CHAPTER 6: The Memory Card That Could Destroy An Empire
The red laser dot moved slowly across Noahâs chest.
Emily stopped breathing.
Every instinct inside her screamed to run, but she couldnât move.
Not while her son was standing in front of her.
Not again.
"Put the memory card down, Noah."
Richardâs voice came from behind the trees.
Calm.
Confident.
Like he already knew he had won.
Emily turned around.
Richard was walking toward them slowly, surrounded by armed men.
"You really thought you could hide something from me?"
Noah tightened his grip on the tiny memory card.
"You hurt people."
Richard looked disappointed.
"Thatâs what your mother taught you to believe?"
"Noah, listen to me."
"I didnât hurt people."
"I removed problems."
Emily stepped in front of her son.
"Youâre not a businessman."
"You're a monster."
For the first time...
Richard's expression changed.
A small smile disappeared.
"You sound exactly like your mother."
Emily froze.
Her mother.
The woman she lost when she was only eight years old.
"What did you say?"
Richard looked at the ground.
"Your mother knew too much."
The forest suddenly became silent.
Sarah's face turned pale.
"Emily..."
"Don't listen to him."
But Richard continued.
"Your mother didn't die in an accident."
Emily felt her heart stop.
"What?"
Richard walked closer.
"She discovered my company wasn't built legally."
"She found the accounts."
"The names."
"The people involved."
"And she was ready to expose everything."
Emily's voice shook.
"You killed her."
Richard didn't answer.
But his silence was enough.
Noah looked up at his grandfather with fear.
"You killed Grandma?"
Richard stared at him.
"I did what I had to do."
Those words broke something inside Emily.
For years, she had mourned her mother.
For years, she believed it was fate.
But now she discovered the truth.
Her own father had stolen her childhood.
He had stolen her family.
And he had been hiding in the shadows all along.
Suddenly...
A gunshot exploded through the forest.
Everyone dropped to the ground.
The armed men looked around in panic.
A voice shouted from the darkness:
"Nobody move!"
Flashlights appeared between the trees.
But it wasn't the police.
It wasn't Daniel.
It was someone nobody expected.
Daniel.
Alive.
Richard stared at him in disbelief.
"You?"
Daniel stepped forward, holding a weapon.
"You really thought I would let you erase me?"
Emily stared at her husband.
The man she thought was the villain.
The man she hated.
"You knew?"
Daniel looked at her with guilt in his eyes.
"I knew everything."
"I was never trying to destroy your family..."
"I was trying to protect you from mine."
The forest went silent.
Sarah whispered:
"Daniel... what are you saying?"
Daniel looked at Richard.
"The truth is..."
"Richard Collins isn't my boss."
"He isn't my partner."
"He is..."
"My father."
Emily's eyes widened.
The man who destroyed her family...
Was connected to everyone.
And the biggest secret had not been revealed yet.
Because the memory card inside Noah's teddy bear...
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Contained a video recorded by Emily's mother...
Three days before she died.
