Chapter 5 - The Enemy Inside Graves Energy Corporation
The words from the security footage stayed in my head.
"Tell Nathaniel his daughter finally found the truth."
I didn't understand them.
Not completely.
But everyone else in the room did.
And that scared me.
Because the second those words were spoken, Nathaniel Graves stopped looking like a billionaire.
He looked like a father.
A terrified father.
His eyes stayed locked on the screen.
The person in the footage had already disappeared.
But Nathaniel didn't move.
He just stood there.
Silent.
Like the world had shifted beneath his feet.
I looked at him.
"Your daughter?"
Nobody answered.
My voice became louder.
"Who is your daughter?"
The room became painfully quiet.
The woman with the tablet looked at Nathaniel.
The security guards looked away.
And Nathaniel...
Nathaniel looked at me.
I think that was the moment I understood something.
He wasn't shocked because someone called me his daughter.
He was shocked because he was afraid it might be true.
"Ruby..."
I stepped backward.
"No."
The word came out before I even knew I was saying it.
Because I didn't want another impossible answer.
I didn't want another secret.
"My mom is my mom."
Nathaniel nodded slowly.
"I know."
"Then why does everyone keep acting like I'm someone else?"
His expression broke slightly.
Because he knew there was no easy way to answer.
"Because someone spent twelve years making sure you never knew who you were."
I stared at him.
The room felt smaller.
"Who?"
Nathaniel didn't answer.
Instead, he turned toward the security guard.
"Find out who accessed the archive."
The guard nodded.
"We're already tracking it."
"No."
Nathaniel's voice became colder.
"Not just tracking."
He looked at the screen.
"I want every camera. Every entrance. Every employee badge scan."
The guard hesitated.
"Sir, if this is an internal matter—"
"It's not an internal matter."
Nathaniel looked at me.
"It's my daughter."
The words landed harder than I expected.
I didn't know what to feel.
Anger.
Confusion.
Fear.
All of it mixed together.
I wasn't ready for someone to suddenly say I belonged to a world I had never known.
A world of private elevators.
Security teams.
Hidden files.
And people watching me from shadows.
I looked at the photograph on the desk.
The one of my mother.
The one with Nathaniel.
The one with the baby wearing my bracelet.
"Did my mom know?"
Nathaniel became still.
"Know what?"
"That you were alive."
He looked away.
That was enough of an answer.
I felt something hurt inside my chest.
My mother had always told me she had no secrets.
But now I wondered how many things she had hidden because she was trying to protect me.
"Why didn't she tell me about you?"
Nathaniel sat down slowly.
For the first time, he looked tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
"Because she thought telling you would put you in danger."
I looked at him.
"From who?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he opened the old file again.
Inside were documents.
Reports.
Photographs.
A newspaper clipping.
I leaned closer.
The headline was partially visible.
GRAVES ENERGY HEIR MISSING AFTER PRIVATE AIRCRAFT INCIDENT.
I looked at Nathaniel.
"You disappeared."
He nodded.
"Twelve years ago."
"What happened?"
His jaw tightened.
"My plane was sabotaged."
The room went quiet.
"I survived."
He looked at the photograph of my mother.
"But someone made sure the world believed I didn't."
I touched the edge of the folder.
"And my mom?"
Nathaniel's eyes darkened.
"Emily found out."
"Then why didn't she tell anyone?"
"Because the person who caused the accident knew she knew."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Someone was trying to hurt her?"
Nathaniel didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
I already knew.
The woman with the tablet stepped forward.
"Mr. Graves."
Nathaniel looked up.
"We found something."
She placed her tablet on the desk.
A list appeared.
Employee access records.
Names.
Times.
Locations.
My eyes didn't understand most of it.
But Nathaniel did.
His face changed.
"Impossible."
"What?" I asked.
He zoomed in.
One name.
One employee.
One person who had entered the archive.
The name was familiar.
Even I knew it.
Because it was printed on the giant company sign outside.
"Richard Vale."
The woman nodded.
"Your chief financial officer."
Nathaniel stared at the screen.
"Richard has been with me for twenty years."
"And he accessed the Parker archive tonight."
The room became silent.
I looked at Nathaniel.
"Is he bad?"
Nathaniel didn't answer.
Because sometimes silence was worse than words.
Finally, he said:
"I don't know."
That was the first time I heard uncertainty in his voice.
A man like Nathaniel Graves probably lived his entire life knowing exactly what to do.
But now he was facing something he couldn't control.
A past he couldn't fix.
And a daughter he never knew existed.
My phone suddenly rang.
Everyone looked at me.
I froze.
Nobody called me.
Except my mom.
I pulled it out of my backpack.
The screen showed her name.
MOM.
My heart jumped.
I answered immediately.
"Mom?"
At first, there was only silence.
"Mom?"
Then I heard breathing.
Not normal breathing.
Scared breathing.
"Ruby..."
I stood up.
"Mom, where are you?"
Her voice shook.
"Listen to me carefully."
The room became silent.
Everyone was watching me.
"Do not go home."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"Ruby, don't tell anyone where you are."
I looked at Nathaniel.
He immediately understood something was wrong.
"Mom, what's happening?"
There was a pause.
Then she whispered:
"I should have known this day would come."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
"What day?"
Another pause.
Then my mother said something that made Nathaniel's entire face change.
"Ruby, if Nathaniel Graves found you..."
She stopped.
I waited.
"Mom?"
Her voice became softer.
"Then they found us too."
The call suddenly ended.
I stared at the phone.
"Mom?"
Nothing.
I called again.
No answer.
Nathaniel stood immediately.
"Give me the phone."
I handed it to him.
He checked the call details.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He looked at the security guard.
"Trace this call."
The guard took the phone.
"Sir, it came from a blocked—"
"I don't care."
Nathaniel's voice was sharp.
"Find it."
The woman with the tablet moved closer.
"Mr. Graves..."
Nathaniel looked at her.
"What?"
She hesitated.
"There is another problem."
I looked between them.
"What now?"
She turned the tablet around.
A security alert appeared.
"Someone just entered the building."
Nathaniel's expression hardened.
"Who?"
She looked at the screen.
"The front desk camera identified him."
Nathaniel stared.
"Who?"
The woman swallowed.
Then said:
"Richard Vale."
The same man whose name was inside the access records.
The same man who had entered the archive.
The same man who had worked beside Nathaniel for twenty years.
Nathaniel walked toward the office door.
"Lock this floor."
The guards moved.
I watched him reach for the handle.
Then he stopped.
Because the elevator display outside suddenly changed.
A single message appeared on the security screen.
NOT AN EMPLOYEE.
NOT A GUEST.
SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN HERE BEFORE.
May you like
Nathaniel stared at the words.
Then the elevator doors slowly began to open.
