Chapter 9 — The Video
Chapter 9 — The Video
The photograph of Claire changed everything.
She was alive.
That should have made me feel relieved.
Instead, I felt sick.
Because Denise was sitting beside her.
And Denise wasn't looking at the camera.
She was looking directly at whoever had taken the photograph.
As if she knew I would see it.
As if she wanted me to.
I showed Rachel.
She stared at the image for several seconds.
“Don't go anywhere.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Good.”
She zoomed in.
“The car.”
“What about it?”
“That's Denise's old Mercedes.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Claire again.
She appeared frightened.
But not injured.
That mattered.
“Can we track the car?”
“Maybe.”
Rachel called someone.
While she spoke, I stared at the photograph.
Then my phone buzzed.
Another message.
You wanted the truth.
A second message followed.
Watch the video.
Then an attachment appeared.
I hesitated.
Rachel looked at me.
“Don't open it yet.”
“Why?”
“We need to make a copy first.”
I nodded.
Daniel was called in.
He secured the file and created several copies.
Only then did we open it.
The screen went black.
Then the image appeared.
A hotel room.
Dark curtains.
A table.
Two glasses.
Tyler was sitting on one side.
Denise on the other.
I recognized the room.
My heart stopped.
It was the presidential suite from the night of our anniversary.
The night Tyler had told me he was working late.
I leaned closer.
The video was dated two years earlier.
Denise was speaking.
“We're running out of time.”
Tyler looked nervous.
“She won't sign.”
“She will.”
“What if she doesn't?”
Denise smiled.
“Then we make her believe she has no choice.”
I felt my hands go cold.
Tyler leaned forward.
“What about the company?”
“It's already surrounded.”
“Marcus says—”
“I don't care what Marcus says.”
She cut him off.
“We control the debt.”
Tyler nodded.
“And the marriage?”
Denise looked directly at him.
“Keep her emotionally dependent.”
I stopped breathing.
“How?”
“Make her believe you're the only person who understands her.”
Tyler looked uncomfortable.
“She loves me.”
“Good.”
“Then why manipulate her?”
Denise smiled.
“Because love makes people predictable.”
My stomach twisted.
I had heard enough.
But the video continued.
Tyler asked:
“And if she discovers the accounts?”
Denise answered calmly.
“Then you become the victim.”
“What?”
“Tell everyone she is unstable.”
Tyler frowned.
“And the pool?”
My heart stopped.
Denise looked at him.
“The pool was unnecessary.”
“You said it would help.”
“It would have, if she had reacted the way we expected.”
I stared at the screen.
Tyler lowered his voice.
“She didn't.”
“No.”
“She's stronger than we thought.”
Denise leaned back.
“Then we change the strategy.”
The screen went black.
I couldn't speak.
Rachel sat beside me.
“Olivia?”
I stared at the blank screen.
“They planned it.”
“Yes.”
“The pool.”
“Yes.”
“They wanted me to lose control.”
“Yes.”
“And when I didn't…”
I swallowed.
“They moved to the next plan.”
Rachel nodded.
I looked at the file.
“How did we get this?”
“I don't know.”
A second file appeared.
Rachel opened it.
It contained the same video.
But a different angle.
The camera was hidden closer.
And this time, I could see something on the table.
A folder.
Denise pushed it toward Tyler.
“Everything she owns is listed here.”
Tyler opened it.
I watched his expression.
Then he asked:
“What about her father?”
Denise became silent.
“What about him?”
“He left something.”
“What?”
“The original agreement.”
My heart stopped.
Rachel leaned closer.
Tyler continued.
“She doesn't know about it.”
Denise's face changed.
“Good.”
“What happens if she finds it?”
“She won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your father destroyed every copy.”
I froze.
Tyler looked confused.
“You said there was one.”
“There was.”
“Where?”
Denise smiled.
“Where she will never look.”
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
Rachel whispered:
“Your father.”
I nodded.
“There's an original document somewhere.”
“And Denise believes it's hidden.”
I looked at her.
“But where?”
We watched the video again.
Then again.
Daniel enhanced the audio.
There were sounds in the background.
A clock.
A door.
Music.
And something else.
A faint announcement.
Daniel isolated it.
A woman's voice said:
“Welcome to the Anderson Foundation's annual gala.”
I looked at Rachel.
“The foundation.”
“Your father's?”
“Yes.”
“What does that have to do with the hotel?”
“Everything.”
My father had founded a private charitable foundation.
After his death, I had taken a ceremonial role.
But I'd never been involved in its archives.
I called the foundation's administrator.
“Martin?”
“Yes?”
“I need access to my father's old records.”
“Which records?”
“Everything.”
He laughed nervously.
“That's a lot.”
“Start with the year before his death.”
There was silence.
Then:
“Olivia, I don't think you should look into those files.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Your father specifically instructed us not to release certain documents.”
“To whom?”
“To you.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He said they should remain sealed.”
“Until when?”
“Until you were forty.”
I looked at Rachel.
“How old am I now?”
Rachel knew.
“Thirty-eight.”
My heart began pounding.
“Why forty?”
“I don't know.”
“Who has the documents?”
Martin hesitated.
“The board.”
“Who chairs the board?”
“Denise Anderson.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
That evening, I attended the foundation office with Rachel.
Denise was there.
She stood behind my father's old desk.
The same desk where I had watched him sign contracts as a child.
She smiled when she saw me.
“Olivia.”
“Denise.”
“I heard you're looking for your father's files.”
“Yes.”
“You should have asked me.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Every time I asked about the foundation.”
She smiled.
“You were grieving.”
“I was an adult.”
“You were emotional.”
I stepped closer.
“Where are the sealed documents?”
“Why?”
“Because they're mine.”
“Not everything your father owned belongs to you.”
I stared at her.
“Interesting.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“Because you've spent years telling me family means sharing.”
Her smile disappeared.
I continued.
“Yet you've never shared anything with me.”
“You're being dramatic.”
“No.”
I looked around the office.
“I'm finally being honest.”
Denise walked toward me.
“You're making a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Digging into your father's affairs.”
“Why?”
“Because some things are better left buried.”
I smiled.
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It isn't.”
“Then prove it.”
“How?”
“Open the files.”
She stared at me.
For the first time, I saw fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
She turned away.
“I don't have them.”
“Then who does?”
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Denise.”
She looked at me.
“Your father trusted me.”
“My father also trusted me.”
“He knew you weren't ready.”
“For what?”
Silence.
“For the truth.”
My heart pounded.
“What truth?”
She smiled.
“You'll find out.”
Then she walked away.
We searched the foundation archives after Denise left.
Nothing.
No original document.
No agreement.
No sealed file.
Then Daniel noticed something.
A wall panel.
“There's a hidden compartment.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
“Behind the desk.”
We moved the desk.
A small metal panel was concealed behind it.
Inside was a safe.
I stared at it.
“What is the combination?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
I tried my father's birthday.
Nothing.
My mother's birthday.
Nothing.
The date of my wedding.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
My father had once told me:
“Your first success is the only date you'll never forget.”
I entered the date my company was founded.
The safe clicked.
It opened.
Inside was a single envelope.
My name was written across it.
Olivia.
My hands trembled.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter from my father.
I read the first line.
If you're reading this, Denise has probably already told you that I didn't trust you.
I froze.
Rachel leaned over my shoulder.
I continued.
That is not true.
My eyes filled with tears.
I trusted you more than anyone.
Then:
But I knew Denise would eventually come for the company.
I stopped.
My father's next sentence was underlined.
Do not trust Tyler.
My heart broke.
He had known.
Years before I married Tyler.
My father had known.
I read faster.
Tyler is not who he appears to be. Denise has been using him for years. Marcus Vale is involved. But the greatest danger is not the man you think is your enemy.
I looked at Rachel.
“The same warning.”
She nodded.
I continued.
There is one person inside your company who knows the entire plan.
Then a name.
I stopped breathing.
The name wasn't Tyler.
It wasn't Evan.
It wasn't Daniel.
It was—
Martin.
The foundation administrator.
The man I had just called.
I looked at Rachel.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“He's worked for my father for twenty years.”
Rachel stared at the letter.
“Maybe that's why.”
I turned the page.
The final paragraph was short.
If Denise ever discovers this letter, she will destroy the foundation. If Tyler discovers it, he will come for you. And if Martin tells you he is protecting you, do not believe him.
I dropped the letter.
The office door suddenly slammed shut.
We both turned.
No one was there.
Then the lights went out.
Daniel whispered:
“Someone's here.”
I reached for my phone.
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming toward us.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“Stay behind me.”
The footsteps stopped.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Olivia.”
I knew that voice.
Martin.
The foundation administrator.
He stepped into the doorway.
His face was pale.
He held something in his hand.
A small black drive.
“I was hoping you'd never find that letter.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
He looked at Rachel.
Then at me.
“Because your father was wrong about one thing.”
“What?”
“He thought Denise was the mastermind.”
Martin placed the drive on the desk.
“She isn't.”
My heart stopped.
“Then who is?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“The person who made sure your father died believing he had protected you.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What are you saying?”
Martin's expression broke.
“I've kept this secret for seven years.”
He pushed the drive toward me.
“This is the original video.”
“What original video?”
“The night your father signed the agreement.”
My hands went cold.
“And the person who was in the room with him…”
Martin whispered:
“Wasn't Denise.”
The lights suddenly came back on.
The screen of my laptop turned on by itself.
A video began playing.
My father appeared.
Alive.
Sitting at his desk.
And across from him—
someone I knew.
Someone I had trusted.
Someone I had never once suspected.
I stared at the screen.
My entire world seemed to stop.
Because the face looking back at me belonged to Evan.
And my father's first words were:
“Evan, if anything happens to me, keep Olivia away from Tyler.”
The video continued.
May you like
And for the first time, I realized the signature I had been trying to understand might not have been forged by my enemies.
It might have been forged by the person who had spent the entire time pretending to help me.
