CHAPTER 13 â The Boardroom Betrayal
The moment I read the address, I was already moving.
"Carter Industries."
I looked at Detective Bennett.
"They're taking the company."
She nodded.
"And if Elias secures control before we freeze the assets..."
"He'll bury every financial trail we've uncovered."
Thomas Whitmore closed the folder in front of him.
"Then we don't have much time."
I turned toward Emily.
"I have to go."
She looked at me for a long moment.
Weeks ago, she would have apologized for needing me.
Today, she simply smiled.
"Go."
"What?"
She reached for my hand.
"Finish what your father started."
I kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back."
She looked into my eyes.
"I know."
It was the first time in weeks either of us truly believed those words.
Thirty minutes later...
Three black FBI SUVs and two unmarked police vehicles pulled into the underground parking garage beneath Carter Industries.
The sixty-story glass tower reflected the afternoon sun.
For years, I had looked at this building with pride.
Today...
It looked like a crime scene waiting to happen.
Detective Bennett checked her radio.
"The FBI Financial Crimes Unit is already inside."
"Our cyber team is freezing the corporate accounts."
Thomas Whitmore adjusted his tie.
"They're expecting a shareholders' meeting."
"They're not expecting us."
The executive boardroom occupied the entire top floor.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city skyline.
A long walnut conference table stretched across the room.
Every board member was present.
So were several major investors.
Ryan's chair sat empty.
Mine...
Had already been replaced.
At the head of the table stood a tall man in a charcoal suit.
Dark hair.
Calm posture.
Cold blue eyes.
He looked up as the elevator doors opened.
For a second...
The room became perfectly still.
I knew instantly.
This was Elias Blackwood.
He smiled.
"So..."
"At last."
His voice was smooth.
Controlled.
"As I live and breathe..."
"My little brother."
My stomach tightened.
"I don't have a brother."
Elias chuckled.
"Technically..."
"No."
"We simply share the same mother."
He extended his hand.
"I've wanted to meet you for years."
I didn't move.
His smile widened.
"I suppose this isn't the right occasion."
One of the board members stood.
"Mr. Carter..."
"We believed you had resigned."
I frowned.
"What?"
Elias calmly lifted a document.
"The board received your resignation this morning."
He slid it across the table.
At the bottom...
My signature.
Perfectly forged.
Date:
That morning.
I looked at Detective Bennett.
She photographed it immediately.
"Forgery."
Elias shrugged.
"So the lawyers keep saying."
Thomas Whitmore stepped forward.
"I'm Thomas Whitmore."
Several older board members immediately recognized the name.
"The Carter family attorney?"
"The original one."
He placed my father's original will on the conference table.
"This meeting has no legal authority."
Elias glanced at the document.
Then laughed.
"You brought the fake."
Thomas remained calm.
"No."
"You stole the fake."
Silence spread across the room.
Detective Bennett displayed several financial charts on the large presentation screen.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
"The FBI has frozen every account connected to Blackwood Strategic Holdings."
Several investors gasped.
Bennett continued.
"We have evidence that over eighty-seven million dollars were transferred illegally from Carter Industries."
Every transfer appeared on the screen.
Date.
Amount.
Destination.
Each one ending in the same offshore account.
Owned by Elias Blackwood.
The room erupted into whispers.
One board member stood.
"Elias..."
"Is this true?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
He calmly poured himself a glass of water.
Then looked at the screen.
"I won't insult your intelligence."
Another pause.
"The money came to me."
Murmurs filled the room.
"But..."
He smiled.
"It wasn't theft."
"It was repayment."
I frowned.
"For what?"
He looked directly at me.
"For the life your father stole from me."
Silence.
Elias slowly removed a worn leather wallet from his pocket.
Inside was an old photograph.
A young Margaret.
Holding a newborn baby.
"I was seventeen months old when she gave me away."
He placed the photo on the table.
"She married your father six months later."
Another photograph.
"My adoptive parents."
Another.
"My military graduation."
Another.
"I built everything myself."
He looked toward the board.
"Until Margaret found me."
One elderly director frowned.
"When was that?"
"Nine years ago."
The same year my father discovered the missing money.
Elias nodded.
"She told me Richard Carter abandoned us."
"She told me Daniel inherited the family that should have been mine."
His expression darkened.
"I believed her."
Detective Bennett stepped closer.
"So you helped steal millions."
"I did."
"You financed attempted murder."
His smile disappeared.
"No."
"I financed justice."
"You poisoned Emily Carter."
His eyes narrowed.
"I never touched her."
"But you knew."
Silence.
"I knew."
The room grew heavier.
Elias looked around at the board members.
"You all think this is about money."
He shook his head.
"It never was."
He looked at me.
"I wanted one thing."
"What?"
"I wanted you to lose..."
"...exactly what I lost."
For a brief moment...
I saw something unexpected.
Not hatred.
Pain.
Years of it.
A man who had spent his entire life believing he had been abandoned.
Manipulated.
Used.
Just like Ryan.
Only more successfully.
Thomas Whitmore spoke quietly.
"Elias..."
"Did Margaret ever tell you why she gave you away?"
"No."
"She told you Richard Carter destroyed your family."
"Yes."
Thomas opened another envelope from the evidence file.
"No."
He handed Elias a faded letter.
"Richard wrote this the week before your adoption."
Elias frowned.
"What is this?"
"Read it."
The boardroom fell silent.
As Elias unfolded the pages, his confident expression slowly disappeared.
His eyes raced across the words.
Then stopped.
He read one paragraph again.
And again.
His hands began to tremble.
"What..."
He whispered.
"This isn't possible."
I looked at Thomas.
"What does it say?"
Thomas answered quietly.
"It says Richard begged Margaret not to give Elias away."
Silence.
"He offered to raise him as his own son."
Another pause.
"He even signed the adoption papers..."
"...to become Elias's legal father."
Elias looked up.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"No..."
Thomas nodded sadly.
"Margaret refused."
"She wanted wealth."
"She believed a marriage to Richard Carter required..."
"...no children from her past."
The room was utterly silent.
Everything Elias believed about his life...
Had just collapsed.
Before anyone could speak...
The conference room doors burst open.
An FBI agent rushed inside.
"Detective Bennett!"
She turned.
"What is it?"
The agent was breathing hard.
"We just received an emergency call from St. Andrew's Hospital."
Every drop of blood drained from my face.
Emily.
"No..."
I whispered.
"What happened?"
The agent looked directly at me.
May you like
"Someone dressed as a doctor..."
"...just entered your wife's room."
