Chapter 6 - The Photograph
Sophia stared at the photograph.
“That’s my father.”
Ethan could barely speak.
Evelyn nodded.
“But that does not mean what you think.”
Victor laughed from the hallway.
“Tell him, Evelyn.”
An investigator moved toward Victor.
Ethan raised one hand.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at him.
He needed the truth before handcuffs turned Victor into silence.
Evelyn explained.
Rachel Brooks and Michael Reed had known each other before Rachel married Thomas Brooks.
They had worked together.
Not romantically.
Michael had been a police officer before becoming hospital security.
Rachel had hired him privately after discovering theft inside Brooks Global.
The photograph was part of their investigation.
Then why write “For Ethan”?
Evelyn did not know.
Victor did.
He smiled.
“Thomas wasn’t your biological father.”
Ethan’s stomach dropped.
Sophia looked at him.
Evelyn snapped:
“You don’t know that.”
“I know more than you.”
Victor looked directly at Ethan.
“Rachel was pregnant before she married Thomas.”
“Lie.”
“Ask the Brooks family physician.”
“He’s dead.”
“Convenient.”
Ethan wanted to hit him.
Instead, he remained still.
Victor wanted rage.
Ethan gave him none.
Nathan arrived carrying audit documents.
“We found something.”
He looked at Victor.
“Twenty years ago, someone transferred $4.8 million from Brooks Global into a company called Meridian North.”
Victor’s expression did not change.
Nathan continued:
“Meridian North belonged to Michael Reed.”
Sophia recoiled.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Your father wasn’t a hero.”
Nathan corrected him.
“He wasn’t the owner.”
Everyone turned.
“The corporate registration was forged.”
“Whose signature?”
Nathan handed Ethan the document.
Thomas Brooks.
Ethan’s father.
Or the man he had believed was his father.
Ethan stared at the signature.
“I know Dad’s handwriting.”
“So did whoever forged it.”
Nathan produced another sheet.
“The money left Meridian North forty-eight hours later.”
“Where?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Into an account belonging to Rachel Brooks.”
Silence.
Victor smiled.
“There’s your saint.”
Ethan looked at Evelyn.
“Did my mother steal?”
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
Victor laughed.
“That’s because Rachel was preparing to leave Thomas.”
Ethan looked at him.
“With Michael?”
Victor nodded toward Sophia.
“With her father.”
Sophia shook her head.
“My dad was married to my mother.”
Victor shrugged.
“People lie.”
Sophia slapped him.
Hard.
Victor staggered.
The investigators stepped forward.
Sophia’s eyes burned.
“Don’t use my dead father to save yourself.”
Victor touched his cheek.
Then smiled.
“Dead?”
Sophia froze.
Ethan did too.
Victor whispered:
“You people really haven’t figured anything out.”
He looked toward the photograph.
“Michael Reed didn’t die in that fire.”
Sophia stopped breathing.
Victor continued:
“He disappeared.”
May you like
Then he looked at Ethan.
“And if you want to know whose blood is actually in your veins, find him.”
