CHAPTER 5 — The Billionaire Walks Back Into the Room
The conference room was so silent that even the sound of Sophia's breathing seemed deafening.
She stared at the frozen image on the screen.
Richard's parachute opening.
His body disappearing safely below the helicopter.
Her knees weakened.
"No..." she whispered. "That's impossible..."
Daniel Cross calmly walked to the head of the conference table.
"Mrs. Ashford, Mr. Richard Ashford anticipated that someone might one day attempt to murder him."
One of the attorneys slid a thick folder across the polished table.
Inside were photographs taken only hours after the helicopter incident.
Richard was sitting inside a rescue vessel wrapped in a thermal blanket.
Another showed him speaking with investigators.
Another showed doctors examining only minor injuries.
Sophia's hands began shaking uncontrollably.
"He... he survived..."
Daniel nodded.
"Fortunately for him... yes."
"But unfortunately for you... every second of yesterday's flight was recorded from three different angles."
Sophia's mind raced.
If Richard was alive, then attempted murder charges were inevitable.
Without another word, she suddenly bolted toward the conference room door.
"Stop her!" one attorney shouted.
She sprinted into the hallway, kicked off her high heels, and ran barefoot across the marble floor.
Employees turned in shock as the billionaire's grieving widow fled the building.
She reached the underground parking garage, jumped into her luxury sports car, and sped away before security could block the exit.
Inside the car, panic completely replaced confidence.
"My passport..."
"My cash..."
"I need to leave the country."
She called the only person who knew the truth.
A man named Victor.
The same man who had secretly encouraged her to marry Richard months earlier.
He answered immediately.
"Did it work?"
Sophia's voice trembled.
"Richard's alive."
Silence.
Then Victor spoke quietly.
"That's impossible."
"I saw the video! He's alive!"
Another long pause followed.
Finally Victor said,
"Meet me at the lake house."
"I'll fix everything."
Sophia trusted him.
She had no one else left.
She drove for nearly two hours without noticing that three black SUVs maintained the same distance behind her the entire time.
Daniel's security team never lost sight of her.
Meanwhile, on the top floor of Ashford Industries...
Richard himself stepped out of a private elevator.
Employees froze.
Several gasped aloud.
One woman dropped the stack of files she had been carrying.
News of his death had spread across the entire country.
Yet there he was.
Alive.
Richard smiled gently.
"I apologize for the confusion."
The building erupted into stunned applause.
But Richard's expression quickly became serious.
"Bring me Victor Hale's file."
Daniel placed a thick dossier on the desk.
Richard opened it.
Every page confirmed what he had suspected for months.
Victor wasn't merely Sophia's lover.
He was a professional con artist.
Over the past fifteen years, he had manipulated wealthy women, forged investment schemes, and disappeared before police could gather enough evidence to convict him.
Richard quietly closed the file.
"So..."
"It was never just about me."
Daniel nodded.
"No."
"They've done this before."
Richard looked toward the city skyline.
May you like
"This time..."
"They chose the wrong target."
