Chapter 2 - THE CALL AFTER HIS DEATH
Daniel stared at Noah.
“Your father called you after the funeral home received the death certificate?”
Noah nodded.
Victoria shook her head.
“He’s grieving.”
There it was.
The word people use when grief becomes inconvenient.
Daniel looked at her.
“What did he say?”
Noah pulled a cracked phone from his jacket.
“I recorded it.”
Victoria went white.
That was the second crack.
Noah pressed play.
Static.
Then a man’s voice.
Weak.
Clear.
Alive.
“Noah?”
The boy closed his eyes.
“Dad.”
The mourners went silent.
The recording continued.
“If Victoria tells you I’m dead, don’t believe her.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Daniel stared at her.
The voice continued.
“I signed nothing.”
Noah’s hands began to shake.
“I never agreed to leave the company.”
Daniel’s face changed.
The company.
There it was.
Not just a funeral.
Money.
Control.
Ownership.
The recording crackled.
Then Noah’s father said,
“Ask Daniel about the succession file.”
Every head turned toward Daniel.
Victoria stopped breathing.
Noah looked at him.
“What succession file?”
Daniel said nothing.
Too late.
That silence answered enough.
Noah’s voice hardened.
“You knew.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
But his face said something else.
He knew the file existed.
Maybe not what was inside.
Maybe not what had been done.
But he knew enough to be afraid of the name.
Noah pressed play again.
His father’s final words filled the hall.
“Room 417.”
A pause.
“There’s proof under the floor.”
Then the call ended.
Noah looked at Daniel.
“Take me there.”
Victoria snapped,
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Too fast.
Too frightened.
That was enough.
Daniel looked at her.
“You know what’s in Room 417.”
Victoria said nothing.
May you like
Noah picked up the hotel key card from the casket.
And for the first time, Victoria looked more afraid of a hotel room than a broken coffin.
