Chapter 8 - The Secret Owner Of Cole-Bennett Logistics
The next morning, Preston arrived with information.
Information that changed everything.
“I found something.”
I looked up.
“What?”
He placed a file on the table.
“JVC Capital.”
Julian’s company.
“The company that received your ownership shares.”
“Yes.”
“What about it?”
Preston opened the file.
“Julian is not the real owner.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He’s listed as the beneficiary.”
“Meaning?”
“He benefits from it.”
“But he doesn’t control it.”
I felt a chill.
“Who does?”
Preston turned the page.
And my entire body went cold.
Victoria Cole.
I stared at the document.
My mother.
The person pretending to protect Julian.
The person pretending to help him.
She wasn’t helping him.
She was using him.
Julian wasn’t the mastermind.
He was the weapon.
That afternoon, I confronted Julian.
He was in the company building.
Still sitting behind my desk.
Still pretending he belonged there.
“You lied to me.”
He looked up.
“About what?”
“JVC Capital.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“You found out.”
“Yes.”
He leaned back.
“So what?”
I stared.
“Your name is on the company.”
“Yes.”
“But my mother controls it.”
Silence.
Then he laughed.
A bitter laugh.
“You finally understand.”
I stepped closer.
“How long?”
He looked away.
“Years.”
My stomach tightened.
“Years?”
“Mom always had a plan.”
“Did you know about Maya?”
His expression changed.
That was the first time I saw guilt.
Real guilt.
“I didn’t know everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He looked down.
“I knew she was pressured.”
My jaw tightened.
“You knew?”
“I thought she would give in.”
The anger inside me rose.
“You watched?”
“I thought you would come back and fix it.”
I stared at him.
“You left my wife alone.”
He looked ashamed.
For one second.
Then it disappeared.
Because Julian had spent his entire life choosing himself.
“Why?”
I asked.
The question surprised him.
“Why do this?”
He looked around the office.
“Because I was tired.”
“Of what?”
“Being second.”
I shook my head.
“You weren’t second.”
He laughed.
“Everyone looked at you.”
“Our father trusted you.”
“You got the company.”
“You got the respect.”
“And I got nothing.”
I stared at him.
“You had chances.”
“No.”
His voice became angry.
“You had chances.”
The jealousy.
The resentment.
The poison.
Victoria created it.
That night, I found another hidden file.
This one wasn’t from Julian.
It was from my father.
A video.
Recorded months before he died.
I pressed play.
My father appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
But still himself.
“Daniel.”
My chest tightened.
“If you are watching this, then something has happened.”
He paused.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
I leaned closer.
“Your mother will tell you this is about money.”
“She is wrong.”
“It was never about money.”
A pause.
“It was about control.”
My father looked directly into the camera.
“Julian is not the enemy.”
I froze.
“What?”
The recording continued.
“He is a man who was manipulated by his own insecurity.”
“But the person you need to be careful of…”
The video paused.
Then:
“Is the person who taught him to hate losing.”
My blood ran cold.
My father wasn’t talking about Julian.
He was talking about someone else.
Someone behind him.
The recording ended.
But before it stopped, my father said one final sentence.
A sentence that changed everything.
“Daniel, if Victoria has started this plan…”
A pause.
“Then you are already too late.”
The screen went black.
Maya looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I knew.
My mother had been planning for years.
But if my father believed I was already too late…
Then there was something much bigger happening.
The next morning, Preston called.
His voice sounded nervous.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“I found the original ownership records.”
“And?”
“There’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
He paused.
“The company was never fully yours.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your father transferred control to you.”
“Then what?”
“The final ownership was protected under another agreement.”
My heartbeat increased.
“Protected for who?”
Silence.
Then Preston answered.
“Someone else.”
I stood.
“Who?”
His voice became quiet.
“Daniel…”
“The original beneficiary wasn’t you.”
A pause.
“It was your wife.”
I looked at Maya.
She looked just as shocked.
“What?”
Preston continued.
“Your father placed the company under protection because he knew your family could turn against you.”
My hands went cold.
“And the person he trusted to protect it…”
A pause.
“Was Maya.”
The room became silent.
Because suddenly…
Everything changed.
Maya wasn’t the person they forced into the plan.
She was the person my father trusted most.
The person they were trying to control.
The person who had the power they were desperate to steal.
I looked at my wife.
And for the first time…
I understood.
Victoria and Julian didn’t attack Maya because she was weak.
May you like
They attacked her because she was the one person standing between them…
And everything they wanted.
