CHAPTER 3 – The Man Everyone Wanted Dead
The ballroom became a battlefield.
Federal agents surrounded Ethan from every direction, but none of them touched him.
They were waiting.
Waiting for one order.
Victoria stepped away from her fiancé as if she had never known him.
"You lied to me," she whispered.
Ethan looked at her without emotion.
"No... you only loved the version of me that everyone else created."
The old man slowly walked toward the center of the room, his worn shoes echoing across the marble floor.
Every executive instinctively lowered their heads.
Not because they feared a homeless man...
But because they finally recognized him.
"Mr. Jonathan Carter..."
One elderly board member's voice trembled.
"I thought you were dead."
Jonathan smiled faintly.
"Someone made sure the world believed that."
He reached into the paper bag one final time.
This time, he removed a small digital recorder.
With one click...
A voice filled the ballroom.
"I don't care if Jonathan survives. Burn the house. Kill anyone inside."
The room froze.
Victoria's father turned white.
It was his voice.
Twenty-five years earlier, he had ordered the murder of Jonathan Carter to seize control of the company.
Victoria stumbled backward.
"Dad..."
Her father shook violently.
"That recording is fake!"
Jonathan calmly handed the recorder to the lead federal agent.
"It has already been authenticated."
The agent nodded.
"We've had it for three years."
Suddenly, Victoria realized something terrifying.
"If you've had the evidence for three years..."
She looked at Ethan.
"...then why wait until today?"
Ethan smiled for the first time.
"Because greed always exposes itself."
He glanced around the ballroom.
"Tonight, every conspirator came to celebrate under one roof."
The doors slammed shut automatically.
Outside, police vehicles surrounded the estate.
No one was leaving.
Not tonight.
Then an executive tried to escape through a side exit.
A sniper's laser appeared on his chest.
"Freeze!"
Panic exploded.
Guests screamed.
Champagne glasses shattered across the floor.
And in the middle of the chaos...
Jonathan whispered one sentence to Ethan.
"There's still one traitor left."
Ethan's smile disappeared.
May you like
Because he already knew who it was.
And that person was standing only a few feet away.
