“Richard, listen to me.”
“I've listened enough.”
Richard pointed toward Clara.
“She says you were Elias's partner.”
James looked at Clara.
“That's not entirely true.”
Clara shook her head.
“Don't lie to him again.”
James ignored her.
“I worked with Elias.”
Richard stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father asked me to.”
Silence.
Richard's expression changed.
“My father asked you?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he do that?”
James took a breath.
“Because Elias had already infiltrated the company.”
Richard frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
James walked toward the conference room.
“Sit down.”
Richard didn't move.
James turned.
“If you want answers, you need to hear the entire story.”
Richard followed.
Everyone entered the conference room.
James closed the door.
He remained standing.
Richard sat at the head of the table.
It felt strange.
Almost wrong.
That seat had belonged to Richard for more than two decades.
Yet suddenly he felt like a child sitting in a room where adults were discussing things he had never been allowed to understand.
James looked at him.
“Your father and I founded Whitmore in 1987.”
Richard frowned.
“That's not what the company history says.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because Samuel changed it.”
“Why?”
James looked at Clara.
She answered.
“Because someone was trying to kill him.”
Richard went still.
James nodded.
“Elias Ward was one of the first investors.”
Richard stared.
“Investor?”
“Yes.”
“He wasn't your partner?”
“He became one.”
James sat down.
“When Samuel and I started the company, we needed capital. Elias offered it.”
“How much?”
“Enough to change everything.”
Richard leaned forward.
“And what did he want?”
“Control.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“So my father refused.”
“Eventually.”
“What happened?”
James looked toward the window.
“Elias began buying shares through shell companies.”
Margaret spoke.
“Northbridge Capital.”
James nodded.
“Yes.”
Richard remembered the documents.
“So Northbridge was Elias.”
“Partly.”
“Partly?”
James hesitated.
“Elias never worked alone.”
Richard leaned back.
“Who else?”
James looked at him.
“Your father.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
“Samuel created some of those companies.”
Richard stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father wouldn't—”
“He did.”
Richard stood.
“Why?”
“To protect Whitmore.”
Richard laughed.
“This is insane.”
James remained calm.
“Samuel knew Elias was trying to gain control. So he created several holding companies to move shares out of Elias's reach.”
“And the money?”
“Was used to buy them.”
Richard remembered the financial documents.
Millions had been transferred.
He had assumed they were stolen.
They weren't.
They had been used to protect the company.
“Then why hide it?”
“Because Elias wasn't the only person searching for the shares.”
“Who was?”
James looked at him.
“The government.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
“Not the government exactly.”
James paused.
“A group of investors who wanted Whitmore broken apart.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Why?”
“Because Whitmore had developed technology they couldn't replicate.”
Richard understood.
The company had started as an industrial engineering firm.
Over the years, it had expanded into advanced manufacturing, logistics systems, and proprietary automation technology.
Some of those technologies were worth billions.
James continued.
“Your father knew that if Whitmore became publicly traded too soon, outside investors would dismantle it.”
Richard looked at Clara.
“And that's why my father kept everything private.”
“Yes.”
“But where does Elias fit into this?”
James's expression darkened.
“Elias wanted control of the technology.”
Richard remembered Victor's warning.
Your company.
He leaned forward.
“What happened to Elias?”
“He betrayed us.”
“How?”
“He sold information.”
“To whom?”
James shook his head.
“We never found out.”
Richard stared at him.
“And you worked with him?”
“I was undercover.”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Undercover?”
James nodded.
“Samuel needed someone close to Elias.”
“So you pretended to betray your brother?”
“Yes.”
“And then you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
James looked down.
“Because Elias found out.”
The room fell silent.
James continued.
“He tried to kill me.”
Richard said nothing.
“He succeeded in making everyone believe he had.”
Richard stared at his uncle.
“And my father?”
“Samuel helped me disappear.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because you were the only person Elias couldn't manipulate.”
Richard frowned.
“What does that mean?”
James looked directly at him.
“Elias knew your father loved you.”
Richard's stomach tightened.
“He threatened me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
Richard remembered strange moments from his youth.
Unknown cars parked outside the house.
Anonymous letters.
His father's sudden business trips.
Security guards around the family home.
He had always thought his father was simply being overly cautious.
Now those memories looked different.
James continued.
“Samuel believed the safest way to protect you was to make you appear irrelevant.”
Richard stared at him.
“That's why he kept me away from the company.”
“Yes.”
“But then he brought me in.”
“Because he thought Elias was gone.”
Richard's voice became quieter.
“And he wasn't.”
“No.”
“Where is he now?”
James didn't answer.
Richard looked at him.
“Elias.”
James finally said,
“Closer than you think.”
The room became silent.
Margaret looked uneasy.
“Where?”
James shook his head.
“That's what we're trying to find out.”
Richard stood.
“Then what is happening now?”
James looked at him.
“Someone has started accessing the old accounts.”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Northbridge.”
“Yes.”
“Someone is moving money again.”
“Yes.”
“And the security breaches?”
“Part of the same operation.”
Richard thought about Daniel.
The unauthorized cameras.
The forty-eighth floor.
Victor.
The messages.
The files.
His father's recording.
“Who is behind it?”
James hesitated.
“I'm not certain.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“You came here claiming to have answers.”
“I have answers.”
“Then give me one.”
James looked at him.
“The person controlling your security system isn't Elias.”
Richard froze.
“Who is it?”
James lowered his voice.
“Someone inside Whitmore.”
Richard's mind immediately went to Thomas.
“Thomas Mercer.”
James didn't answer.
That was enough.
Richard walked to the window.
“Why?”
“Because Thomas's father was one of Elias's original financial partners.”
Richard turned.
“And Thomas inherited the operation?”
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
James nodded.
“There are things I don't know.”
Richard looked at Clara.
“You knew?”
Clara shook her head.
“I suspected.”
Richard looked at Daniel.
“And you?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Richard walked back to the table.
“Then we're missing something.”
James nodded.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“The seventh name.”
Richard remembered Clara's words.
Seven people.
Six known.
One still alive.
Richard stared at her.
“You said there were seven people involved.”
“Yes.”
“Six are known.”
“Yes.”
“Who is the seventh?”
Clara didn't answer.
Richard looked at James.
“Do you know?”
James nodded.
“Who?”
James's expression became grim.
“I don't know the name.”
Richard frowned.
“But you know who the person is.”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
James looked directly at Richard.
“The seventh person is someone you've trusted for years.”
Richard's heart sank.
“Who?”
James remained silent.
Richard slammed his hand against the table.
“Who?”
James finally spoke.
“The person who has access to every financial file in this company.”
Margaret's face went pale.
Richard looked at her.
Then at Clara.
Then Daniel.
Nobody spoke.
James continued.
“And whoever that person is…”
He paused.
“They know exactly what you're going to do before you do it.”
Richard's phone suddenly vibrated.
He pulled it out.
A new message.
You are looking in the wrong direction.
Another appeared immediately.
Ask Margaret.
Richard's eyes lifted.
Margaret saw the screen.
Her face went white.
“Richard…”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“I swear I don't know anything.”
James stood.
“That's what they want you to believe.”
Margaret took a step backward.
“No.”
Richard stared at her.