CHAPTER 9 – A Father's Choice
Grant spent the entire night reading the unopened letters.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every first step.
Every first word.
Claire had written to him again and again.
Not to ask for money.
Not to beg him to return.
Simply to tell him about his sons.
One letter read:
"Today Ethan asked if fathers ever get lost."
Another said:
"Oliver cried because he doesn't remember your face anymore."
Grant couldn't stop crying.
For the first time in years, he realized the greatest fortune he had ever lost wasn't measured in dollars.
It was measured in moments.
The following morning, he called an emergency press conference.
Reporters from across Texas packed the lobby of Whitmore Aviation Capital.
Television cameras went live.
Grant walked to the podium alone.
"No prepared statement," he said.
"No public relations team."
"Just the truth."
He looked directly into the cameras.
"I failed my family."
The room became perfectly still.
"I believed success excused absence."
"It doesn't."
"I believed providing money made me a father."
"It never did."
Then he made an announcement that stunned every shareholder watching live.
"I am stepping away from day-to-day leadership of Whitmore Aviation Capital."
Gasps spread through the crowd.
"My first responsibility is no longer my company."
He smiled softly.
"It's my four sons."
As applause slowly filled the room, Grant noticed a man standing quietly near the back.
Black suit.
Gray tie.
Dark sunglasses.
The stranger smiled once...
Then disappeared into the crowd.
Grant's phone vibrated.
One new message.
No sender.
Only a photograph.
It showed the mysterious man standing beside Richard Sloan.
The timestamp read...
Ten minutes ago.
May you like
Beneath the image were six chilling words:
"Richard was never the real mastermind."
