Chapter 7 - THE ENEMY HIDING IN THE FAMILY
Daniel played the voicemail three times.
Then four.
Then five.
Each time, the same words echoed inside his head.
Your father didn’t die in an accident.
He wanted to reject it.
He wanted to call Victoria a liar.
A manipulator.
A criminal trying to save herself.
But something bothered him.
She sounded afraid.
Not like a woman caught stealing.
Like someone who knew she had stepped into something much bigger than herself.
Daniel walked into his office and locked the door.
He opened his father’s old files.
For years, he had avoided going through them.
His father, Richard Whitmore, had built an empire through discipline, intelligence, and impossible determination.
Everyone knew his public story.
A poor young man who became a billionaire.
A businessman who never backed down.
But nobody knew about the enemies he created along the way.
Daniel searched through old business reports.
Court cases.
Acquisition records.
Lawsuits.
Then he found a name.
Robert Voss.
The same man connected to Victoria.
The same man whose company had secretly received millions.
Daniel stared at the documents.
“Dad…”
His voice was barely a whisper.
“What did you know?”
A knock came at the door.
He quickly closed the files.
It was Clara.
“Sorry to bother you.”
Daniel looked up.
“What is it?”
She looked nervous.
“I found something else.”
She placed a small envelope on the desk.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
The Whitmore family seal.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your mother’s old wheelchair.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why was it there?”
“I don’t know.”
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of his father standing outside a restaurant.
With Victoria.
Daniel’s blood went cold.
The date was printed on the back.
Five years ago.
Three months before their wedding.
“What is this?”
Clara looked at him.
“I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
She swallowed.
“Victoria knew your father before she met you.”
Daniel stared at the picture.
Impossible.
He remembered meeting Victoria at a charity event.
She had told him she had never heard of his family before that night.
She had said she fell in love with him because he was kind.
Because he was different.
Because he wasn’t like other wealthy men.
But now…
Everything was changing.
His entire marriage was becoming a question mark.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
He called Michael.
“Find everything about Victoria before she married me.”
Michael immediately understood.
“You think she had a connection to your father?”
“I don’t know what I think anymore.”
After hanging up, Daniel looked again at the photo.
Then he noticed something.
A shadow in the background.
A person standing near the restaurant entrance.
Watching them.
Daniel zoomed in.
And his heart stopped.
May you like
Because he recognized the person.
It was Robert Voss.
