Chapter 10 - THE RECORDING THAT COULD DESTROY AN EMPIRE
Daniel stared at the hidden device in his hand.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The tiny red light continued blinking.
A silent warning.
A silent threat.
Someone had placed it inside his mother’s room.
Someone had been listening to every conversation.
Every fear.
Every secret.
Clara stepped closer.
“Mr. Whitmore…”
Daniel looked at her.
“Call Michael.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Clara knew that tone.
It was the voice of a man who had stopped being shocked.
A man who had entered survival mode.
Minutes later, Michael arrived with a digital security expert.
The device was carefully placed inside an evidence bag.
The technician examined it.
“This is not a normal recorder.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“It has a remote transmission system.”
“So someone was hearing everything live?”
The technician nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel felt anger rising.
Someone had invaded his home.
His mother’s privacy.
His family.
“How long?”
The technician checked the device.
“Approximately six months.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
Six months.
The same amount of time Victoria had been preparing her final move.
Then another thought hit him.
“Can you recover the recordings?”
The technician hesitated.
“Maybe.”
“Do it.”
The man connected the device.
A progress bar appeared.
Ten percent.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Nobody spoke.
Then—
A file appeared.
The technician opened it.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice.
Victoria.
Daniel immediately recognized it.
“I need more time.”
A man answered.
“You already had five years.”
Daniel froze.
The voice.
Even through the distortion, he knew it.
Robert Voss.
Victoria whispered:
“I cannot get Evelyn to sign.”
“You promised me control.”
“I’m trying.”
“Trying is not enough.”
Silence.
Then Robert said something that made Daniel’s blood run cold.
“If you fail, Daniel becomes the next problem.”
The recording stopped.
Nobody moved.
Daniel stared at the screen.
They had not just planned to steal from his mother.
They had planned around him.
His death.
His disappearance.
His removal.
Clara covered her mouth.
“Oh my God…”
Michael looked serious.
“This changes everything.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
He looked at the frozen recording.
“This proves everything.”
But then another file appeared.
A newer recording.
The date was from two days ago.
Before Victoria was arrested.
Daniel pressed play.
At first, there was only silence.
Then Victoria spoke.
But this time…
She was crying.
“I never wanted him hurt.”
Robert answered.
“You knew the agreement.”
“I married him because you forced me.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Forced?
Michael looked at him.
“Keep playing.”
Victoria’s voice continued.
“You told me if I didn’t get close to Daniel, you would destroy the last evidence proving my father was innocent.”
Robert laughed.
“You really believed I would give you that?”
A pause.
Then Victoria whispered:
“You lied to me.”
The recording ended.
Daniel stepped back.
Because suddenly the story was different.
Victoria had betrayed him.
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But someone else had been controlling the game.
And that person was still free.
