CHAPTER 6 â His Best Friend Smiled... Then Admitted He Had Betrayed Him for Seven Years
The screen went black.
No one spoke.
Ethan stared at his phone as if the world had just shattered beneath his feet.
His best man.
Nathan Brooks.
The man who had stood beside him since college.
The man who had toasted their friendship just hours before the wedding.
The man Ethan trusted more than anyone.
Nathan smiled into the camera.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Ethan."
Emily immediately grabbed the phone.
"Nathan..."
"Where is Sophia?"
Nathan laughed softly.
"You still think she's alive?"
The video ended.
For the first time in years, Ethan felt something stronger than heartbreak.
Rage.
Pure rage.
An hour later...
Ethan returned to Caldwell Tower.
Every executive was waiting for an emergency board meeting after news of the ruined wedding had spread across every television network.
The directors expected an explanation.
Instead...
Ethan walked into the conference room carrying the black folder from Locker 317.
Without saying a word, he threw it onto the table.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
Secret contracts.
Every page landed in front of the board members.
Faces turned pale.
One elderly director whispered,
"Where did you get these?"
Ethan looked around the room.
"I know someone here helped my father."
No one answered.
Then...
One director quietly stood.
Margaret Holloway.
The oldest member of the board.
She had worked beside Richard Caldwell for nearly forty years.
Everyone expected her to defend the Caldwell family.
Instead...
She slowly removed her gold company pin and placed it on the table.
"I've waited thirty years for this day."
The room froze.
Margaret opened her handbag and removed another folder.
Unlike Richard's file...
This one carried the seal of the United States Department of Justice.
She pushed it toward Ethan.
"I've been collecting evidence against your father and his partners since before you graduated college."
Ethan opened it.
Inside were photographs of politicians...
Judges...
Police commissioners...
Billionaires...
All connected through the same hidden organization.
Every document carried one identical symbol.
A silver raven.
The same emblem worn by the men who had attacked the storage locker.
Margaret looked Ethan directly in the eyes.
"Your father didn't build a business empire."
"He built an empire of silence."
Then she pointed to one photograph near the bottom.
Ethan felt every drop of blood leave his face.
Standing beside Richard Caldwell...
Standing beside Nathan...
Standing beside Victoria...
...was Ethan's own mother.
The woman he believed had died from cancer when he was twelve years old.
Margaret's voice cracked.
"Ethan..."
"Your mother never died."
Before Ethan could ask another question...
Every television in the boardroom suddenly switched on by themselves.
A live broadcast interrupted every channel.
Nathan appeared again.
This time he wasn't smiling.
Behind him...
Emily was tied to a chair.
Lily was crying beside her.
Nathan looked directly into the camera.
"You have exactly one hour."
"Bring me every file Richard left behind..."
"...or the only family you have left dies on live television."
Then the countdown appeared.
59:59... 59:58... 59:57...
For the first time in his life...
May you like
Money couldn't save Ethan Caldwell.
TO BE CONTINUED...
