CHAPTER 10 — The Enemy Standing Beside Me Was Also A Victim
The phone call ended.
But nobody moved.
Not even Eleanor.
She stood there like someone had just taken away the foundation beneath her feet.
"My father..."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"My father didn't do it?"
I looked at her.
For years, she had carried anger like armor.
She built her entire life around one belief.
That I destroyed her family.
That I was the reason she suffered.
That hurting me would somehow fix the past.
But now...
that belief was cracking.
Thomas was the first person to speak.
"Don't listen to her."
Everyone turned.
His voice was sharp.
Desperate.
"That woman is trying to confuse you."
I looked at him.
Interesting.
Because a man who was telling the truth wouldn't look this afraid.
"You know her."
Thomas said nothing.
"You know Claire."
His silence answered.
Eleanor slowly turned toward him.
"You knew about her?"
Thomas looked at her.
"Of course I knew."
Her eyes widened.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it didn't matter."
The room became cold.
"Didn't matter?"
Thomas stepped closer.
"You wanted revenge, Eleanor."
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"I wanted justice."
Thomas laughed.
"Those are the same thing when you're angry enough."
That sentence hit her.
Because somewhere deep down...
she knew it was true.
I watched the woman who had hurt my daughter.
The woman who had tried to destroy me.
And for the first time...
I didn't see an enemy.
I saw someone who had been carrying someone else's lie.
But that didn't erase what she did.
My daughter still suffered.
And that mattered more.
I looked at Eleanor.
"You hurt Maya."
Her eyes lowered.
"I know."
"No."
My voice became firmer.
"You don't."
She looked at me.
"You don't know what it feels like to watch your child become afraid of you."
Her eyes filled.
"I was wrong."
The words shocked everyone.
Especially Thomas.
"I was angry."
She looked toward Maya.
"And I took that anger out on the one person who never deserved it."
Maya stood behind me.
Silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
I wanted to believe this was a moment of change.
But trust didn't return in one sentence.
Not after months of pain.
"Apologies don't fix what happened."
Eleanor nodded.
"I know."
For the first time...
she wasn't defending herself.
Then my attorney's phone rang again.
He answered.
A few seconds later, his face changed.
"Richard."
"What happened?"
He covered the phone.
"The police are on their way."
My eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
He looked at Thomas.
"They found evidence connecting him to financial crimes from fifteen years ago."
Thomas's expression changed instantly.
"No."
My attorney continued.
"And Richard..."
"What?"
"The evidence includes a recording."
Thomas stepped back.
"What recording?"
My attorney looked at him.
"The one you thought was destroyed."
The room froze.
Thomas suddenly moved toward the door.
I noticed.
"Stop."
He ignored me.
My security team blocked the entrance.
Thomas turned.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with."
I stared at him.
"I think I finally do."
He laughed.
"No."
His eyes became darker.
"You still don't understand."
He pointed at Eleanor.
"She wasn't the only person I manipulated."
Then he looked at me.
"I manipulated you too."
My jaw tightened.
"What?"
Thomas smiled.
"Did you really think your company survived because you were smarter than everyone else?"
Nobody spoke.
"You think Sarah found those documents by accident?"
My blood ran cold.
"What are you saying?"
Thomas stepped closer.
"Sarah didn't discover the fraud."
A pause.
"She discovered me."
My heart stopped.
"You were involved?"
He smiled.
"Finally."
Eleanor looked horrified.
"You..."
Thomas continued.
"Victor Whitmore wasn't the mastermind."
He looked at her.
"Your father was just another victim."
I felt the room spinning.
"Then who was behind it?"
Thomas looked directly at me.
And said:
"Your closest friend."
Silence.
I felt a chill.
"My friend?"
Thomas nodded.
"The person who advised you during the acquisition."
My mind raced through old memories.
Executives.
Partners.
People I trusted.
Then one name appeared.
A name I hadn't thought about in years.
"David."
Thomas smiled.
"There he is."
My stomach dropped.
David Collins.
My best friend.
My business partner.
The man who stood beside me when I built Sterling Industries.
The man who gave the speech at Sarah's funeral.
"No."
Thomas laughed.
"Yes."
Eleanor looked at me.
"Who is David?"
I barely heard her.
Because suddenly...
every strange moment from fifteen years ago made sense.
The rushed acquisition.
The missing files.
The anonymous warnings.
Sarah telling me:
"Richard, be careful who you trust."
I thought she was talking about competitors.
She wasn't.
She was talking about someone inside my own circle.
Then Maya spoke softly.
"Daddy..."
I looked at her.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
She pointed toward the table.
At the old documents.
"There is something written on the back."
I picked up the newspaper article.
I turned it over.
And froze.
Because there was a handwritten note.
One I had never seen.
Three words.
Written in Sarah's handwriting.
"Trust nobody."
My breathing stopped.
Then beneath those words...
a name.
Not David.
Not Thomas.
Not Eleanor.
Someone else.
Someone Sarah had been investigating before she died.
Someone who had been watching our family for years.
The name written there was:
"Claire Whitmore."
I looked up.
Confused.
Because the woman who just called me...
the woman who claimed to know the truth...
was also someone Sarah didn't trust.
Maya held my hand.
And suddenly I realized:
We were not close to the truth.
We were standing in the middle of another lie.
Then the front door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Older.
Carrying a folder.
The same woman from the phone.
Claire Whitmore.
She looked at Eleanor.
Then at me.
And whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Nobody moved.
Then she looked at Maya.
Her face changed.
Because she recognized something.
Something impossible.
"Sarah never told you, did she?"
My heart tightened.
"Told me what?"
Claire opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of Sarah.
Holding a baby.
But the baby wasn't Maya.
I stared at the picture.
Because written on the back was a date.
A date after Sarah was supposed to be gone.
And one sentence:
May you like
"The child is still alive."
My entire world stopped.
