Chapter 2 - The Billionaire They Had Been Laughing AtThe ballroom remained silent for nearly thirty seconds after the university president walked away.
Daniel could feel every eye on him.
Some were shocked.
Some were embarrassed.
Some were suddenly friendly.
And some were calculating.
Those were the eyes he trusted least.
Melissa approached first.
“Daniel, I had no idea.”
He looked at her.
“I noticed.”
“I thought—”
“You thought I failed.”
Her face reddened.
“I didn't mean it that way.”
“You showed a slideshow.”
She swallowed.
“That was supposed to be funny.”
Daniel nodded.
“It was.”
She stared at him.
“You're angry.”
“No.”
That answer confused her.
“Then what are you?”
Daniel looked around the ballroom.
“Done.”
He walked away.
Olivia followed him.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
Daniel smiled.
“You still remember me well.”
“I remember everything.”
He looked at her.
She had changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
There was confidence now.
A calmness he hadn't seen in college.
“What do you do?”
“Corporate attorney.”
“Of course.”
She smiled.
“And you?”
“You heard.”
“Not enough.”
Daniel laughed.
Before they could continue, Ethan approached.
His smile was gone.
“You should have told me.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“Told you what?”
“That you made money.”
“I didn't realize we were still close enough that you needed financial updates.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“I thought we were friends.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You showed my daughter's childhood photographs to three hundred people as a joke.”
Ethan looked away.
“It wasn't personal.”
“It became personal when you put her picture on a screen.”
That silenced him.
Daniel walked toward the exit.
Then stopped.
He turned.
“Ethan.”
“Yes?”
“Never use my daughter to hurt me again.”
Ethan nodded.
But his eyes contained something Daniel had not seen before.
Fear.
Daniel noticed.
He filed it away.
Outside, his old sedan waited.
Lily was leaning against it.
She had come to pick him up.
Daniel smiled.
“You weren't supposed to come.”
“I wanted to see your face.”
“What face?”
“The face of a man who just ruined an entire ballroom.”
Daniel laughed.
“You heard?”
“Dad, half the university posted it online already.”
He groaned.
“Wonderful.”
Lily hugged him.
“You okay?”
“I'm fine.”
“Did they hurt you?”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“No.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
They drove home.
But Daniel's phone began ringing.
First, his assistant.
Then his chief operating officer.
Then his lawyer.
Finally, Olivia.
He answered hers.
“Everything okay?”
“No.”
Daniel sat upright.
“What happened?”
“The reunion committee didn't just humiliate you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I found the original planning documents.”
“And?”
“The slideshow was changed two weeks ago.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Who changed it?”
“Ethan.”
Daniel was silent.
Olivia continued.
“And Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“The original slideshow contained something else.”
“What?”
“A photograph of you.”
“That's not surprising.”
“No.”
Her voice lowered.
“It was a photograph of you receiving your first million-dollar contract.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why would that be in a reunion presentation?”
“I don't know.”
Then Olivia said something that made Daniel's blood run cold.
“The photo was taken by someone who shouldn't have known you were there.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
His first million-dollar contract had been signed privately.
Only three people had known.
Daniel.
His lawyer.
And his former business partner, Marcus Hale.
Marcus had disappeared after stealing company funds.
Daniel had never seen him again.
“What else was in the file?” Daniel asked.
“A note.”
“What did it say?”
Olivia hesitated.
“Someone wrote: He knows what happened to Marcus.”
Daniel stared through the windshield.
Lily noticed his expression.
“Dad?”
Daniel didn't answer.
May you like
The past he had buried for fifteen years had just opened its eyes.
And someone was trying to make sure he remembered it.
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