CHAPTER 6 – The Man Who Thought He Could Erase the Truth
Richard Halston lunged toward the computer, yanking the flash drive from its port.
Too late.
Every screen in the building flashed the same message.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
Richard's face drained of color.
"No... no, that's impossible!"
His fingers shook as he smashed the keyboard to the floor.
Nothing stopped the broadcast.
Across the country, television stations interrupted their programming.
News websites refreshed simultaneously.
Federal investigators received encrypted files.
Major shareholders opened emails marked URGENT EVIDENCE.
Within minutes, Richard's entire empire was collapsing in real time.
One video after another filled the screens.
There was Richard...
Twenty-five years younger...
Secretly signing forged patent documents.
There was Richard paying millions into offshore accounts.
There was Richard ordering employees to destroy laboratory records after Ethan's father refused to sell his invention.
Then came the final recording.
Richard looked directly into the hidden camera.
"If Daniel Carter refuses to disappear..."
"...make sure no one ever finds his body."
Silence filled the boardroom.
Every executive slowly stepped away from Richard.
His own lawyer quietly closed his briefcase.
"I'm withdrawing as your attorney."
The board chairman removed his company badge.
"So are we."
Richard looked around in disbelief.
"You can't leave me!"
No one answered.
The boardroom doors burst open.
Federal agents stormed inside.
"Richard Halston!"
"You're under arrest for conspiracy, fraud, attempted murder, money laundering, and obstruction of justice."
The billionaire laughed hysterically.
"You think you've won?"
He suddenly grabbed a pistol hidden beneath the conference table.
Employees screamed.
Agents raised their weapons.
Richard ignored them all.
Instead...
He pointed the gun directly at Ethan.
"If my empire dies..."
"So do you."
Before he could pull the trigger—
BANG!
A single shot echoed through the room.
Richard froze.
The pistol slipped from his hand.
He slowly looked down.
Blood spread across his expensive white shirt.
Everyone turned toward the doorway.
Standing there was the elderly man.
Ethan's father.
Smoke drifted from the barrel of his old revolver.
For twenty-five years he had waited for justice.
But as Richard collapsed to his knees...
He began laughing.
Weakly.
Almost proudly.
"You still don't understand..."
he whispered.
"I was never the real mastermind."
Ethan's heart stopped.
"What do you mean?"
Richard looked up with his final breath.
"The person who destroyed your family..."
"...has been standing beside you since the very beginning."
His eyes closed.
And before anyone could ask another question...
May you like
Every face in the room slowly turned toward the same person.
Someone Ethan trusted with his life.
