
Richard shrugged.
"He was brilliant."
"But he refused to sell me his technology."
"So I removed the obstacle."
Gasps echoed through the room.
Emily burst into tears.
Adrian could barely stand.
"You used me..."
Richard looked at him with complete indifference.
"I used everyone."
"You."
"Victoria."
"The board."
"The investors."
"You were all easier to manipulate than I expected."
Then Richard slowly reached into his jacket.
Several investigators immediately drew their weapons.
But instead of a gun...
He pulled out a small black remote.
He smiled.
"Did any of you wonder why I came here today?"
Victoria's eyes widened.
"No..."
Richard pressed the button.
A loud explosion shook the underground parking garage beneath the building.
The entire tower trembled violently.
Fire alarms screamed.
Smoke began pouring into the boardroom through the ventilation system.
People ran toward the exits in panic.
Richard remained perfectly still.
"If I can't own this empire..."
"No one will."
As chaos consumed the building, Victoria noticed something horrifying through the smoke.
Richard wasn't trying to escape.
He was waiting...
For someone.
Then a little boy—no older than eight—ran into the boardroom crying.
"Grandpa!"
Victoria froze.
Richard knelt and hugged the child tightly.
In a voice barely above a whisper, he said,
"I'm sorry..."
"I was never building an empire for myself."
"I was building it for him."
The investigators hesitated.
Victoria stared at the boy.
Because hanging around his neck...
...was the exact same key Daniel Brooks had worn the day he died.
And suddenly, Victoria realized the most shocking truth of all.
Richard hadn't been protecting a fortune.
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He had been protecting an heir.
To Be Continued...
