Chapter 6 – The Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight
That evening, after Ethan had fallen asleep with his favorite dinosaur tucked beneath his arm, I sat in my father's study with Daniel.
The flash drive lay between us.
Neither of us spoke as Daniel plugged it into his laptop.
Folder after folder appeared on the screen.
Private bank statements.
Wire transfers.
Confidential emails.
Offshore accounts.
The deeper we looked, the darker the picture became.
Daniel's expression grew grim.
"This isn't just infidelity," he said quietly.
"It's fraud."
One spreadsheet caught my attention.
Every month, large sums of money had been transferred from Whitman Consulting to several consulting firms that didn't appear to have any employees.
Daniel searched the business registry.
Nothing.
"They're shell companies."
"And who owns them?"
He clicked through another file.
Richard Whitman.
Using aliases.
For nearly four years, Richard had been quietly siphoning company money into accounts he secretly controlled.
Millions of dollars.
I leaned back in my chair, stunned.
"He stole from his own company."
Daniel shook his head.
"He stole from shareholders, employees, and clients."
Then another folder opened.
Its title read:
Custody Strategy.
A chill ran down my spine.
Inside were emails between Richard and a private investigator.
One message stopped me cold.
Collect evidence showing Amanda's frequent business travel. We need to prove she's an absent mother. Once the divorce begins, Ethan stays out of the picture.
My hands trembled.
"He planned this," I whispered.
Daniel nodded.
"It gets worse."
Another attachment appeared.
A draft petition.
Richard intended to argue that Ethan—because he wasn't his biological son—should have no contact with him after the divorce.
Not because he didn't want responsibility.
Because he wanted to erase every reminder that I'd had a life before him.
Tears blurred my vision.
How many nights had Ethan waited by the window for Richard to come home?
How many times had he proudly called him "Daddy"?
And all along...
Richard had been planning to abandon him.
Just then, my father walked into the room.
He looked at the screen for only a few seconds before sighing heavily.
"I hoped I was wrong about him."
"You suspected something?"
"I suspected greed."
He looked at me with quiet regret.
"I never imagined cruelty."
Daniel closed the laptop.
"This evidence is enough for civil litigation."
"And criminal charges?" I asked.
He met my eyes.
"If the authorities verify these transactions..."
He paused.
"Richard won't just lose his career."
"He could lose his freedom."
At that exact moment, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then a voicemail notification appeared.
The caller left only one sentence.
"You should check on your house."
My heart skipped.
Daniel and my father looked at me.
Without another word, we were already heading for the door.
Because somehow...
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I knew Richard wasn't finished making terrible decisions.
And I feared the next one might be his most dangerous yet.
