Chapter 15 - THE MAN INSIDE ESCALANTE HOLDINGSDaniel examined the photograph.
It had been printed less than an hour after the hearing.
The image came from a camera positioned across the street.
Someone had followed me.
The handwriting did not match Victor’s.
Neither did the paper found in his records.
My father increased security.
I refused to hide.
“What does ‘not working alone’ mean?” I asked Gabriel.
“We are reviewing everyone connected to the cyberattack.”
“Inside our company too?”
“Yes.”
The answer came the next morning.
One of Escalante Holdings’ senior executives had accessed the false server Victor attacked.
His name was Thomas Vale.
He had worked for my father for fourteen years.
He attended family dinners.
He sent flowers when my mother died.
Thomas had also approved several loans supporting Whitmore Global.
When confronted, he denied everything.
Then Daniel showed him the access records.
His confidence disappeared.
“I was protecting the company,” Thomas said.
“By giving Victor our internal structures?” I asked.
“He promised the attack would remain limited.”
“You believed him?”
“I needed leverage.”
“For what?”
Thomas looked at my father.
Alejandro stood near the windows.
“For succession.”
I understood.
My father had not publicly named the next chief executive of Escalante Holdings.
Thomas expected the position.
My return threatened him.
“You helped Victor destroy Whitmore so my father would blame me,” I said.
“He should never have placed the family empire in your hands.”
“It is not in my hands.”
“Not yet.”
Thomas’s resentment had grown for years.
He believed loyalty entitled him to ownership.
Victor offered him a path.
If my marriage destroyed my credibility, Thomas would become indispensable.
“Did you help Margaret?” I asked.
“No.”
“Andrew?”
“No.”
“Who delivered the photograph?”
“I do not know.”
Daniel placed another record on the table.
Thomas had contacted a private security contractor the day before the divorce hearing.
The contractor photographed me.
Thomas finally admitted it.
He wanted to frighten me into leaving the company.
My father’s disappointment was visible.
“I trusted you,” Alejandro said.
Thomas looked at him.
“You trusted your daughter more.”
“She is my daughter.”
“I gave you fourteen years.”
“You were paid, respected, and given authority.”
“Not enough.”
The same hunger lived in Thomas that lived in Andrew.
Respect was never enough.
Success was never enough.
They needed possession.
Thomas was dismissed and arrested for corporate espionage.
But before security removed him, he looked at me.
“Victor still has one file.”
“What file?”
“The recording from the mansion.”
My heart tightened.
“What recording?”
“The night Andrew struck you.”
I had assumed no camera captured it.
Eleanor’s party had taken place in an area with private security, but Margaret often disabled interior cameras during social events.
Thomas smiled.
“Someone recorded everything.”
“Who?”
“The person who placed the necklace plan in motion.”
“Margaret?”
He shook his head.
“Someone wanted both families destroyed.”
Then he was taken away.
We searched the mansion system.
One camera had remained active inside a crystal wall fixture.
The footage had been copied remotely.
It showed the entire confrontation.
The accusation.
The first slap.
The second.
Andrew ordering me to kneel.
My warning before leaving.
If released, the video would end any remaining sympathy for Andrew.
It could also humiliate me publicly forever.
The file appeared online before midnight.
Millions watched it.
But whoever released it made one error.
They included three seconds before the confrontation began.
In the mirror behind Margaret, another guest could be seen placing the jewelry box on the table.
A man I recognized.
Charles Bennett.
May you like
Andrew’s last ally on the board.
The man who claimed he came to warn me.
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