Chapter 4 - Clara Woke Long Enough to Tell Me She Had Seen the Missing Shipment Before the Attack, and the Person She Named Was Someone I TrustedClara woke two days later.
I sat beside her.
She looked at me.
“You're still here.”
“Of course.”
“Did you sleep?”
“Not really.”
She tried to smile.
“You look terrible.”
I laughed quietly.
“I'm fine.”
She touched my hand.
“No.”
I knew what she meant.
She was right.
I had never felt so close to losing control.
I asked:
“Clara, I need you to tell me what happened.”
She closed her eyes.
“Dad called me home.”
“Why?”
“He said he wanted to talk about the baby.”
“And?”
“They locked the door.”
She swallowed.
“One of my brothers showed me a document.”
“What document?”
“It had your name.”
“Where did it come from?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened next?”
She started crying.
“They told me you weren't a businessman.”
I looked at her.
“What did they say?”
“That you were dangerous.”
She paused.
“They said you would destroy us.”
I almost laughed.
“They believed that?”
“Yes.”
“Then why attack you?”
“They said…”
Her voice cracked.
“They said if you found out what they knew, we'd all die.”
I leaned closer.
“What did they know?”
“Your shipping company.”
“What about it?”
“One of your employees was moving money through a shell company.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“I saw the name.”
She struggled.
Then whispered:
“Victor Hale.”
My blood froze.
Victor Hale.
My chief financial officer.
One of the three people I trusted most.
He had been with me for ten years.
I immediately called my security director.
“Find Victor.”
He hesitated.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“Victor is missing.”
“When?”
“Two hours ago.”
I looked at Clara.
She was frightened.
“What's happening?”
I kissed her forehead.
“I'm handling it.”
But I knew I had another problem.
The missing shipment.
The shell company.
Elias.
Clara's family.
Victor.
They were connected.
My entire inner circle had been compromised.
That night, I called an emergency meeting.
Everyone arrived.
I looked around the table.
Men who had served me for years.
Then I said:
“One of you betrayed me.”
Silence.
No one moved.
I placed Victor's photograph on the table.
“He's gone.”
No one reacted.
Then one man whispered:
“Maybe he was taken.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
I recognized him.
Victor's assistant.
I nodded.
“Interesting.”
He looked nervous.
“Boss?”
“I didn't say Victor was taken.”
Silence.
The assistant's face changed.
He had just revealed himself.
My men moved.
He reached for a gun.
We stopped him.
He confessed.
Victor had planned everything.
But there was another name.
Daniel Carter.
Clara's brother.
And someone above both.
Elias Varga.
The attack on Clara was only the first step.
They wanted my company.
My ports.
My files.
My organization.
May you like
And they had almost succeeded.
Because while I was saving my wife, they were stealing my empire.
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