Chapter 6 - The Man Lachlan Trusted Most Was the One Who Sold Them Out
The accusation against Gideon seemed impossible.
He had served Lachlan for seventeen years.
He had protected him.
He had covered his disappearance.
He had waited six years for him to regain control.
Yet the account existed.
Money had been transferred.
The signature matched.
Thea wanted to believe there was another explanation.
Lachlan didn't.
He confronted Gideon.
“Did you take money from Julian?”
Gideon's face changed.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Thea's heart dropped.
Lachlan looked devastated.
“Why?”
Gideon lowered his head.
“Because I needed to.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“My daughter.”
The words broke him.
“Julian had her.”
Thea stepped closer.
“Where?”
“Alive.”
“Then why help him?”
Gideon shook his head.
“I didn't know how.”
Lachlan stared.
“So you sold information.”
“To keep her alive.”
“And the attacks?”
“No.”
“The sedative?”
“No.”
“The music box?”
“I swear.”
Lachlan believed him.
Mostly.
Then Gideon confessed one more thing.
Julian had another partner.
Someone inside the hospital.
Someone who had access to Thea's mother.
Elena.
Thea's blood went cold.
“No.”
Gideon showed them the evidence.
Elena had been receiving money.
She wasn't helping them.
She had been guiding them exactly where Julian wanted.
The conversation at the hospital had been staged.
Even the ledger had been manipulated.
Lachlan stood.
“We need to move your mother.”
They reached the hospital too late.
Marianne was gone.
Thea broke.
She blamed herself.
Lachlan held her.
“We'll find her.”
“How?”
“Together.”
The search led to an abandoned farmhouse.
Inside, Marianne was tied to a chair.
Elena stood nearby.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Thea stared.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian has my son.”
The same excuse.
Another parent trapped by fear.
Thea understood immediately.
“Where is he?”
Elena pointed toward the basement.
Thea ran.
Her mother was freed.
The boy was found alive.
But Julian was already gone.
He left one final message.
THE BOARD MEETING. TOMORROW.
Lachlan understood.
“He isn't running.”
“What is he doing?”
“Taking the company.”
The board meeting became a battlefield.
Julian arrived with enough votes to remove Lachlan.
But Thea had one thing he had not counted on.
Her mother's evidence.
The hidden ledger.
The recorded conversation.
And Gideon's testimony.
When Julian entered the boardroom, federal investigators were waiting.
His face went white.
He looked at Lachlan.
“You think this ends here?”
Lachlan stood.
“No.”
He walked closer.
“It ends with you.”
Julian smiled.
“You will always be what your father made you.”
Lachlan looked at Thea.
Then back.
“No.”
He removed his dark glasses.
“For the first time, I know exactly who I am.”
Julian was arrested.
The board voted.
Lachlan became chairman.
Full control.
But when the meeting ended, he did something unexpected.
He signed an agreement transferring a portion of his shares into a foundation supporting medical care.
Thea stared.
“Why?”
“My father wanted to build hospitals.”
She smiled.
“Then do it.”
He looked at her.
“I want one named after your mother.”
Thea's eyes filled.
“You really mean it?”
“Yes.”
She kissed him.
For the first time, the future looked peaceful.
But Lachlan's phone rang.
The voice on the other end was the federal prosecutor.
“There's a complication.”
“What?”
“Julian isn't the mastermind.”
Lachlan's expression changed.
“Who is?”
May you like
The prosecutor paused.
“Your grandmother.”
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