Chapter 7 - THE FACTORY MY FAMILY LOST
We arrived at the old Carter factory shortly before midnight.
The building had been closed for years.
The sign still carried my family's name.
Carter Industries.
The letters were rusted.
The windows were dark.
My father had wanted to sell the property.
My mother had refused.
Now I understood why.
Daniel had designed the eastern wing.
The hidden entrance was behind a loading platform.
Hayes and his team established a perimeter.
Ryan stayed beside me.
“You shouldn't be here,” I told him.
He shook his head.
“I'm not letting you go alone.”
“This isn't your fight.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“It is.”
That was the first time he had said it without anger.
We entered.
The old factory smelled like dust and metal.
Photographs of workers still hung on the walls.
My mother had known every name.
She used to bring me here as a child.
I remembered her saying:
“People are the company.”
Not buildings.
Not money.
People.
We reached the old office.
Dad stopped.
“That's where I found the ledger.”
I looked at him.
“You found it after me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Daniel threatened Ryan.”
My brother froze.
“What?”
Dad looked at him.
“You were sixteen.”
“I don't remember.”
“He said if I testified, something would happen to you.”
Ryan stepped back.
“So you sacrificed Emily.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“I thought I was protecting both of you.”
I looked away.
Pain was no longer sharp.
It was simply tired.
Then we heard movement.
A door opened.
Madison stepped out.
She was crying.
“Emily.”
Ryan started forward.
Hayes held him back.
“She isn't armed.”
Madison looked at me.
“I never wanted this.”
“You gave them access to the guest list.”
“I was scared.”
“Of Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He has something on me.”
“What?”
She swallowed.
“My father owes him money.”
I stared.
“So you sold your family.”
“I thought nobody would get hurt.”
Ryan looked at her.
“You pushed her away from the ceremony.”
“I thought that would keep her away from the watch.”
I looked at Madison.
“You knew about the watch?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you?”
She didn't answer.
Then a man's voice came from the upper level.
“Me.”
Daniel stepped into view.
He looked older than the photographs.
But his face was familiar.
He resembled my mother.
Not my father.
That frightened me more than anything else.
“Uncle Daniel.”
He smiled.
“Little Emily.”
I hadn't been little in decades.
But he still said it like I was the teenager who had accidentally found the ledger.
“You caused all of this.”
“No.”
He looked around.
“Your father did.”
Dad stepped forward.
“You were destroying the company.”
“I was saving it.”
“You stole from us.”
“I took what I was promised.”
“You were never promised ownership.”
Daniel laughed.
“Your mother promised me.”
Mom stepped forward.
“She promised you fairness.”
“That wasn't enough.”
His eyes moved to me.
“Your mother knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That the contracts were mine.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He looked at the watch.
“Give it to me.”
I tightened my hand.
“Why?”
“Because it proves everything.”
“What?”
“That I own the trust.”
Hayes stepped forward.
“No, you don't.”
Daniel smiled.
“You'll find the documents.”
“Where?”
“In the watch.”
I stared.
He pointed.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“You are exactly like your mother.”
I almost smiled.
“Thank you.”
He looked surprised.
Then something crashed behind us.
A metal door locked.
The lights went out.
Ryan grabbed my arm.
“Emily!”
Emergency lights flickered.
Daniel was gone.
Madison screamed.
“Where did he go?”
Hayes scanned the room.
Then he noticed the watch was missing.
I looked at my wrist.
Gone.
Someone had taken it.
I felt cold.
Not because of the watch.
Because the only person who knew how to open it was my mother.
And Daniel had just said he knew where she kept the original documents.
Ryan looked at me.
“What do we do?”
I stared at the empty place on my wrist.
“We stop chasing Daniel.”
Hayes looked at me.
“And do what?”
I answered:
May you like
“We find out why he is so afraid of what my mother wrote.”
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