Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN ON THE TICKET
The woman's name was Vanessa Cole.
I had never heard it.
My father had.
His expression changed immediately.
“Who is she?”
Margaret answered.
“Financial consultant.”
“For Vance Shipping?”
“No.”
“For Julian?”
“Yes.”
Detective Hayes explained that Vanessa had been connected to several shell companies.
She wasn't his girlfriend.
At least, not according to the evidence.
She was his partner.
They had been planning something for more than a year.
My marriage suddenly looked different.
Every strange phone call.
Every business trip.
Every time Julian told me he was working late.
Every time he became furious when I asked where the money went.
It wasn't random.
It was preparation.
He had been planning to steal from my father's company.
And when I accidentally discovered his plan, he panicked.
That was why he attacked me.
That was why he returned home.
He hadn't returned because he regretted hurting me.
He had returned to see whether I was alive.
And whether I had called someone.
I felt sick.
My father sat beside me.
“I should have protected you.”
I shook my head.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“You couldn't.”
He looked at me.
“I was your father.”
“And I was the one who hid everything.”
He took my hand.
“You were his victim.”
I cried.
Not because I disagreed.
Because I was beginning to believe it.
The next morning, Julian's attorney requested a meeting.
Margaret warned me not to attend.
I didn't.
Instead, she went with my father.
Julian sat across from them in a conference room.
He was wearing a dark suit.
His wrist was bandaged.
He looked tired.
But composed.
He claimed I had attacked him.
He claimed my father had manipulated the situation.
He claimed Ethan had misunderstood.
Then Margaret placed the recording on the table.
Julian's face changed.
She played his voice.
“If you ever take Ethan away from me, I'll make sure you regret it.”
Silence.
Then she placed the security footage on the screen.
Julian leaving the house.
Then parking around the corner.
Then returning.
Then his second phone.
Then the basement photographs.
Then the shell company.
His lawyer stopped him from speaking.
Julian stared at the table.
Finally he whispered:
“You don't understand.”
Margaret leaned forward.
“Then explain.”
He didn't.
He asked to see me.
I refused.
That night, I received a message.
From Julian.
Just six words.
You don't know what your father did.
I stared at the screen.
My father saw it.
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“What if he's telling the truth?”
My father became very still.
“You think I hurt him?”
“No.”
“Then what are you asking?”
“What if there's something about our family I don't know?”
He looked away.
That was the first moment I realized something.
My father wasn't angry.
He was afraid.
“Dad?”
He didn't answer.
“What's he talking about?”
My father sat down.
“I need to tell you something.”
My heart began pounding.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Julian wasn't the first person who tried to get close to our family.”
I waited.
“Your mother and I had a business partner.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Twenty-seven years ago.”
“And?”
My father swallowed.
“We always suspected he was murdered.”
I stared at him.
“What does that have to do with Julian?”
My father looked toward the window.
“We never found out who ordered it.”
May you like
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“But yesterday, the police found that man's name inside Julian's basement.”
