Chapter 5 - The Rot at Hope OrphanageForty-five minutes later, Robert’s private black Rolls-Royce rolled through the rusted iron gates of Hope Orphanage, followed by two medical vans.
The building was a dilapidated brick fortress trapped in perpetual gloom. The front steps were caked in ice, and the windows glowed with the sickly, yellow light of flickering incandescent bulbs.
When Robert, accompanied by his head of security and the triplets, burst through the front doors, the director of the orphanage—a greasy, nervous man named Director Higgins—rushed out from his office, wiping cheap whiskey from his lips.
“Mr... Mr. Steel?!” Higgins stammered, his eyes bulging as he recognized the billionaire. “To what do we owe the unexpected honor? The children are already asleep—”
“Don't lie to me, Higgins,” Robert roared, stepping forward with a fury that made the director shrink back against the wall. “Where is Clara Miller? And where is the operational funding I donated to this facility three years ago?!”
Higgins turned the color of curdled milk. “Clara? She... she passed away months ago! And the funds... the funds were used for facility maintenance!”
“He’s lying!” Evan shouted, popping out from behind Robert’s coat. “Director Higgins took the money to buy a new sports car! And Mrs. Miller isn't dead—they locked her in the old quarantine ward in the basement because she wouldn't stop complaining about the stolen food money!”
Silence fell over the hallway.
Robert looked down at Evan, then back at Higgins, whose trembling hands gave away the absolute truth of the boy’s accusation.
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A cold, lethal anger washed over the billionaire. He didn't shout. He didn't threaten. He simply nodded to his head of security.
“Take him into custody. Hand him over to federal authorities for embezzlement and child endangerment,” Robert ordered smoothly. Then he turned to his medical team. “Down to the basement. Now.”
