Chapter 10 - The Man We Trusted
Ethan reacted first.
“Charles!”
Charles disappeared through the service corridor.
Renee grabbed her phone.
“Security is reconnecting.”
Ethan ran after him.
I followed more slowly.
By the time I reached the back entrance, Charles was already outside.
Two security officers had intercepted him near the parking area.
He was shouting.
“This is ridiculous.”
Ethan stood several feet away.
“Then stop running.”
Charles straightened his jacket.
“I panicked.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother looked at me like I was a criminal.”
I arrived beside Ethan.
“You were standing on part of my missing document.”
Charles looked at me.
“That proves nothing.”
“Correct.”
I nodded.
“Running was more interesting.”
One security officer held a yellow envelope.
“We found this near the path.”
Charles stared at it.
“It’s not mine.”
Ethan took it.
The envelope was damp from the grass.
Inside were several pages.
Not all of them.
But enough.
Ethan scanned the first page.
His expression hardened.
“These are internal approvals.”
Charles said nothing.
“Your approvals.”
“Which proves I did my job.”
Renee stepped forward.
“No.”
She pointed at one line.
“This valuation override bypassed risk review.”
Charles looked at her.
“You approved exceptions too.”
“Not on assets owned by related parties.”
George suddenly spoke.
“This has nothing to do with us.”
I turned.
“Charles recommended your partnership.”
George shrugged.
“So?”
Renee continued reading.
Then she stopped.
Her eyes lifted.
“Oh, God.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What?”
She handed him the page.
A consulting code appeared beside several transactions.
CB Advisory.
Ethan looked at Charles.
“What is CB Advisory?”
Charles did not answer.
I already knew.
I had found the corporate registration two days earlier.
“Charles Bennett Advisory.”
Everyone went silent.
Vanessa looked from Charles to her father.
George’s face became unreadable.
Ethan stared at the man he had trusted for six years.
“How much?”
Renee did the math quickly.
“Based on this page alone?”
She looked sick.
“Almost nine hundred thousand.”
Charles shook his head.
“Those were legitimate consulting fees.”
“You consulted for the family you were recommending we invest with?”
Ethan asked.
Charles finally lost control.
“You have no idea how this company works.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“I’m starting to.”
Charles laughed bitterly.
“Your mother built a kingdom and handed you a chair inside it.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“You think that makes you a businessman?”
“Charles.”
I warned him.
But he was finished pretending.
“I carried half his deals.”
He pointed at Ethan.
“I fixed mistakes.”
“I protected relationships.”
“And what did I get?”
Ethan’s voice became quiet.
“Millions in compensation.”
Charles laughed.
“While he becomes a billionaire because of his last name.”
I looked at him.
There it was.
Not desperation.
Resentment.
The oldest poison in business.
Charles turned toward George.
“You said this would be clean.”
Vanessa gasped.
Patricia whispered.
“George?”
George’s face changed.
Charles realized what he had admitted.
Too late.
Ethan looked at both men.
May you like
And suddenly the engagement party was no longer about a cruel bride.
It was about betrayal on both sides of the family Ethan thought he was building.
