Chapter 5: Lauren Confessed What Really Happened Before My Father Died
Chapter 5: Lauren Confessed What Really Happened Before My Father Died
The room went completely silent.
I stared at Lauren.
She was still holding the gun, but her hand had started shaking.
“You didn’t know he was going to die?”
She shook her head.
“I swear.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“I can’t.”
“Tell me.”
Michael stepped forward.
“There’s no reason to—”
I turned toward him.
“Stay out of this.”
For once, Michael didn’t smile.
Lauren lowered the gun completely.
Then she sat on the stairs.
“I met your father five years ago.”
My chest tightened.
“Before we met?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She wiped her face.
“Michael introduced us.”
I looked at Michael.
He didn’t deny it.
“Your father knew something was wrong with the company,” Lauren continued. “He had discovered that money was being moved through accounts he didn’t recognize.”
“The same accounts you and Brandon used?”
She nodded.
“But he didn’t know about Brandon.”
“Then what did he know?”
“Michael.”
I looked at my business partner.
He remained silent.
Lauren continued.
“Your father confronted him.”
“When?”
“Two days before he died.”
I remembered that week.
My father had called me twice.
I hadn’t answered the second call because I was working.
The next morning, he was dead.
At the time, everyone said it was a heart attack.
He had been under stress.
He was older.
There had been no reason to suspect anything else.
I had accepted it.
Lauren looked at me.
“Your father asked me to help him.”
“With what?”
“Getting the evidence out.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“Did you?”
She nodded.
“I agreed.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So you were helping him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
Michael answered.
“She realized how much money was involved.”
Lauren looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“You made your choice.”
“I was scared.”
“You were greedy.”
She stood suddenly.
“I was twenty-six!”
Her voice echoed through the house.
“I had no idea what any of this meant!”
I stared at her.
“Then explain it.”
She took a breath.
“Your father had a black case.”
My eyes went to the case on the floor.
“The same one?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“Documents. Account records. Contracts. Copies of emails.”
“And you took it?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Your father gave it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because he trusted me.”
That sentence hurt more than anything else she’d said.
My father had trusted her before I ever knew her.
And years later, I had married the woman who had stood at the center of his secret.
“What did you do with it?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
She looked at Michael.
He answered.
“We found it.”
I stared at him.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Brandon suddenly spoke.
“That’s why I came.”
I looked at him.
“You knew about the case?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you?”
“Michael.”
I turned toward Michael.
“So the entire night was about this.”
Michael nodded.
“The affair was a distraction.”
I looked at Lauren.
“You brought Brandon here because you knew I wouldn’t be home.”
She nodded.
“Michael told us you were leaving town.”
“But how?”
“Your business calendar.”
I froze.
“How did he access it?”
Michael smiled faintly.
“You gave me access eight years ago.”
I remembered.
When we started the company, Michael had access to almost everything.
Business travel.
Schedules.
Emails.
Even some personal records.
I had trusted him completely.
He had used that trust against me.
“But why make me think Lauren was cheating?”
Michael’s expression changed.
“Because angry men make mistakes.”
I stared at him.
“You wanted me to confront her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the moment you confronted Lauren, you would expose the case.”
I frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“You didn’t know where it was.”
“Neither did you.”
Michael smiled.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
He pointed at the black case.
“We knew it was somewhere in this house.”
“But not where.”
“No.”
“So you used Lauren.”
“Exactly.”
Lauren looked down.
“I thought Michael wanted the documents because they could protect us.”
“Protect you from what?”
She looked at me.
“From prison.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“Those documents prove that money was transferred into accounts controlled by all three of us.”
“All three?”
“Me. Brandon. Michael.”
Brandon looked furious.
“You said my name wasn’t on anything.”
“I was wrong.”
He stared at her.
“You knew?”
“I found out later.”
I looked at Brandon.
“How much did you take?”
He didn’t answer.
“How much?”
“Forty thousand.”
“That’s all?”
He looked away.
“Forty-eight.”
I shook my head.
“You’re both unbelievable.”
Then the stranger finally spoke.
“There’s still one problem.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Michael’s expression hardened.
“You.”
The stranger nodded.
“Me.”
“Who are you?”
The man reached into his jacket.
This time, he didn’t pull out a weapon.
He pulled out an identification card.
He held it toward me.
I read the name.
Ethan Cole — Federal Investigator.
My stomach tightened.
Michael immediately stepped backward.
Ethan looked at him.
“We’ve been watching you for months.”
Michael’s face went pale.
“Then why didn’t you arrest me?”
“Because we needed the case.”
He looked at the black box.
“And now we have it.”
Michael glanced at Brandon.
Then Lauren.
Then the front door.
I saw his eyes calculating.
Escape.
Ethan noticed too.
“Don’t.”
Michael stopped.
“You’re finished.”
Michael suddenly laughed.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You’re all forgetting one thing.”
“What?”
“Your father didn’t put everything in that case.”
My heart stopped.
“What else is there?”
Michael smiled.
“The original ledger.”
“Where?”
He looked directly at me.
“With your wife.”
I turned toward Lauren.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Michael continued.
“She doesn’t even know she has it.”
I stared at Lauren.
“What does that mean?”
She looked terrified.
“I don’t know.”
Michael smiled.
“Your father hid it somewhere only you would eventually find.”
I frowned.
“Why me?”
“Because he knew you would marry her.”
I felt sick.
“He knew?”
Michael nodded.
“He knew everything.”
I looked at Lauren.
She suddenly covered her mouth.
Then her eyes widened.
“The wedding.”
“What about it?”
“The gift.”
“What gift?”
She looked toward the staircase.
“Your father’s wedding gift to you.”
I remembered it immediately.
A small wooden box.
My father had given it to me the night before my wedding.
He had told me not to open it until after the ceremony.
I had forgotten about it after we moved houses.
It was still somewhere in the attic.
I ran upstairs.
Lauren followed.
“Wait.”
I ignored her.
I reached the attic and opened an old storage trunk.
Underneath several boxes was the wooden case.
My father’s handwriting was still visible across the lid.
I opened it.
Inside was an envelope.
And beneath the envelope was a handwritten note.
I unfolded it.
Only one sentence was written there.
If you are reading this, Lauren has already betrayed you.
My hands began to shake.
I looked at Lauren.
She stood frozen in the doorway.
Then I turned the page.
There was another sentence.
But she is not the person you should fear.
Behind me, Ethan suddenly shouted.
“Get down!”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Then another.
Someone had broken through the back door.
I looked at Lauren.
She looked at me.
And for the first time all night, we were afraid of the same person.
Because my father’s final message had just changed everything.
Lauren wasn’t the mastermind.
Michael wasn’t the mastermind.
And whoever was still outside our house…
had been waiting five years for me to open that envelope.
