PART 5
Richard’s face remained frozen on my screen for a second before the video continued.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Chloe, if you’re watching this, there’s something you need to understand before you do anything else.”
He took a breath.
“The Titan deal was never the real target.”
I leaned closer to the laptop.
“What?”
Richard continued.
“The $800 million contract was only the opportunity. The real target was the company behind it. And the reason you were fired yesterday wasn’t because of your performance.”
He looked away from the camera.
“It was because they discovered I had contacted you.”
My heart sank.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
I stared at the screen.
Three weeks.
That was when everything at work had started feeling strange.
Marcus had suddenly begun asking me where I kept certain files.
Brenda had requested copies of documents I had already submitted.
Jessica had been given access to meetings she had never attended before.
And then my CEO, Richard Coleman, had suddenly started complimenting my work.
At the time, I had thought it was strange.
Now I understood.
Richard continued.
“You remember Dad’s old accounting firm?”
I nodded automatically, even though he couldn’t see me.
“Dad discovered something before he died.”
My breathing stopped.
Our father had died twelve years earlier.
Heart attack.
At least that’s what we’d been told.
Richard continued.
“He wasn’t just doing small-business accounting. He had several corporate clients, including the company you work for.”
I frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“No. It’s true.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“Dad discovered that executives were creating fake consulting companies and moving money through them. He documented everything.”
I stared at him.
“And then?”
“He confronted them.”
Richard swallowed.
“Two months later, Dad died.”
I stopped the video.
I couldn’t breathe.
I sat completely still.
The apartment was silent except for the hum of the refrigerator.
I looked at the screen.
Then I played it again.
“He confronted them. Two months later, Dad died.”
I paused it again.
For twelve years, I had believed my father died from a heart attack.
I remembered the hospital.
The doctor.
The paperwork.
My mother crying.
Richard standing outside the hospital room with his hands buried in his pockets.
I remembered him saying,
“Dad’s gone, Chloe.”
I had never questioned it.
Why would I?
I pressed play.
Richard’s voice returned.
“After Dad died, I found his files.”
He looked terrified.
“I was twenty-seven. I didn’t understand everything. I only knew there were millions of dollars moving through companies that didn’t seem to exist.”
He paused.
“I made the mistake of asking questions.”
I whispered,
“Richard…”
“I thought I could expose them.”
His expression hardened.
“I was wrong.”
The screen flickered.
“They found me.”
I felt a chill move across my arms.
“They threatened me. They threatened Mom. They told me if I went to the police, evidence would disappear and people we loved would get hurt.”
I covered my mouth.
“That’s why I left.”
The video continued.
“I didn’t abandon you.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“I stayed away because every time I came near you, they watched you.”
He looked down.
“I know you hated me.”
A tear rolled down his cheek.
“I deserved your anger for disappearing without explaining. But I thought hating me was safer than being connected to me.”
I paused the video again.
For years, I had believed my brother had betrayed our family.
He had stolen money.
He had disappeared.
He had refused to answer calls.
At least, that was what everyone had told me.
Now I was beginning to wonder whether the story had been manufactured.
I pressed play.
Richard reached behind him and pulled out a folder.
“The company continued what they started.”
He placed several documents on a table.
“They created Horizon.”
Another document.
“Northbridge.”
Another.
“Several others.”
He looked at the camera.
“And eventually they began using Project Titan.”
I frowned.
“Why Titan?”
“Because the project was large enough to hide enormous transfers.”
I understood.
An $800 million contract could contain millions of dollars in inflated costs without anyone immediately noticing.
Especially if those costs were buried inside technology, consulting, logistics, implementation, compliance, and infrastructure.
Richard continued.
“Your work accidentally exposed them.”
I stared at him.
“My work?”
“Yes.”
“You were building the financial model. You noticed that some vendor costs didn’t match the market.”
I remembered.
I had questioned the numbers months ago.
Marcus had told me not to worry about them.
He said they were “strategic pricing.”
I had accepted the explanation.
Richard shook his head.
“They weren’t strategic.”
He leaned closer.
“They were payments.”
My stomach tightened.
“Every time you corrected a number, they had to create another adjustment.”
He gave a sad smile.
“That’s why you became a problem.”
The video paused for several seconds.
Then Richard said something that made me sit completely still.
“Chloe, there is one more thing.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“The person who ordered your termination wasn’t Marcus.”
I already knew.
“His name is Richard Coleman.”
My CEO.
“The CEO didn’t want you gone because you knew about the money.”
Richard’s voice dropped.
“He wanted you gone because you were about to discover something about Dad.”
My heart began pounding.
“What?”
Richard looked down.
Then back at the camera.
“Dad wasn’t the first person who discovered the scheme.”
He paused.
“He wasn’t even the first person they silenced.”
The video suddenly distorted.
Richard looked over his shoulder.
Someone had entered the room.
He whispered,
