CHAPTER 5 – The Traitor Was Sitting Next to Him
The conference room fell into complete silence.
Daniel slowly looked around the table.
Every executive avoided his eyes.
Then...
The electronic lock clicked.
The doors were sealed.
A slow clap echoed through the room.
Daniel turned.
It was Victoria.
The woman he had trusted for nearly twenty years.
The woman who had managed every dollar of Harper Construction.
She smiled calmly.
"You always believed loyalty could be bought with kindness."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Where is Lily?"
Victoria laughed.
"Safe... for now."
She placed a thick folder on the conference table.
Inside were forged financial records, fake safety reports, and dozens of documents carrying Daniel's electronic signature.
"If the police see these," she whispered, "they'll believe you ordered the construction cover-up."
Daniel stared at the papers.
"You framed me."
"No," Victoria replied.
"I prepared for the day you became inconvenient."
Suddenly, Marcus walked into the room.
He wasn't hiding anymore.
He looked directly at Daniel.
"You stole my future."
Daniel shook his head.
"Grandfather left me the company because I earned it."
Marcus smiled coldly.
"No..."
"He left it to you because you were never supposed to know the truth."
Daniel's heart skipped a beat.
"What truth?"
Marcus slowly pulled an old photograph from his jacket.
It showed two newborn babies in the same hospital.
One wore a bracelet labeled Daniel Harper.
The other...
Had no name.
Marcus slid the photo across the table.
"You were never born into the Harper family."
"You were switched at birth."
The room went silent.
Daniel felt the floor disappear beneath him.
Victoria stepped closer.
"The real Harper heir died as an infant."
"You were only meant to replace him until the scandal disappeared."
Daniel could barely breathe.
"So... everything was a lie?"
Victoria smiled.
"Your name."
"Your inheritance."
"Your entire life."
Then Ethan burst through the conference room doors with armed detectives behind him.
"Nobody move!"
The officers surrounded the executives.
Marcus reached for his pocket—
—but froze as dozens of red laser sights landed on his chest.
Daniel looked at Ethan in disbelief.
"How did you find us?"
Ethan smiled.
"Lily never stopped helping."
He held up a tiny pink teddy bear.
Hidden inside it was a GPS tracker.
Before the kidnappers took her, Lily had secretly pressed the emergency button Daniel had given her after the first threat.
She had been leading them to the warehouse all along.
The detectives' radios suddenly crackled.
"Captain!"
"We've reached the warehouse..."
A long pause followed.
Then came the words that made everyone's blood run cold.
"The girl isn't here."
"She escaped..."
"...but someone else has been waiting for us."
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"And he claims..."
"...he is Daniel Harper's biological father."
