Chapter 10 - Behind the Portrait
By midnight, every major news outlet in Chicago had Vincent Callaway’s face on television.
DEAD BILLIONAIRE HEIR FOUND ALIVE.
CALLAWAY BROTHER ARRESTED IN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD DEATH.
MURDER, MONEY, AND A SECRET CHILD.
Sophia turned off the television.
Gabriel slept beside her.
Roman stood near the window.
“They’re already calling me his mistress.”
Sophia sounded exhausted.
“They found photographs of my apartment.”
“They found the hospital.”
“They found everything.”
Roman looked at her.
“Silas is feeding them.”
“I know.”
Sophia touched Gabriel’s cheek.
“What happens if Vincent is convicted?”
“To Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing automatically.”
“But Silas will argue Vincent is unfit to exercise any parental rights.”
“And then?”
“He’ll argue you’re vulnerable and financially dependent.”
“And then he becomes protector.”
Roman nodded.
Sophia looked at him.
“Then we stop waiting.”
Roman studied her.
“What do you suggest?”
“We get Jonah’s recording.”
Roman had already been planning it.
The problem was the Callaway Foundation headquarters had biometric security.
Silas controlled every guard.
Every elevator.
Every camera.
Roman still owned the building.
But ownership meant little when the other side knew he was coming.
Mason arrived thirty minutes later with floor plans.
“There’s a renovation access shaft behind the old boardroom.”
Roman smiled faintly.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“I work in cybersecurity.”
“Nobody ever lets me use ventilation shafts.”
Sophia looked between them.
“I’m coming.”
Roman immediately said no.
Sophia immediately ignored him.
“Silas wants me frightened and hidden.”
“I’m done doing what helps him.”
“You have a newborn.”
“Which is why I’m not going into the building.”
“I’ll stay in the secure command vehicle with Gabriel.”
Roman considered it.
Sophia added, “You said no more deciding things for me.”
He remembered.
“Fine.”
At two in the morning, Roman and Mason entered the foundation headquarters through a maintenance tunnel.
They reached the executive floor without triggering the main alarms.
Roman entered Silas’s office.
His father’s portrait hung behind the desk.
Dominic Callaway looked down at them with the expression Roman remembered from childhood.
Demanding.
Cold.
Certain he owned every room.
Roman removed the portrait.
Behind it was a small steel compartment.
Vincent had given him the combination.
91497.
Jonah’s birthday.
Roman opened it.
Inside was a digital recorder.
And a letter.
The envelope bore Roman’s name.
He opened the letter first.
Roman.
If you are reading this, Vincent has either returned or failed.
Jonah’s voice may expose Silas.
But it will expose me too.
I caused Jonah’s death.
Silas created the lie.
Vincent paid for both.
Do not protect my name.
Do what I was too weak to do.
Your father.
Roman stood motionless.
For years, he had defended Dominic’s legacy.
Built statues.
Funded scholarships.
Named buildings after him.
His father had known the truth.
Worse, he had expected Roman to eventually clean it up.
Mason whispered.
“Roman.”
Footsteps approached outside.
Roman took the recorder and letter.
The office lights switched on.
Silas stood at the doorway with six security guards.
“You were always predictable when family was involved.”
Roman did not move.
Silas looked at the recorder.
“That belongs to me.”
“No.”
“It belongs to a dead man.”
Roman placed it inside his jacket.
Silas sighed.
“Roman.”
“You can hand it over.”
“Or I can have you arrested for breaking into your own foundation.”
Roman smiled for the first time.
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“This is my building.”
Silas looked toward the guards.
Roman continued.
“And at midnight, the board approved my emergency motion removing you as chairman.”
Silas’s expression changed.
The guards looked at one another.
Roman held up his phone.
“Your access ended fourteen minutes ago.”
The elevator behind Silas opened.
Federal investigators stepped out.
Silas stared at Roman.
Roman thought it was over.
Then Silas laughed.
“You think the recording saves Vincent?”
Roman’s smile vanished.
Silas leaned closer.
“Listen to the end.”
Roman’s stomach tightened.
Later, inside the command vehicle, Roman played the recovered audio.
Jonah’s voice filled the speakers.
Dominic shouted.
Silas argued.
Vincent tried to intervene.
Then came the struggle.
A crash.
Jonah screamed.
The recording continued.
Dominic panicked.
Silas told everyone to stay calm.
Then Vincent spoke.
One sentence.
“I’ll help you move the body.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Roman stared at the recorder.
Silas had told the truth.
Vincent had not killed Jonah.
May you like
But he had helped hide what happened.
And now the man Sophia loved could face prison even if murder charges collapsed.
