Chapter 3: The Call Nobody Wanted
My father answered on the fourth ring.
“Hello?””
He turned away from us as he listened.
For the first five seconds, his face showed only irritation.
Then confusion.
Then something else.
Fear.
Real fear.
I had seen Richard Whitmore angry hundreds of times.
I had never seen him afraid.
“Slow down,” he said.
My mother watched him.
“Richard, who is it?””
He raised one hand.
She stopped.
His eyes shifted toward me.
“No,” he whispered into the phone.
“That file was destroyed.””
My stomach dropped.
Sebastian rose slowly from his knee, the ring still resting in his open palm.
He didn't put it away.
He was waiting.
My father turned toward the windows.
“I told you six years ago what to do.””
A pause.
His jaw clenched.
“Then why are you calling me now?””
The man on the other end said something that made my father close his eyes.
I knew that expression.
It was the same one he wore the night I left Whitmore Holdings.
The night he stood in his study and told me that nobody would believe a twenty-seven-year-old woman over a family-owned company.
The night he said, “You have no idea what happens to people who become enemies of this family.””
“Dad,” I said.
He looked at me.
The phone was still pressed to his ear.
“Tell him,” I said.
My voice sounded steadier than I felt.
“Tell him I wasn't wrong.””
My father's lips parted.
The caller must have heard me.
Because suddenly my father's expression changed.
He pulled the phone away.
“What?””
He stared at the screen.
Then answered again.
“No. No, that's impossible.””
Sebastian glanced at me.
“Who is it?””
My father didn't reply.
I stepped forward.
“Who?””
His eyes met mine.
“Daniel Mercer.””
I stopped breathing.
Daniel Mercer had been Whitmore Holdings' senior accountant.
He had trained me when I was twenty-two.
He had taught me how to read the company's books beyond the polished numbers presented to investors.
He had been the first person to tell me that the subsidiary reports didn't make sense.
And two days before I resigned, he disappeared.
My father told everyone Daniel had taken another job in California.
I had never believed him.
“What does he want?”” my mother asked.
Richard lowered the phone.
“He says he has proof.””
A glass shattered in the dining room.
Everyone turned.
Vanessa had dropped hers.
Wine spread across the hardwood.
She stared at my father.
“Proof of what?””
He didn't answer.
She whispered, “Dad.””
Sebastian stepped closer to the table.
“What kind of proof?””
Richard looked at him.
“Old transaction records.””
“From when?””
“Six years ago.””
I felt the room tilt.
Sebastian's voice sharpened.
“Where is Mercer?””
“He won't say.””
“Put him on speaker.””
“No.””
Richard said it too quickly.
Sebastian's expression changed.
“Put him on speaker.””
“You don't give me orders in my house.””
Sebastian looked toward the dining room.
“This isn't about your house.””
He took one step closer.
“It's about the eight hundred million dollars I am deciding whether to invest.””
Richard's mouth tightened.
“You're threatening me?””
“No.””
Sebastian's gaze never moved.
“I'm protecting myself.””
The phone buzzed again.
Richard looked at the screen.
A text message.
Then another.
He read them both.
I watched his hands shake.
“What did he send?”” I asked.
“Nothing.””
“Dad.””
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
“Enough.””
I laughed softly.
It wasn't a happy sound.
“That's your answer to everything.””
His eyes flashed.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“I know exactly what I'm talking about.””
I pointed toward the documents on the table.
“You moved money through shell companies.””
“No.””
“You told me the invoices were legitimate.””
“They were.””
“You told me I was unstable when I questioned them.””
His silence was enough.
Vanessa looked between us.
“Claire…”
I turned toward her.
“You knew.””
She shook her head.
“I knew about transfers. I didn't know the reason.””
“You signed them.””
“I was twenty-four!””
“So was I.””
Vanessa flinched.
My mother suddenly spoke.
“I don't understand anything.””
I looked at her.
“Neither did I, six years ago.””
She stepped closer.
“Claire, your father said you were having problems.””
“I was having questions.””
“You wouldn't listen.””
“No,” I said.
“I wouldn't lie.””
The words hung between us.
Sebastian was still holding the ring.
He came to my side.
“You don't need to defend yourself anymore.””
I looked at him.
His eyes were warm.
But his attention moved past me.
Toward the phone in Richard's pocket.
“Call Mercer back.””
Richard shook his head.
“He's gone.””
“Then find him.””
“He contacted me. I didn't contact him.””
Sebastian's voice lowered.
“What exactly did he say?””
Richard stared at him.
“He said he's in Connecticut.””
My heart pounded.
“Where?””
“He wouldn't tell me.””
A loud knock came from the front door.
Everyone froze.
My mother looked toward the foyer.
“Were we expecting someone else?””
Richard's face went white.
“No.””
The knock came again.
Three hard strikes.
Sebastian turned toward the door.
“Stay behind me.””
I almost smiled despite everything.
“You're a billionaire, not a bodyguard.””
“Tonight, I'm both.””
He stepped toward the foyer.
My father moved faster.
“Don't.””
Sebastian stopped.
Richard stared at the door.
Then the lock moved.
Someone was opening it from outside.
My mother gasped.
Vanessa grabbed the edge of the table.
The front door swung inward.
A man stood on the porch beneath the yellow light.
Older than I remembered.
Thinner.
Gray at the temples.
A dark coat soaked with snow.
But the eyes were exactly the same.
“Daniel,” I whispered.
He looked directly at me.
“Claire.””
My knees nearly gave out.
Daniel stepped inside.
Richard moved backward as if he'd seen a ghost.
“You can't be here.””
Daniel shut the door.
“I think I can.””
His gaze moved across the room.
The beautiful house.
The Thanksgiving table.
The crystal.
The family portrait over the mantel.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
She began to cry.
“You said you never saw the records,” she whispered.
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You never asked.””
Richard stepped forward.
“You left.””
“I was forced out.””
“That is a lie.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You told me I'd spend ten years in prison if I testified.””
My mother covered her mouth.
“What?””
Richard turned toward her.
“This is nonsense.””
Daniel pulled a thick envelope from inside his coat.
“I brought copies.””
Sebastian's eyes dropped to it.
“Copies of what?””
“Every transaction Claire questioned.””
He put the envelope on the table.
“And something else.””
He opened it.
A small flash drive sat inside.
Richard stared at it.
“No.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Yes.””
My father took a step forward.
“Where did you get that?””
Daniel smiled without humor.
“You really don't remember?””
“What?””
“The backup server.””
Richard's face emptied.
I looked at Daniel.
“What backup server?””
He turned to me.
“The one your father didn't know I had.””
Richard swore.
Vanessa backed into a chair.
“Daniel…”
“I kept everything.””
He pulled out several printed pages.
“Emails. Payment requests. Internal authorizations.””
He laid them across the table.
My eyes scanned the first page.
Then the second.
My heart stopped at a familiar signature.
Vanessa.
Beneath hers was Richard's authorization.
My father's voice came quietly.
“Those signatures can be forged.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Convenient.””
Sebastian picked up one page.
“Interesting.””
Richard glared.
“What?””
Sebastian pointed to the bottom.
“Time stamp.””
My father said nothing.
Sebastian turned to me.
“You want to see something?””
He handed me the page.
There, at the bottom, was the date.
December 14.
I remembered that day.
I'd been in my father's office.
I'd asked him why a payment had been sent to a company that didn't appear in our primary vendor system.
He had told me I was imagining things.
The payment had been approved that same morning.
By him.
I stared at the document.
“You knew.””
My father looked at me.
“I knew nothing about this.””
Daniel interrupted.
“You knew enough.””
Richard turned on him.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
“I know exactly what I'm doing.””
Daniel reached into his coat again.
This time, he pulled out a smaller folder.
“This is the part Claire never saw.””
Sebastian's expression hardened.
“What's inside?””
Daniel looked at me.
“A contract.””
My pulse quickened.
“What contract?””
“The original agreement between Whitmore Holdings and the company receiving the missing money.””
Richard stepped forward.
“Daniel, don't.””
Daniel didn't stop.
He opened the folder.
I saw the first page.
Then the company name.
My blood ran cold.
I knew that name.
I had seen it once before.
Not in the company records.
In my father's private files.
A company that had supposedly belonged to an overseas investor.
A company I had spent months trying to trace.
I looked at Richard.
“That company is yours.””
He didn't respond.
“Dad?””
Nothing.
“Isn't it?””
His face was gray.
Sebastian reached for the contract.
But before his fingers touched it, Vanessa suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Claire.””
I turned.
She was crying.
“Please.””
“Please what?””
Her voice shook.
“Don't let him destroy us.””
I pulled my arm away.
“You should have thought about that six years ago.””
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain.””
She looked toward our father.
“He told me it was to protect the company.””
My father snapped, “Vanessa.””
She jumped.
I stared at her.
“What did he tell you?””
She wiped her tears.
“He said if the money disappeared, Whitmore Holdings would collapse.””
“And?””
“He said he had investors waiting.””
My stomach tightened.
“Fake investors?””
She nodded.
“And the money?””
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
Then at my father.
“It wasn't supposed to come back.””
Silence.
No one moved.
My mother whispered, “Richard…”
He closed his eyes.
For the first time in my life, my father looked old.
Not powerful.
Not intimidating.
Just exhausted.
Sebastian stepped beside me.
“Claire.””
I looked at him.
He held out the velvet box again.
Even now.
After everything.
The ring was still there.
Waiting.
My eyes filled.
He said quietly, “You don't have to decide tonight.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
I looked at my family.
Then at the documents.
Then at the man who had spent six years believing the truth would eventually bury itself.
“Yes.””
Sebastian's eyebrows lifted.
I took the ring.
His expression softened.
I slipped it onto my finger.
Perfect fit.
My father watched.
He opened his mouth.
But before he could speak, Daniel's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
“Who is it?”” I asked.
Daniel didn't answer.
He looked at me.
Then at Sebastian.
And whispered:
“The person who originally funded your father's hidden company just woke up.””
My father staggered backward.
“That's impossible.””
Daniel answered the call.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
Cold.
Calm.
Familiar.
May you like
And when I heard the name Daniel used to greet him, I realized the secret my father had buried six years ago was much bigger than stolen money.
“Mr. Whitmore,” Daniel said, “your partner would like his daughter back.””
