Chapter 6 â Evelyn's Biggest Lie
Chapter 6 â Evelyn's Biggest Lie
Rain hammered against the glass walls of Anderson Global Headquarters as if the city itself sensed the storm that was about to break.
On the thirty-sixth floor, no one spoke.
Detectives carefully removed hard drives from the company's central servers, sealing each one inside evidence bags.
Employees watched from behind office windows, whispering among themselves.
Rumors spread faster than the elevators.
Someone had tampered with company evidence.
Someone inside the executive offices.
And for the first time in years, people were no longer certain the Anderson family controlled the company.
Evelyn stood near the reception desk, forcing herself to remain calm.
Inside, panic clawed at every thought.
Three backups.
She had erased the original recording.
Or at least, she had believed she had.
She had paid an outside hacker nearly two hundred thousand dollars to remotely access the surveillance archive.
She had personally watched the system display FILE DELETED.
She had smiled.
She had slept peacefully that night.
Now...
The recording was back.
Not once.
But three different copies.
Her perfectly planned future was beginning to crumble.
Detective Laura Bennett approached with another sealed evidence envelope.
"Ms. Evelyn Brooks?"
Evelyn lifted her chin.
"Yes?"
"We'll need your phone."
"My phone?"
"As part of the investigation."
She laughed softly.
"Surely you don't believe I had anything to do with this."
Laura remained expressionless.
"I'm simply collecting electronic devices from everyone with executive-level access."
Evelyn crossed her arms.
"I know my rights."
"So do I."
Laura handed her the warrant.
"You may refuse voluntarily."
"But we'll seize it anyway."
Several employees had stopped pretending not to watch.
Evelyn noticed.
She smiled politely.
"I have nothing to hide."
She unlocked the phone herself.
Big mistake.
As Laura accepted it, one notification flashed briefly across the screen before disappearing.
Unknown Number: Delete everything. They know about Daniel.
Laura said nothing.
But she had seen it.
So had Evelyn.
Their eyes met for a single second.
Evelyn realized she had just made another mistake.
Meanwhile...
Richard sat alone inside his father's study at the Anderson mansion.
The old cassette recorder rested on the desk.
His father's voice echoed once more.
"Trust Chloe..."
"She protected you more than you'll ever know."
He replayed those words again.
And again.
How many times had he ignored her?
How many times had she quietly solved problems before he even noticed they existed?
He remembered the late-night phone calls she always claimed were "charity work."
The business dinners she insisted on organizing herself.
The contracts she reviewed "just to help."
At the time, he believed she simply enjoyed supporting him.
Now...
Every memory carried a different meaning.
His phone vibrated.
Samuel Grant.
Richard answered immediately.
"Mr. Grant."
"I forgot something yesterday."
"What?"
"There was another reason your father trusted Chloe."
Richard frowned.
"What reason?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Because she saved his life."
Richard stood abruptly.
"What are you talking about?"
"It happened six years ago."
"He collapsed during a board meeting."
"The doctors almost sent him home."
"But Chloe insisted they perform another scan."
Silence.
"They discovered a blocked artery."
"Without that second opinion..."
Samuel paused.
"...your father would've died that night."
Richard slowly lowered himself back into the chair.
Another secret.
Another sacrifice.
Another act of kindness he had never known.
Across town...
Michael Carter entered the forensic laboratory where Detective Bennett waited beside a computer monitor.
"I think you should see this."
She loaded another piece of recovered surveillance footage.
"This wasn't from the executive office."
"It's from the underground parking garage."
The video played.
Late evening.
Three days before the confrontation between Chloe and Evelyn.
A black sedan entered the garage.
Evelyn stepped out.
Several minutes later...
A man wearing a gray jacket approached her.
He handed her a small envelope.
She gave him another envelope in return.
The exchange lasted less than thirty seconds.
Michael leaned closer.
"Can you identify him?"
Laura zoomed in.
The image sharpened.
Not enough for a perfect identification.
But enough to reveal one detail.
A tattoo on his neck.
Laura looked toward Michael.
"Our cybercrime division recognizes that tattoo."
"Who is he?"
"A professional hacker."
"Real name unknown."
Michael's expression darkened.
"So she hired someone."
Laura nodded.
"It certainly appears that way."
At the same time...
Daniel Brooks sat inside an interview room at police headquarters.
His palms sweated against the metal table.
Detective Bennett entered carrying coffee.
"You aren't under arrest."
Daniel looked exhausted.
"I know."
"Then why do I feel like a criminal?"
Laura smiled faintly.
"Because you're honest."
She placed the coffee in front of him.
"I only have one question."
Daniel nodded.
"Why didn't you destroy the recording?"
He stared into the paper cup for several seconds.
Then answered quietly.
"My father was a police officer."
"He always said..."
"If you help bury one lie..."
"You spend the rest of your life digging graves for the next ones."
Laura remained silent.
Daniel continued.
"I have a daughter."
"I want her to believe her father did one decent thing."
Laura nodded slowly.
"She'll have that."
Late that evening...
Evelyn arrived at her penthouse.
The luxurious apartment suddenly felt suffocating.
She locked every door.
Closed every curtain.
Then opened a hidden compartment behind a painting.
Inside rested an old wooden box.
She removed several photographs.
Richard.
Herself.
Business parties.
Award ceremonies.
Magazine covers.
Years of carefully building the image of the perfect future wife.
At the bottom of the box...
Lay another photograph.
A much older one.
Nearly ten years old.
Evelyn quickly flipped it over before looking.
She couldn't bear seeing it.
Not tonight.
Her phone rang.
Private number.
She answered immediately.
"You failed."
The familiar male voice sounded colder than ever.
"I'm fixing it."
"No."
"You are making everything worse."
She swallowed nervously.
"The recording survives."
"So?"
"There are still no witnesses."
The man laughed quietly.
"There is one."
"Who?"
"You."
The line went silent.
Then he added...
"The moment you panic..."
"You become our greatest liability."
The call ended.
Evelyn stood frozen.
For the first time...
She realized she wasn't being protected.
She was being watched.
The next morning...
Richard entered Anderson Global without speaking to anyone.
Every employee greeted him.
He barely noticed.
He went directly to Human Resources.
"I need Evelyn Brooks' employment file."
The HR director blinked.
"Her entire file?"
"Everything."
Minutes later...
Richard sat alone reviewing page after page.
Excellent references.
Outstanding performance reviews.
Background verification.
Educational records.
Then...
One detail caught his attention.
Her employment application claimed she had worked overseas for nearly three years.
Richard frowned.
Something felt wrong.
He picked up the phone.
"Linda?"
His executive assistant answered immediately.
"Yes, sir?"
"Verify Evelyn's previous employer."
"Personally."
"Don't rely on old records."
An hour later...
Linda returned looking unusually pale.
"Sir..."
"What did you find?"
"The company doesn't exist."
Richard stared at her.
"What?"
"It never existed."
"The address belongs to an abandoned warehouse."
Silence.
Linda continued.
"The recommendation letters are fake."
"So are two employment certificates."
Richard slowly closed the folder.
For the first time...
He asked the question he should have asked years earlier.
"Who are you, Evelyn?"
Across town...
Chloe sat inside her father's private office overlooking the city.
Alejandro Escalante quietly handed her another folder.
"You need to see this."
She opened it.
Inside were copies of newspaper articles dating back nearly a decade.
The headlines all featured one name.
Olivia Brooks.
Chloe looked confused.
"Who is she?"
Alejandro's expression became unusually serious.
"Evelyn's older sister."
Chloe frowned.
"I thought she was an only child."
"So did everyone else."
He slid one final newspaper across the desk.
Its headline sent a chill through the room.
YOUNG FINANCIAL ANALYST DIES IN APPARENT SUICIDE AFTER CORPORATE FRAUD SCANDAL.
The photograph beneath the headline showed a smiling young woman.
She looked almost identical to Evelyn.
Alejandro folded his hands.
"She wasn't an only child."
"And her sister..."
He paused.
"...didn't kill herself."
Chloe slowly looked up.
"What are you saying?"
Alejandro met her eyes.
"I think Evelyn has been lying..."
"For far longer than anyone realizes."
That same afternoon...
Detective Laura Bennett received the forensic report from Evelyn's confiscated phone.
She skimmed the first page.
Then stopped.
Her expression hardened.
Deleted messages had been recovered.
Hundreds of them.
Most were ordinary.
One conversation wasn't.
The contact had no name.
Only a single letter.
K.
Laura opened the thread.
The final message read:
Make sure Richard never discovers what really happened to his father.
Laura's heartbeat quickened.
She immediately reached for her phone.
"Michael."
"We've got something."
"What?"
Laura looked back at the recovered message.
"The biggest lie Evelyn ever told..."
She whispered.
"...wasn't about Chloe."
May you like
"It was about how she entered Richard's life in the first place."
End of Chapter 6
