Chapter 5: The Man Who Helped Them Betray Me

For several seconds, I couldn't make a sound.

My business partner.

The man who had stood beside me when Carter Development Group was nothing more than a rented office, two folding desks, and a printer that jammed every third page.

The man who had helped me negotiate our first commercial contract.

The man who had attended my father's funeral and promised that he would protect the company we had built.

His name was Daniel Price.

And according to Claire, he had been present when my resignation was supposedly approved.

“Claire,” I said carefully, “I need you to start at the beginning.””

She sniffed.

“I can't do this over the phone.””

“Then tell me where you are.””

“At the office.””

“Is Daniel there?””

“No. He left an hour ago.””

“Is Richard Reed there?””

“No.””

I closed my eyes.

“Did you sign anything?””

“Emily, please—”

“Did you sign anything claiming that I resigned?””

“I signed the attendance sheet.””

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“Were you at a meeting I attended?””

“No.””

“Then why did you sign it?””

“Richard said it was a preliminary record. He told me the formal minutes would be corrected later.””

“Did you read them?””

“Yes.””

“And they said I resigned.””

She began crying harder.

“I didn't understand what they were trying to do until I saw the filing yesterday.””

“Why didn't you call me?””

“Because Daniel told me not to.””

The room seemed to grow smaller.

“Daniel told you not to contact me?””

“He said everything was being handled and that you would be informed after the restructuring.””

“What restructuring?””

“I don't know.””

“Claire, you work in my company. You process our contracts. You manage our records. How can you not know what restructuring means?””

“Because they kept me out of the financial meetings! Richard said it was a board matter. Daniel said I should trust him.””

I stared at the hotel wall.

For years, I had trusted Daniel to handle certain operational decisions while I focused on development projects.

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I had given him access to corporate records.

I had authorized him to negotiate