Sophia leaned forward.
"So he was trying to force them into bankruptcy?"
"Exactly."
Emily looked at the second folder.
Inside were copies of letters.
One had been written by her father.
Arthur,
Victor's proposal is not a rescue.
It is a trap.
If we accept his terms, he will control our debt, our production, and eventually our name.
We must find another way.
Emily closed her eyes.
She could almost hear her father's voice.
James opened the third folder.
"Daniel discovered that Victor had approached several members of the board."
"Who?"
James pointed toward a list.
Three names.
One of them belonged to Richard Hayes.
Emily felt anger rising.
"He was involved all those years ago?"
James nodded.
"Richard was a junior financial executive at the time. He had access to several internal records. Victor offered him a position in one of his investment companies."
Sophia looked shocked.
"But Richard worked for Maison Aurelia."
"Yes."
"And he betrayed them?"
James folded his hands.
"Eventually."
Emily stared at the documents.
"How?"
James looked toward the recorder.
"Your father confronted Victor three days before his death."
Emily's throat tightened.
"Was he threatened?"
James nodded.
"He was told to stop investigating."
"Did he?"
"No."
James pressed a button on the recorder.
A voice emerged from the speaker.
Daniel Carter.
Emily recognized it immediately.
Her father sounded younger.
Calmer.
But there was something unmistakable beneath his words.
Fear.
The recording crackled.
Then another voice appeared.
Victor Sterling.
"Daniel, you're making this unnecessarily complicated."
Daniel answered.
"You're trying to take the company."
"I'm trying to save it."
"By destroying everything Arthur built?"
Victor laughed.
"Arthur is sentimental. You know that."
Daniel's voice became sharper.
"You're stealing from him."
Victor responded coldly.
"Careful."
Daniel continued.
"I have the documents. I have the transfers. I know what you're doing."
A pause.
Then Victor spoke.
"Do you really think anyone will believe you?"
Daniel answered.
"I don't need everyone to believe me."
Another pause.
"I only need one person."
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
She knew what came next.
She had heard her father's voice for the first time in eighteen years.
And she wanted the recording to continue forever.
But suddenly, Victor's voice became louder.
"You have a daughter, Daniel."
Emily froze.
Sophia reached for her hand.
Victor continued.
"A beautiful little girl."
Daniel's voice changed.
"Don't."
Victor laughed softly.
"Then stop."
The recording ended.
Emily sat motionless.
Her father had been threatened.
Not with money.
Not with his career.
With her.
James slowly turned off the recorder.
"I'm sorry."
Emily looked up.
"Did my grandfather know?"
"Yes."
"Did he report Victor?"
James shook his head.
"Arthur wanted proof that would survive any investigation."
Emily swallowed.
"And my father?"
James looked down.
"Daniel left the meeting. He was supposed to meet me the following morning."
"But he never arrived."
"No."
Emily's hands trembled.
"What happened that night?"
James hesitated.
Then he opened another envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Daniel's car.
The vehicle was damaged.
Its front end had been crushed.
The photograph showed a road beneath heavy rain.
James pointed toward the image.
"Your father's brakes had been tampered with."
Emily felt the room tilt.
"How do you know?"
James produced a police report.
"The mechanic who examined the vehicle discovered evidence of deliberate interference."
Emily stared at the document.
"Then why was it ruled an accident?"
James's expression became grim.
"Because the evidence disappeared."
Sophia whispered.
"Disappeared?"
James nodded.
"The mechanic withdrew his statement. The original report was altered. And the investigation was closed."
Emily looked toward the recorder.
Her father had been murdered.
The thought was unbearable.
She pressed both hands against the table.
For eighteen years, she had believed she had lost him to a terrible accident.
Now she was learning that someone might have deliberately taken him from her.
And that someone had continued living freely.
Building a fortune.
Buying companies.
Smiling for photographs.
Emily looked at James.
"Can we prove it?"
James nodded.
"Yes."
He opened the wooden box.
Inside lay a sealed document.
"The original acquisition agreement."
Emily stared.
James continued.
"Your father hid it before his death. Arthur recovered it later and entrusted it to me."
Emily carefully opened the envelope.
The agreement contained signatures.
Arthur Whitmore.
Daniel Carter.
Victor Sterling.
And several members of the board.
The final page contained a clause that changed everything.