CHAPTER 14 — The Enemy Inside Carter International
CHAPTER 14 — The Enemy Inside Carter International
The message remained on my screen for several minutes.
Three sentences.
That was all.
But they carried more fear than any threat I had ever received.
"Your mother didn't die because she discovered the truth."
"She died because she was about to reveal who I was."
"And now I will finish what she started."
I read it again.
And again.
Trying to understand.
Trying to identify the person behind the words.
But that was the terrifying part.
I couldn't.
Because the enemy wasn't outside.
The enemy had been close.
Close enough to know my family.
Close enough to access private information.
Close enough to hide for twenty-five years.
The next morning, Carter International changed completely.
My father canceled every meeting.
Every executive call.
Every public appearance.
For the first time in decades, the company was operating in emergency mode.
The enemy wasn't attacking from outside.
They were already inside.
James gathered everyone in the main conference room.
"The person behind this has been preparing for years."
He displayed a timeline.
Twenty-five years ago.
The accident.
The stolen information.
The hidden companies.
The false accounts.
Three years ago.
My marriage to Dominic.
The investment into Hayes Enterprises.
The wedding accusation.
Everything connected.
Everything was part of the same plan.
I stared at the timeline.
"Why me?"
Everyone looked at me.
My voice became quieter.
"Why did they need me?"
My father answered.
"Because you are the last connection to your mother."
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
"Your mother left something behind."
"Something important."
"And whoever is behind this believes you have it."
I frowned.
"I don't have anything."
My father looked at me.
"Maybe you don't know you have it."
The thought made me uncomfortable.
How many secrets had been hidden from me?
How many things had happened around me without my knowledge?
My entire life felt like a puzzle where everyone had pieces except me.
Then Dominic entered.
He looked exhausted.
But determined.
"I found something about my mother."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
He placed an old journal on the table.
"My mother kept records."
"Eleanor kept a journal?"
He nodded.
"Not a diary."
"More like notes."
"Names."
"Dates."
"Things she was afraid of."
My father opened it carefully.
The pages were filled with handwriting.
Most of it was about Victor.
Thomas.
Carter International.
But then...
a name appeared repeatedly.
A name that made everyone stop.
David Carter.
My uncle.
Dominic looked at me.
"My mother knew."
"She knew your uncle was involved."
I turned the pages.
The notes became more disturbing.
David knows everything.
David is closer than Victor.
Richard trusts him completely.
Then one sentence:
If Richard discovers the truth, David will lose everything.
I looked at my father.
"How could you not know?"
His face showed pain.
"Because he was my brother."
I understood.
Family creates blind spots.
The people closest to us are often the ones we least suspect.
Then James found something else.
A hidden account.
Not belonging to David.
Not Victor.
Not Eleanor.
A third account.
The owner was unknown.
But the transactions were clear.
Payments.
For years.
To several people.
Including:
Thomas Reed.
A private investigator.
A former Carter employee.
And...
My eyes froze.
The final name.
Dominic Hayes.
The room went silent.
Again.
Dominic looked at the screen.
"No."
His voice shook.
"I never received money."
James checked again.
"The account is under your name."
"I didn't open it."
"Someone did."
Dominic looked at me.
And this time...
I saw something different.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Because he realized someone had been using him too.
Just like they had used everyone else.
The investigation moved quickly.
Within hours, James discovered the truth.
The account wasn't created by Dominic.
It was created using stolen information.
The same method used with my name.
Someone had been creating fake identities.
Using innocent people as shields.
My uncle.
Victor.
Eleanor.
Everyone was connected.
But nobody was the final player.
That evening, my father received a package.
No sender.
No address.
Just a small black box.
Inside was a necklace.
My mother's necklace.
I recognized it immediately.
She wore it in every childhood memory.
I touched it carefully.
A small diamond pendant.
My father became pale.
"Where did they get this?"
I looked at him.
"What?"
He whispered:
"Your mother was wearing that the night she died."
The room went silent.
My fingers tightened around the necklace.
Someone had recovered it from the crash.
Someone had kept it.
For twenty-five years.
Then a note fell from the box.
Only one sentence.
"She trusted the wrong person."
My father looked devastated.
But then something happened.
Something nobody expected.
The necklace opened.
Not because it was broken.
Because there was a hidden mechanism.
Inside the pendant was a tiny memory chip.
James carefully extracted it.
The file contained only one video.
My mother's final recording.
My hands covered my mouth.
Because this time...
she wasn't speaking to my father.
She was speaking to me.
The screen turned on.
My mother's face appeared.
Older than the photos.
Tired.
But still beautiful.
"Vivienne."
I froze.
Hearing my name from her lips felt impossible.
"If you are watching this..."
A tear rolled down my cheek.
"...then I wasn't able to tell you myself."
She looked directly into the camera.
"You need to know something."
"Your family will tell you that power is what protects you."
"But they're wrong."
"Truth protects you."
She paused.
"Never trust someone simply because they share your blood."
My father looked away.
Because he knew.
The warning was meant for everyone.
Then my mother said:
"The person who betrayed us..."
"Is someone who has always claimed to love us."
The video glitched.
The final seconds played.
A shadow appeared behind her.
Someone entering the room.
My mother looked frightened.
She whispered:
"You."
Then the video ended.
Nobody breathed.
Because we had finally seen it.
The moment before everything changed.
The moment before my mother died.
And now we knew one thing.
She wasn't alone.
Someone was there.
Someone she recognized.
Someone she feared.
James replayed the final frame.
Enhanced the image.
The shadow became clearer.
The face was still partially hidden.
But the clothing.
The watch.
The hand.
My father stared.
His face lost all color.
"No..."
I looked at him.
"Dad?"
His voice was barely a whisper.
"That watch..."
"What about it?"
He looked at me.
"That was my watch."
The room froze.
"What?"
My father stepped back.
"That person..."
"He was wearing my watch."
The impossible truth appeared.
The person in the room with my mother...
was pretending to be my father.
Someone had entered my mother's final moments wearing his identity.
Someone had wanted her to believe Richard Carter was the enemy.
Someone had planned everything perfectly.
Then James received an alert.
He looked at the screen.
And his face changed.
"What happened?"
He swallowed.
"Mr. Carter..."
"We found the person who sent the necklace."
Everyone turned.
"Who?"
James looked at me.
"The package was delivered from..."
He paused.
"Inside Carter Estate."
My heart stopped.
The enemy wasn't just close.
May you like
They were already in our home.
END OF CHAPTER 14
