Chapter 10: The Ghost Account
I stood in my office staring at the documents on James’ desk.
My father’s name was printed across the top of the financial records.
Richard Sterling Sr.
A man who had been dead for five years.
A man I had spent my entire life trying to understand.
My father built the foundation of Sterling Corporation.
He taught me business.
He taught me discipline.
But he also taught me distance.
He was never the kind of father who hugged me or told me he was proud.
I spent years believing that was simply who he was.
Now I wondered if I had never truly known him at all.
"Explain this to me," I said.
James pushed the documents toward me.
"Someone accessed an old corporate account that should have been closed after your father's death.""
I looked at the transaction history.
There were payments.
Large payments.
Hidden transfers.
And the most recent one had happened only days ago.
"Who received the money?""
James hesitated.
"Several people.""
"Names.""
He handed me another page.
I read the list.
My eyes stopped.
Vanessa Vale.
Jonathan Reed.
And someone else.
Someone I had never expected.
"Claire?""
James nodded.
"Yes.""
I felt betrayed.
Claire had walked into my house claiming she wanted to expose Vanessa.
But she was connected to the same account.
"She lied to me.""
"Maybe," James said carefully.
"Or maybe there's something you don't know yet.""
I hated those words.
Because everyone seemed to know pieces of my life except me.
I returned home that evening.
Sophie was sitting in the living room drawing.
When she saw me, she smiled.
A real smile.
The first one I had seen in days.
"Daddy!""
She ran toward me.
I picked her up.
For a moment, everything else disappeared.
Then she handed me her drawing.
It was our family.
Me.
Her.
And her mother.
Emily.
I looked at the picture.
"You drew Mommy.""
She nodded.
"She said something before she went away.""
My heart stopped.
"What did she say?""
Sophie looked down.
"She said if anything happened, I should remember one thing.""
I knelt.
"What?""
She whispered:
"Don't trust the person who brings you flowers.""
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Why?""
"Because Mommy said that person smiles when they are lying.""
I stared at her.
"Did someone bring flowers?""
Sophie nodded.
"After Mommy got hurt.""
My breathing changed.
"Who?""
She looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered:
"Grandpa.""
I froze.
My father.
Impossible.
"Sophie, are you sure?""
She nodded.
"He came into my room.""
My heart raced.
"My father came here after he died?""
"No.""
She shook her head.
"Before.""
Before.
The word changed everything.
My father had been alive before Emily’s accident.
And he had been in my house.
That night, I searched through old family records.
Photographs.
Messages.
Anything.
Then I found something hidden inside an old storage box.
A photo.
Taken three days before Emily died.
My father was standing outside our mansion.
Beside him was Vanessa.
I stared at the image.
Vanessa wasn't a stranger.
She had known my family before she met me.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From Claire.
*Richard, I know you found the account. Please don't trust James. He is hiding the worst part.*
I immediately called her.
She answered after one ring.
"Richard.""
"What are you hiding?""
Silence.
Then she whispered:
"I didn't betray you.""
"Then explain the money.""
Another pause.
"Because I was trying to stop them.""
"Who?""
Her voice shook.
"The people who killed Emily.""
The line went quiet.
I stood frozen.
"Claire...""
Before she could answer, I heard a sound behind me.
A floorboard.
I turned.
Nobody was there.
Then I saw something on the table.
A small envelope.
I knew I hadn't put it there.
I opened it.
May you like
Inside was one sentence.
*Your daughter knows the truth you forgot.*
