Chapter 19 - The Friend Behind The Betrayal
The photograph changed everything.
The man standing beside Eleanor was not a stranger.
It was Thomas.
The estate caretaker.
The man who saved Maya.
The man everyone trusted.
Richard felt sick.
“No.”
Charles looked at him.
“You still want to believe everyone is good.”
Richard stared at the photograph.
“Thomas helped me.”
“Yes.”
Charles nodded.
“And that’s why he was dangerous.”
Thomas was brought in for questioning.
He did not deny it.
That hurt Richard more.
“You knew.”
Thomas looked down.
“Yes.”
Richard’s voice broke.
“How long?”
“Since before Maya was born.”
Thomas explained.
He had discovered Charles and the others were hiding money.
He had tried to warn Eleanor.
But when she died, he panicked.
He protected Maya.
He watched the house.
He waited.
“But you lied to me.”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Because I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me.”
Richard looked away.
Because that was exactly the problem.
People stopped telling him the truth.
Because they thought he would not listen.
But then Thomas revealed something else.
“I wasn’t the one who changed Eleanor’s medical records.”
Richard looked up.
“Then who?”
Thomas swallowed.
“The person who had access to everything.”
A pause.
“The person who knew you better than anyone.”
Richard returned home.
He walked through the empty halls.
The mansion that once represented success now felt like a place full of ghosts.
Then he entered his office.
His old desk.
His old computer.
He noticed something.
A hidden file.
Created three years ago.
By someone using his password.
The file contained one video.
Eleanor.
Alive.
Before everything happened.
Richard pressed play.
Her face appeared.
Tired.
Scared.
But calm.
“If you are watching this…”
She paused.
“Then I didn’t get the chance to tell you myself.”
Richard held his breath.
Eleanor looked directly into the camera.
“Richard, the person behind this is someone you love.”
The screen flickered.
Then she said the name.
And Richard dropped the phone from his hand.
May you like
Because the person Eleanor named…
was the person standing behind him.
