Chapter 8 - FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS
The Monroe Foundation had never existed.
At least not publicly.
Tessa knew her father's financial history.
She had spent years sorting through his papers after his death.
There had been no foundation.
No charitable trust.
No secret account.
Nothing.
“You're lying,” Tessa told Clara.
Clara shook her head.
“I'm not.”
“Then show me.”
Clara pulled out a tablet.
An old banking record appeared.
Account holder:
MONROE FOUNDATION TRUST
Initial deposit:
$400,000,000.
Tessa's hands went cold.
The date was the day before Meridian.
“What happened to the money?”
Clara looked at Damon.
“That's the question.”
Damon took the tablet.
“This account hasn't moved.”
“What?”
He stared.
“The money is still there.”
Tessa's mouth fell open.
“Four hundred million dollars?”
“Plus interest.”
Adrian laughed once.
“So our father's money was never stolen.”
Damon looked at him.
“It was hidden.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
A noise came from the corridor.
Richard.
“You found it.”
He stepped into the vault.
Behind him stood six armed men.
Tessa stepped backward.
Richard smiled.
“Congratulations.”
Damon moved in front of her.
Richard laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“Oh, Damon.”
Richard shook his head.
“She has everything to do with it.”
He looked at Tessa.
“Your father didn't create that foundation for charity.”
“Then why?”
“To rebuild.”
“Rebuild what?”
“The company.”
Damon stared.
Richard continued.
“Your father discovered that Meridian wasn't the beginning.”
“What?”
“It was the third failed project.”
Tessa felt sick.
“Third?”
Richard nodded.
“Two buildings collapsed before Meridian.”
“How many died?”
“Seventeen.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
Her father had known.
Damon's father had known.
Richard's father had known.
And they had buried it.
“Why?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Because they believed the public could never understand.”
Tessa's voice hardened.
“They were wrong.”
“Yes.”
Richard looked at her.
“That is why your father moved the money.”
“To expose them?”
“To compensate the families.”
Tessa stared.
“He wanted to pay them.”
“He wanted to build a legal case.”
“Then why didn't he?”
Richard looked toward Damon.
“Because Damon’s father found out.”
Damon stepped forward.
“What did he do?”
“He ordered your father stopped.”
“And you?”
“My father followed the order.”
Tessa whispered,
“And Richard?”
“I was seventeen.”
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
Damon looked at him.
“Why are you doing this now?”
Richard's face twisted.
“Because your father ruined mine.”
“That doesn't explain killing people.”
“I didn't kill anyone.”
“Then who did?”
Richard looked at Adrian.
“He did.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“What?”
Richard pointed.
“Adrian caused Meridian.”
Damon turned.
“No.”
“He changed the structural files.”
Adrian stared.
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“I was framed.”
Richard smiled.
“Exactly.”
Tessa understood.
“The evidence was designed to point at Adrian.”
Richard nodded.
“Your father discovered it.”
“And that's why he died.”
“Yes.”
Damon stepped toward Richard.
“You killed him.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the entrance.
“I didn't.”
Everyone turned.
A man stood there.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Alive.
Damon stopped breathing.
The man looked at him.
“Hello, son.”
Tessa stared.
Damon whispered,
“Dad?”
His father smiled.
“I told you I'd come back.”
Adrian stumbled backward.
“No.”
Clara's face went white.
“This isn't possible.”
Damon's father stepped into the vault.
“You all believed I was dead.”
Tessa looked at Richard.
Richard wasn't surprised.
He looked terrified.
The older man smiled.
“Richard, you disappoint me.”
Richard lowered his weapon.
“Sir.”
Tessa understood.
Richard wasn't the mastermind.
He was an employee.
A servant.
Damon's father looked at Tessa.
“You look like your father.”
She stepped forward.
“You killed him.”
He smiled.
“He chose the wrong side.”
Damon moved.
His father raised a gun.
“Don't.”
Damon froze.
Then Tessa saw something.
A tiny red light.
Security camera.
Recording.
She smiled.
“You're making a mistake.”
Damon's father frowned.
“What?”
“You just confessed.”
He looked toward the camera.
Tessa continued.
“And four hundred million dollars is still sitting in an account your lawyers can't touch.”
His expression changed.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
Damon smiled.
“My father.”
May you like
Then he said quietly,
“You've finally lost.”
