Chapter 9: The Enemy Inside the Family
The police station smelled like old paper and cold coffee.
Not the kind of place where people expected their lives to change.
But mine had changed everywhere lately.
At a party.
At my company.
Inside my own home.
Now here.
I sat across from my uncle through the glass divider.
Thomas Hayes.
The man who taught me how to ride a bicycle.
The man who gave speeches at family dinners about loyalty.
The man who hugged me after my mother’s funeral.
He looked older.
Smaller.
Not like a villain.
That almost made it worse.
Because villains in stories were easy to hate.
They looked evil.
They didn’t look like family.
He picked up the phone.
I did the same.
“Emily.””
His voice sounded tired.
Not guilty.
Tired.
“Why?””
That was the only question I could ask.
He closed his eyes.
“I knew this day would come.””
“Why?””
Again.
He looked at me.
“Because your mother was always going to tell you.””
I felt my jaw tighten.
“You tried to destroy her.””
“No.””
His answer was immediate.
“I tried to stop her.””
My stomach turned.
“You hear yourself, right?””
“I never wanted her dead.””
“You let me believe she was.””
He looked away.
“That was necessary.””
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You’re saying this like it was reasonable.””
“It was.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“It wasn’t.””
Thomas leaned closer.
“Emily, you don’t understand the world you inherited.””
I stared.
“What does that mean?””
“Your family built something powerful.””
“My family?””
“Yes.””
He smiled sadly.
“And power attracts people who want to take it.””
“You were one of those people.””
His expression changed.
“I was the person who kept it alive.””
I laughed.
“By stealing from us?””
He shook his head.
“You think Brandon created this mess?””
I froze.
“What?””
Thomas looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
“Brandon was just a tool.””
A chill ran through me.
“Then who was controlling him?””
He didn’t answer.
And I knew.
There was someone else.
Someone above him.
Someone above Brandon.
Someone we still hadn’t found.
Before I could ask another question, the detective entered.
“Emily, we need to talk.””
I turned.
“What happened?””
He placed a file on the table.
“We found evidence connecting Thomas Hayes to the financial fraud.””
I looked at my uncle.
He didn’t react.
“But?””
The detective hesitated.
“But we also found evidence that he wasn’t the only person involved.””
My heart sank.
“What evidence?””
The detective opened the file.
A photograph.
A meeting.
Brandon.
Vanessa.
Thomas.
And someone else.
Someone standing behind them.
Someone I knew.
Someone I trusted.
I picked up the photo.
My fingers went cold.
Because the person standing beside them was the last person I expected.
My father.
“No.””
The detective looked at me.
“Emily, there’s more.””
I couldn’t take my eyes off the picture.
My father.
At the center of the conspiracy.
The detective pushed another document forward.
“This was recovered from Thomas’s office.””
I looked down.
It was a contract.
A payment agreement.
The name at the top belonged to my father.
Richard Hayes.
My world tilted.
Because now I had to face the one question I never wanted to ask.
May you like
If my father had been part of the plan…
Then who had actually been protecting me all these years?
