Chapter 6: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The room went completely silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because the man standing on the security screen was impossible.
Richard Vance had been declared missing eight months ago.
The official story was that he left the city after suffering from stress and health problems.
But I remembered the phone call.
The one I received from his assistant.
The one saying my uncle had disappeared.
Everyone assumed he was gone.
Some thought he ran away.
Others thought he died.
But there he was.
Walking through the front entrance of the gala.
Alive.
Marcus stared at the monitor.
“That’s impossible.””
I looked at him.
“You’re sure?””
He nodded slowly.
“I investigated his disappearance.””
The door opened.
A security officer stepped inside.
“Mr. Vance?””
I turned.
“Yes?””
“There is someone here asking for you.””
My heart pounded.
“Bring him.””
The officer hesitated.
“Are you sure?””
“No.””
I looked toward the monitor.
“But I need answers.””
A few moments later, the door opened again.
And Richard Vance walked in.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
His eyes immediately found mine.
“Ethan.””
I didn’t recognize his voice.
Not because it changed.
Because I had spent months believing I would never hear it again.
I grabbed the wheels of my chair.
“You’re alive.””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
Brooke stared at him.
“Mr. Vance… everyone thought you were gone.””
Richard looked at her.
“I needed them to think that.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“You staged your own disappearance?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Richard looked at me.
“Because someone was trying to kill me.””
The words were simple.
But they changed everything.
I looked at the photograph again.
The SUV.
The accident.
The secrets.
“You knew?””
Richard nodded.
“I knew someone inside the company was stealing from the foundation.””
My voice became colder.
“And you let me walk into danger?””
His face showed regret.
“No.””
He stepped closer.
“I tried to protect you.””
“By disappearing?””
“By becoming the target.””
Nobody spoke.
Richard looked at Chad.
And his expression changed.
“You.””
Chad’s face went pale.
“You’re supposed to be gone.””
The sentence was small.
But everyone heard it.
Marcus immediately noticed.
“Why would you say that?””
Chad stepped back.
“I meant…”
“No,” Richard interrupted.
“You meant exactly what you said.””
Brooke looked at Chad.
“Who are you?””
He looked trapped.
For the first time, there was no charming smile.
No confidence.
Just fear.
Richard turned toward me.
“Ethan, I need you to listen carefully.””
I waited.
“The person behind this isn’t your uncle.””
He looked at Brooke.
“Or Chad.””
Then he said the one thing I never expected.
“The person who planned everything was someone you trusted more than anyone.””
My stomach tightened.
“Who?””
Richard reached into his coat.
He pulled out a document.
A signature was written at the bottom.
A signature I recognized.
My own.
“What is that?”” I asked.
Richard’s eyes filled with disappointment.
“The agreement that started all of this.””
I looked closer.
It was a contract.
A business transfer.
A document dated three days before my accident.
But I never signed it.
I looked up.
“That isn’t my signature.””
Richard nodded.
“Exactly.””
Marcus grabbed the paper.
His expression changed.
“Ethan…”
“What?””
He looked at me.
“This document proves someone was planning to steal control of Vance Hospitality before the accident.””
I looked around the room.
At Brooke.
At Chad.
At Richard.
Then I noticed something.
A detail nobody else had seen.
The witness signature.
The person who approved the fake document.
The name written there.
Made my blood run cold.
May you like
Because it belonged to someone who had been standing beside me all night.
*Isabella Reed.*
