Chapter 2 - Richard Belmont Turned My Daughter's Medical Bills Into a Weapon—And I Realized the CEO I Thought Was Untouchable Was Being HuntedI spent the next morning pretending everything was normal.
That was harder than it sounds when someone has just threatened your child.
Lily sat at the kitchen table eating pancakes while I stood at the counter pretending coffee could fix fear.
“Daddy.”
“Hmm?”
“You're doing the face.”
“What face?”
“The worried face.”
I smiled.
“I'm fine.”
“You're lying.”
She pointed her fork at me.
“You always do that with your left eyebrow.”
I laughed.
“Your mother used to say that.”
Lily went quiet.
We rarely talked about her mother.
She had left when Lily was two.
Not because Lily was difficult.
Not because I had done something terrible.
She simply decided motherhood wasn't the life she wanted.
She moved to California.
Sometimes she called.
Sometimes months passed.
So Lily had learned early that love was something you couldn't always depend on.
I tried to make up for that.
Maybe too much.
I checked Lily's medication twice before leaving.
Then a third time.
She noticed.
“You're scared.”
I knelt.
“I'm just careful.”
“Same thing.”
I kissed her forehead.
“Be good for Grandma.”
“I always am.”
“That is not true.”
She grinned.
“Okay.”
At Harrington Global, the atmosphere had changed.
People whispered.
Security had doubled.
The executive floors were restricted.
Nobody mentioned Victoria.
I went to the maintenance office.
My supervisor looked at me.
“You were with Ms. Harrington last night.”
It wasn't a question.
I put down my toolbox.
“I helped her to her car.”
He stared.
“You should forget you saw anything.”
“Why?”
“Because people who don't forget tend to stop working here.”
He walked away.
I understood.
Someone had already started cleaning up.
At 10:15, my supervisor called me into a private office.
Richard Belmont was waiting.
I had never spoken to him directly.
He smiled like we were old friends.
“David.”
“Mr. Belmont.”
“Sit.”
I sat.
He opened a folder.
My employment record.
My income.
My address.
My daughter's medical information.
Everything.
I felt sick.
“You've worked here twelve years.”
“Yes.”
“Good record.”
“Yes.”
“You're a single father.”
“Yes.”
“Difficult.”
I stared at him.
He leaned back.
“Children with medical issues can be expensive.”
My fists tightened.
“Why are we discussing my daughter?”
He smiled.
“Because I'm concerned about you.”
“You're not.”
“No?”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“I know you were with Victoria.”
“I helped an injured employee.”
“She was not simply injured.”
I said nothing.
Richard slid a photograph across the desk.
Victoria.
Emerald gown.
Blood.
My stomach twisted.
“Where did you get that?”
“I get whatever I need.”
“What happened to her?”
“That depends on what she told you.”
“She didn't tell me anything.”
“Good.”
He leaned closer.
“Then remain uninformed.”
I stood.
He pushed another paper toward me.
A notice.
Employment termination pending review.
My heart stopped.
“You're firing me?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm giving you a chance.”
“A chance to do what?”
“Bring Victoria back.”
I shook my head.
“I don't know where she is.”
He stared.
“She is very good at manipulating people.”
“I don't know her.”
“You know enough.”
I turned toward the door.
His voice followed.
“Your daughter's medication is expensive.”
I stopped.
He continued.
“One missed paycheck can become a problem very quickly.”
I slowly turned.
“Are you threatening my daughter?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I'm reminding you that choices have consequences.”
I left.
My hands were shaking.
At lunch, I received another message.
11:30 p.m.
FORTY-SECOND FLOOR.
BRING THE CEO.
Then a photograph.
Lily's school.
Taken that morning.
I called the police.
The officer listened.
Then asked if I could identify the person.
“No.”
“Have they contacted you before?”
“Yes.”
“Threatened you?”
“Yes.”
“Directly?”
“Not exactly.”
He sighed.
“Mr. Miller, without a direct threat against you or your child, there's only so much we can do.”
I hung up.
That was the moment I understood.
The system wasn't going to save us.
I needed another plan.
I went to Victoria's townhouse.
She opened the door holding a gun.
I froze.
She lowered it when she saw me.
“You shouldn't have come.”
“You knew about my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Richard knows too.”
Her face changed.
“What did he do?”
“He showed me her medical records.”
Victoria stepped back.
“Come inside.”
The townhouse was beautiful.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
There were books everywhere.
No photographs.
No flowers.
No signs of Richard.
I looked around.
“Why are you here?”
“I thought you were going to ask why I came.”
“I know why.”
She sat.
I remained standing.
“You hired me.”
“What?”
“You chose me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She stared at me.
“Because you're invisible.”
“That isn't flattering.”
“It wasn't supposed to be.”
She stood.
“Richard has been watching executives for months.”
“Watching them for what?”
“Leverage.”
“And me?”
“Last night, when I escaped, I saw you.”
“You were in the elevator.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you run to security?”
“Because one of the people inside that elevator was security.”
I felt cold.
“They're working for him?”
“Some of them.”
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
She looked exhausted.
“I don't trust anyone.”
“Then why trust me?”
She took a breath.
“Because you're the only employee who never wanted anything from me.”
I almost laughed.
“I want my paycheck.”
She smiled faintly.
“Exactly.”
Then she handed me a folder.
Inside was an audit.
Financial irregularities.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Harrington Global accounts.
Richard's name appeared repeatedly.
“You've been stealing from the company.”
Victoria shook her head.
“Not me.”
“Richard.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough to make him desperate.”
“Why not fire him?”
“He controls the board.”
“How?”
“He acquired enough voting shares through shell companies to block me.”
My mind struggled to keep up.
“He's taking your company.”
“Yes.”
“And the blood?”
“He tried to force me to sign.”
“Sign what?”
“A transfer of controlling interest.”
I stared.
“You refused.”
“Yes.”
“So he tried to kill you.”
“He tried to make it look like I overdosed.”
I felt sick.
“How did you escape?”
Victoria looked down.
“My assistant attacked him.”
“What happened to her?”
Victoria didn't answer.
I understood.
“She's dead.”
Victoria nodded.
Silence.
I closed the folder.
“Then why am I involved?”
“Because you have access.”
“To what?”
“The infrastructure systems.”
I frowned.
“I'm maintenance.”
“You know every service corridor, every elevator bypass, every camera blind spot.”
“That doesn't make me powerful.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“It makes you useful.”
I thought about the black SUV.
The messages.
Lily.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Help me expose Richard.”
I stared.
“And if I say no?”
She looked at me.
“He will keep coming after you.”
I hated that she was right.
“Okay.”
Her eyes widened.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I thought about Lily.
Then my voice hardened.
“Because nobody threatens my daughter.”
For the first time, Victoria smiled.
“Now I understand why I chose you.”
That night, she came with me to the maintenance office.
We accessed archived building logs.
There were hidden elevator movements.
Executive access codes.
Security overrides.
A pattern emerged.
Richard had been entering restricted floors between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m.
For months.
“What is he doing?”
Victoria whispered.
“I don't know.”
We traced one access code.
It belonged to her father.
Richard had inherited it after the old man's retirement.
Then another name appeared.
Harrington Medical Foundation.
I looked at Victoria.
“What is this?”
She froze.
“That foundation was created by my mother.”
“For sick children?”
“Yes.”
“Why is Richard accessing it?”
She opened another file.
The foundation's money was disappearing too.
Millions.
I looked at the dates.
The transfers matched children's hospital payments.
My stomach turned.
“He's stealing money meant for sick kids.”
Victoria's eyes filled with anger.
“He is.”
I suddenly understood why she had come down that elevator.
This was bigger than the company.
And then we found something worse.
A hidden file.
A payment.
Recipient:
DAVID MILLER
My blood ran cold.
“That isn't me.”
Victoria stared.
“No.”
The payment had been made six months earlier.
One hundred fifty thousand dollars.
For what the description said was—
FACILITIES ACCESS CONSULTING.
I looked at her.
“I never received this.”
“I know.”
“Then someone used my identity.”
Victoria whispered,
“Richard.”
My heart pounded.
He had been framing me for months.
And suddenly the threats made sense.
May you like
If Richard needed a scapegoat, he had already built one.
Me.
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