CHAPTER 3 — The Truth Buried Under Twenty Years of Lies
For twenty years...
I believed I knew how my father died.
Every newspaper told the same story.
Daniel Reed had died during a warehouse explosion caused by corporate sabotage.
The suspect escaped.
Case closed.
But Lily quietly reached beneath her bed.
She pulled out an old metal box wrapped in faded cloth.
Inside were dozens of yellowed newspaper clippings.
Photographs.
Police reports.
Cassette tapes.
And one sealed envelope.
Written across the front...
FOR MARCUS REED — WHEN HE IS READY TO KNOW THE TRUTH.
My hands trembled.
The envelope had been dated...
Nineteen years earlier.
Someone had hidden it all this time.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Marcus,
If you are reading this...
It means they failed to keep us apart forever.
Your father wasn't murdered by my father.
They died trying to expose the same people.
The explosion was planned.
Not by criminals...
But by the executives inside Reed Global itself.
The company you inherited was built on a lie.
Trust no one on the board.
Especially Victor Lang.
My breathing stopped.
Attached to the letter was a photograph.
It showed my father.
Standing beside Lily's father.
Laughing.
Friends.
Not enemies.
Behind them stood another man.
His face had been circled in red ink.
Victor Lang.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Victor hadn't been protecting the company.
He had been protecting himself.
For twenty years.
Just then...
Sophie's voice came from the window.
"Mom..."
"They're here again."
Outside...
Five black SUVs surrounded the apartment building.
Men in dark suits stepped out together.
Each carried an earpiece.
Each looked directly toward the apartment.
Then one of them raised a phone.
Seconds later...
Marcus's own cell phone began to ring.
Unknown Number.
He answered.
A calm voice spoke.
"You've already learned far too much."
"Walk away from Lily Parker..."
"Or your father's death won't be the last Reed family funeral."
Marcus slowly looked toward Lily.
Toward little Sophie.
Then out the window at the men closing in.
For the first time in his life...
The billionaire who feared nothing realized he had just declared war against the people who had built his empire.
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And this time...
There would be no turning back.
