The abandoned office building had been empty for almost five years.
That was what the records said.
But when Claire, Daniel, and Ethan arrived with investigators, the place did not feel abandoned.
It felt forgotten.
There was a difference.
An abandoned building was simply unused.
A forgotten building held things people wanted buried.
Dust covered the floors. The windows were cracked. The faded sign outside still carried the name of a company Victor Hale had owned before creating his current development empire.
Hale Property Solutions.
Claire looked at the letters.
“Mom found this place.”
Daniel nodded.
“She knew Victor before we did.”
Ethan stood several feet away from them.
He had been quiet since the phone call.
Too quiet.
Claire understood why.
The truth was becoming harder to separate into simple categories.
Ethan was not innocent.
But he was also not the mastermind.
He had been both a victim and a participant.
That made everything more painful.
Inside the building, investigators searched the old records room.
Most files had been removed.
But not all.
A damaged cabinet remained locked in the corner.
When officers opened it, they found several folders wrapped in plastic.
The first folder contained property records.
The second contained court documents.
The third changed everything.
A list of names.
Families.
Addresses.
Properties.
Claire scanned the pages.
“These are people.”
Daniel looked closer.
“What does it mean?”
The investigator turned the folder around.
“Looks like a pattern.”
Years earlier, Victor had targeted struggling property owners.
He offered financial help.
Loans.
Investment opportunities.
Then, when they could not repay, he pushed them into selling.
Cheap.
Quickly.
Quietly.
“He wasn’t buying land,” Claire said.
The investigator nodded.
“He was creating situations where people had no choice but to sell.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“Just like you.”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Another folder contained emails.
Most were between Victor and business associates.
One message stood out.
It was from three years earlier.
The subject line:
Mercer Property.
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
The email discussed his land.
His home.
His family.
But the date was what mattered.
Three years earlier.
Before Daniel ever met with Victor.
Before the first official offer.
Victor had already planned everything.
Claire read the message aloud.
“Wait until family pressure increases. The son is already unstable.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
Ethan closed his eyes.
“They were watching me.”
Nobody answered.
Because they knew.
The investigator continued searching.
Then another document appeared.
A payment record.
A private investigator.
Paid by Victor.
The target:
Lydia Mercer.
Daniel took a step back.
“He was watching my wife.”
Claire felt anger rise.
Not the sudden kind.
The deep kind.
The kind that comes when someone realizes a person they loved had been fighting alone.
“What did he know?”
The investigator read the report.
“Lydia discovered Ethan’s financial problems. She was investigating Victor’s previous business dealings.”
Daniel looked toward the floor.
“She knew.”
“Yes,” Claire said.
“She knew everything.”
They found one final item.
A small recorder.
Old.
Damaged.
But still working.
The audio began with Lydia’s voice.
“I don’t know who will find this.”
Claire immediately recognized the fear in her mother’s voice.
Not panic.
Preparation.
“I have learned that Victor Hale has done this before.”
A pause.
“He finds families with one weak point and pushes until they break.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Lydia continued.
“My family’s weak point is not Ethan.”
Claire looked at her brother.
The recording continued.
“It is our belief that love means we must protect people from consequences.”
Ethan looked down.
The words hit him.
Because they were true.
Lydia had not been blind to Ethan’s choices.
She had understood them.
But she also understood the danger of someone using those mistakes.
The recording continued.
“If Daniel hears this, I want him to know one thing. Ethan was wrong, but he was not alone.”
Daniel whispered:
“She was trying to save him.”
“Yes,” Claire said.
“She was.”
Then Lydia said something that changed the room.
“Someone inside the family gave Victor information.”
Everyone became silent.
The recording continued.
“I know who.”
Claire held her breath.
Daniel leaned closer.
Then the recording stopped.
The battery had died.
The missing sentence became the most important sentence.
Because Lydia had known.
And someone had stopped her from finishing.
—
—
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Ethan Revealed the Secret He Hid From Everyone, and Claire Learned Why Lydia Never Named the Betrayer
My Sister Announced Our Father’s Death Before Sunrise, but the Man Eating Breakfast Across From Me Had Other Plans
Part 9 of 20
