CHAPTER 5 — THE VIDEO THAT DESTROYED A DYNASTY
Every phone inside the cathedral played the same video at the exact same moment.
A younger Richard Carter appeared on the screen, standing in a dimly lit office twenty-five years earlier.
Across the desk sat a frightened pregnant woman.
Ethan's mother.
Richard's cold voice echoed through the speakers.
"If the child is born, the Carter empire is finished."
The woman clutched her stomach, tears streaming down her face.
"He deserves to know the truth."
Richard slid a thick envelope across the desk.
Inside were fake medical records... and a death certificate.
"You'll disappear tonight," he said. "From this moment on, Ethan will believe his mother died in childbirth."
The cathedral erupted in horror.
"No..." Ethan whispered.
"My mother died giving birth to me."
Richard slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I made you believe that."
The real Sophia stared at him in disbelief.
"You lied to your own son for twenty-five years?"
Richard smiled without a trace of guilt.
"I didn't build a billion-dollar empire by letting emotions make my decisions."
Then Victoria inserted the black flash drive into the cathedral's giant media screen.
Another video began to play.
This one was even worse.
It showed secret recordings from inside Carter Global headquarters.
Bribed politicians.
Illegal offshore accounts.
Judges accepting millions in cash.
Executives signing contracts tied to deadly industrial accidents that had been covered up for decades.
Every board member in the front row turned pale.
One director suddenly stood up and bolted toward the exit.
"Stop him!" a detective shouted.
Before anyone could reach him...
BOOM!
A deafening explosion ripped through the cathedral parking garage.
The blast shattered stained-glass windows, sending colorful shards raining onto the marble floor.
Guests screamed and dropped to the ground.
Smoke poured through the entrance.
As alarms echoed throughout the building, Victoria looked calmly at Ethan.
"You still think your father is the mastermind."
She shook her head.
"He's only been protecting the real monster."
Ethan frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Victoria pointed toward the burning parking garage.
"The person who ordered your mother's disappearance..."
"...just escaped."
Then she revealed the one truth no one expected.
"Richard Carter isn't your biological father."
The entire cathedral fell silent once again.
Ethan felt the world spin around him.
May you like
"If Richard isn't my father..."
"...then who is?"
