CHAPTER 7: THE PERSON I TRUSTED MOST
CHAPTER 7: THE PERSON I TRUSTED MOST
The phone slipped from my hand.
I didn’t hear it hit the floor.
I didn’t hear the footsteps in the hallway.
I didn’t hear the machines inside Lucas’s room.
Everything disappeared.
Except one sentence.
The person you trust most.
Michael Carter’s voice repeated in my head.
Over and over.
The person you trust most.
I looked around the hospital.
At Caroline.
At Thomas.
At my assistant.
At the doctors walking past.
Everyone suddenly looked like a stranger.
Because that was the terrifying thing about betrayal.
It never came from the enemy you expected.
It came from the person who knew exactly where to hurt you.
“Nathan?”
Caroline’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at her.
“What did he say?”
I didn’t answer.
Because saying it out loud would make it real.
Michael Carter was alive.
My biological father was alive.
And he believed someone close to me was trying to destroy my family.
Thomas stepped closer.
“Nathan.”
His voice was careful.
“What did he tell you?”
I looked at him.
And for the first time, I wondered if I had ever truly known him.
The man who protected my family.
The man my father trusted.
The man who had access to everything.
“Why didn’t you tell me Michael contacted Caroline?”
Thomas froze.
A second.
Only a second.
But enough.
Caroline noticed too.
“You knew?”
Thomas looked at her.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Her expression changed.
“Protect me?”
Her voice shook.
“Five years ago, I begged Nathan for help.”
She pointed at me.
“And nobody came.”
Thomas looked guilty.
“I couldn’t interfere.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then he said:
“Because Margaret ordered me not to.”
My mother.
Again.
The same name.
The same wound.
I closed my eyes.
“How many people knew?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
My anger rose.
“Enough for what?”
He looked at me.
“Enough to keep you alive.”
The words confused me.
“Alive?”
He nodded.
“Your father discovered someone inside Brooks Development was leaking information.”
I stared.
“Someone inside?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Thomas looked away.
“That’s what he was trying to find out.”
“And then he died.”
Thomas said nothing.
The silence was an answer.
My father wasn’t just unlucky.
He wasn’t just sick.
Someone wanted him gone.
And maybe they succeeded.
I walked away from everyone.
My mind was racing.
A person I trusted most.
Who was that?
My mother?
No.
She had betrayed me.
But she was not hiding it anymore.
Thomas?
Possible.
He had secrets.
My business partner?
My employees?
Someone who knew my movements.
Someone who knew Caroline existed.
Someone who could access security systems.
Someone who could arrange an attack.
Then one name appeared.
A name I hated.
But a name that made sense.
My own company.
I returned to Brooks Tower that night.
The building stood above Manhattan.
A monument to everything I had built.
But now it felt different.
Like a castle built on a hidden grave.
My assistant followed me.
“You should not be here.”
“I need answers.”
He looked nervous.
“Nathan…”
“Pull every security record from the last ten years.”
He stared.
“All of them?”
“All.”
“And employee files?”
“All.”
“Financial records?”
“Everything.”
He hesitated.
“Are you looking for someone specific?”
I looked at him.
“I’m looking for the person who destroyed my family.”
He nodded.
Then walked away.
I entered my office alone.
The same office where I had spent thousands of hours.
The same desk where I ignored Caroline’s calls.
The same room where I chose success over everything else.
A bitter smile appeared.
I built an empire.
And never noticed my own house was falling apart.
A few minutes later, my assistant returned.
“Nathan.”
His face was pale.
“What?”
He placed a file on my desk.
“We found something.”
I opened it.
Inside were employee records.
One name had been highlighted.
My heart stopped.
“Impossible.”
My assistant looked at me.
“What?”
I stared at the name.
A person who had been beside me for years.
Someone who attended meetings.
Someone who knew every weakness.
Someone who had access to every part of my life.
“Who is it?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I couldn’t.
The name on the file was:
Margaret Brooks.
My mother.
But not as an employee.
As a hidden shareholder.
My hands shook.
“What does this mean?”
My assistant swallowed.
“It means your mother secretly controlled twenty percent of Brooks Development.”
I stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“It’s worse.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“There are transfers.”
“From where?”
“From a private account.”
My stomach tightened.
“Whose?”
He placed another document in front of me.
The signature was clear.
Michael Carter.
I froze.
My biological father.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
The man who called me hours ago.
Money had moved between him and my mother.
For years.
I whispered:
“They worked together.”
My assistant didn’t answer.
Because we both knew what it looked like.
My mother and my biological father.
Two people from my past.
Connected behind my back.
A door opened.
I turned.
Caroline stood there.
She looked at the documents.
Then at me.
“What did you find?”
I didn’t want to tell her.
Because the truth would hurt her too.
But she deserved it.
I handed her the papers.
She read.
Her face changed.
“No.”
“What?”
She looked at me.
“This can’t be right.”
“Why?”
Her hands shook.
“Because I saw him.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Michael.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
The room became silent.
“You said you never met him.”
“I didn’t know who he was.”
She looked at me.
“He came to me after your mother paid me.”
My heart raced.
“What did he say?”
She swallowed.
“He told me to leave New York.”
“Why?”
Her eyes filled.
“He said if I stayed…”
She looked down.
“Your children would never survive.”
The words destroyed me.
“What?”
She started crying.
“I thought he was threatening me.”
She covered her mouth.
“But now I realize…”
“What?”
She looked at me.
“He was warning me.”
A terrible silence followed.
My father wasn’t the enemy.
My mother wasn’t the only liar.
Everyone had been protecting pieces of the truth.
And while they played their secret games…
My family suffered.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
I answered.
This time, I didn’t speak.
A voice came through.
A voice I recognized.
My mother.
But not the mother I knew.
She sounded terrified.
“Nathan…”
I stood.
“Mom?”
A whisper.
“Don’t trust anyone.”
My blood went cold.
“What happened?”
A pause.
Then:
“He found me.”
“Who?”
Her breathing became faster.
“The person who killed your father.”
The line went silent.
Then I heard something.
A struggle.
A scream.
The phone dropped.
“Mom?”
No answer.
“Mom!”
Nothing.
I grabbed my coat.
Caroline looked at me.
“What happened?”
I looked at her.
For the first time in my life…
I was afraid.
“My mother is missing.”
And somewhere in Manhattan…
May you like
The person who destroyed my family was still watching.
Waiting.
