CHAPTER 8 — The Secret Inside the Burned Ledger
The following morning, Adrian refused to wait.
He ordered corporate investigators to reopen every document connected to the family's first jewelry business.
Most records had disappeared decades earlier.
Except one.
A retired police officer contacted Adrian privately.
"I've kept something all these years."
Hidden inside an old storage locker...
Wrapped in plastic...
Was a burned accounting ledger.
Half the pages had survived the fire.
As Adrian carefully turned the brittle paper...
His expression darkened.
Every page listed shipments of diamonds.
Payments.
Ownership percentages.
Then...
One final page.
Written in Richard Okoro's handwriting.
Transferred without authorization.
Forged signatures attached.
Grace gasped.
"I never signed this."
Miriam's voice trembled.
"Neither did I."
The retired officer nodded.
"The fire wasn't an accident."
"It destroyed the evidence."
Kaima looked around the room.
"So Richard stole the company?"
The officer answered quietly.
"He stole far more than that."
He reached into another envelope.
Inside was an old birth certificate.
The room froze.
Adrian slowly read the name aloud.
Father: Samuel Adeyemi.
Mother: Grace Nwosu.
Adrian blinked.
"This... this isn't possible."
Grace burst into tears.
"I was pregnant."
"The night of the fire."
Everyone stared at her.
"I thought my baby died."
Silence.
The officer spoke softly.
"There was no death certificate."
"No burial."
"No hospital record."
Only one conclusion remained.
Someone had taken the baby.
Miriam covered her mouth.
"My God..."
Kaima whispered,
"Who would steal a newborn?"
The retired officer looked directly at Adrian.
"The same man who stole your family's business."
At that exact moment...
Adrian's phone rang.
His chief of security shouted through the speaker.
May you like
"Sir!"
"Your mother's been taken!"
