Chapter 5 - The Protector They Could Not Trust
Emily stepped away from Daniel.
Victoria immediately seized the opportunity.
“Look at him,” she said. “The loyal family lawyer who always arrived at the perfect moment. Did you honestly think a man paid by the Hartwells came to save you?”
Daniel swore he had not taken the affidavit.
Security footage from the emergency system showed someone wearing his navy suit reaching toward the papers during the blackout.
Emily’s voice broke.
“Was catching me on the stairs part of the performance too?”
Daniel did not defend himself with another polished promise.
He removed his security badge and placed it on the floor.
“Do not trust me because I say you should. Trust what the evidence proves.”
Investigators searched his office and found payments from Victoria totaling two million dollars.
Daniel admitted receiving them, but explained that Charles had ordered him to pretend cooperation while gathering evidence.
Victoria called the story pathetic.
“Men like Daniel do not betray old money for women like you, Emily. He knows which side of the staircase feeds him.”
Daniel opened his private account and transferred every unexplained payment into the workers’ restitution fund before the gathered relatives.
“I would rather lose everything than keep one dollar stolen from people your family treated like machines.”
A staff member found the missing affidavit inside Victoria’s handbag.
But the document had been replaced.
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The new page stated that Anna Reed voluntarily abandoned Emily in exchange for ten million dollars.
At the bottom was Anna’s genuine signature.
