Chapter 3: The Daughter Everyone Believed Was Dead
The police sirens echoed through the city.
One by one, patrol cars surrounded the block.
The three executives who had arrived so confidently just moments ago suddenly looked like trapped animals.
"Nobody moves!" a detective shouted.
The tallest executive forced a nervous smile.
"This is all a misunderstanding."
But before anyone could respond...
Daniel's daughter stepped forward.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
"Dad..."
Her voice cracked.
"I've waited five years to say that."
Daniel couldn't breathe.
His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
"They... told me you died," he whispered.
She shook her head.
"No."
"They told me YOU abandoned me."
The world around them disappeared.
For five long years...
A father and daughter had mourned each other while both were still alive.
The detective placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"They changed her identity after your company collapsed."
"They moved her between foster homes."
"They erased every record connecting the two of you."
The crowd gasped.
The executives remained silent.
Daniel looked directly at them.
"You stole my company..."
"You stole my reputation..."
"And then you stole my child."
No one dared speak.
The youngest executive suddenly turned toward his partners.
"This wasn't my idea!"
"It was Richard!"
The tallest man exploded.
"Shut your mouth!"
But it was already too late.
The detective smiled.
"Interesting."
"Because every confession is being recorded."
The executive's face turned white.
Daniel slowly turned toward the little boy.
"You knew?"
The boy nodded.
"My mom said bad people always reveal themselves when they think they've already won."
Daniel finally smiled.
For the first time in years...
It was a real smile.
He gently knelt down and hugged the boy.
"Thank you."
The child whispered something only Daniel could hear.
"My dad says heroes aren't rich people."
"They're people who never stop protecting others."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then...
A black helicopter appeared overhead.
Everyone looked up.
Its blades thundered across the sky.
A luxury limousine arrived moments later.
Out stepped an elegant elderly woman dressed entirely in white.
Every executive instantly froze.
One whispered in terror.
"It can't be..."
"She's supposed to be in Switzerland."
The woman walked straight toward Daniel.
Without saying a word...
She removed one white glove.
Then slapped Richard across the face so hard the sound echoed through the street.
"You filthy liar."
Richard staggered backward.
"M-Mother..."
The crowd gasped.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
The woman turned toward him with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Daniel."
"I should have believed you instead of my own son."
Silence consumed the street.
Then she revealed the truth no one had expected.
"I own fifty-one percent of Carter Global."
"I always have."
"And today..."
She reached into her purse and removed a sealed envelope.
"...I'm giving it all back to its rightful owner."
Richard screamed.
"You can't!"
But the elderly woman smiled coldly.
"Oh, Richard..."
"I haven't even told them what you did to your own father."
The detective looked up sharply.
"What do you mean?"
The woman slowly opened the envelope.
Inside...
Was a photograph taken five years earlier.
It showed Richard standing beside a hospital bed.
His father was alive.
Barely conscious.
And Richard was holding a pillow over the old man's face.
The entire crowd fell into horrified silence.
Daniel realized this nightmare had never been about money.
It was about murder.
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And Richard had just become the prime suspect in a crime no one knew had ever happened.
To be continued...
