Chapter 6 - The Truth Patrick Died Protecting
Arthur Gallagher stared at the photograph.
For the first time in five years, he had no words.
The picture was simple.
A young Patrick Doyle.
Margaret Bennett.
Emily standing beside them.
And a newborn baby.
A baby Arthur was now being told was his.
His fingers tightened around the photograph.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
Not angry.
Not threatening.
Just disbelief.
Emily watched him carefully.
"I knew you would say that."
Arthur looked at her.
"You expect me to believe this?"
"No."
Her answer surprised him.
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"Then why show me?"
"Because you deserve the truth."
Leo stepped forward.
"Arthur, this could be fake."
Emily looked at him.
"It could."
Everyone looked at her.
She continued.
"That's why Patrick left proof."
Arthur's eyes moved toward the photograph.
"Where?"
Emily looked toward the hidden archive.
"Where he kept everything he couldn't trust anyone else with."
The room became silent.
Because everyone understood what that meant.
Patrick had planned this.
He knew one day Arthur would find the truth.
The question was why.
Arthur placed the photograph down.
"Start talking."
Emily took a breath.
For the first time since entering the room, she looked nervous.
"My father didn't betray you."
Arthur's expression hardened.
"I watched him put a knife in me."
Emily nodded.
"I know."
"You weren't there."
"No."
She looked at him.
"But I know why he did it."
The silence was heavy.
Arthur stepped closer.
"Why?"
Emily looked at Paige.
Then back at Arthur.
"Because someone was watching."
Paige frowned.
"Watching what?"
Emily answered:
"Everything."
She explained slowly.
Five years ago, Patrick discovered someone inside Arthur's organization was selling information.
Not business information.
Personal information.
Movement.
Locations.
Security schedules.
Weaknesses.
Someone knew Arthur's habits.
Someone knew his fears.
Someone knew about the three-foot rule before it became known publicly.
Arthur's face changed.
Because that was impossible.
Only a handful of people knew the reason behind his rule.
Patrick.
Leo.
And Arthur himself.
"Who?" Arthur asked.
Emily shook her head.
"My father never found out."
Leo looked confused.
"Then how did he know?"
Emily looked at him.
"Because he found evidence that someone was trying to get close to Arthur."
Paige felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
Emily looked at her.
"It means your father was not trying to hurt him."
Paige froze.
"My father?"
Emily nodded.
"Patrick wasn't my biological father."
The words shocked everyone.
Emily continued.
"He raised me."
She looked down.
"He saved my mother."
Arthur looked confused.
"Your mother?"
Emily nodded.
"Margaret Bennett."
Paige stopped breathing.
The room went completely silent.
"No."
Emily looked at her.
"I know this is difficult."
"No."
Paige shook her head.
"My mother is my mother."
"She is."
Emily stepped closer.
"But she wasn't always Margaret Bennett."
Paige looked at Arthur.
Then at Emily.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Emily continued.
"Years ago, before she disappeared from everyone's lives, Margaret was involved with Patrick."
Arthur listened carefully.
"And me?"
Emily looked at him.
"You."
The answer was quiet.
"But not the way you think."
Arthur frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Emily looked at the photograph.
"Patrick discovered that someone wanted to use your relationship with Margaret against you."
Paige felt her heart beating faster.
"My mother knew Arthur?"
Emily nodded.
"She loved him."
Arthur looked away.
The statement hit him harder than he expected.
Because he remembered Margaret.
Not well.
Not clearly.
But enough.
A woman who used to laugh at his seriousness.
A woman who told him he was not as cold as everyone believed.
A woman Patrick once warned him to protect.
Then everything disappeared.
Arthur thought it was because Margaret left.
Now he wondered if she had been taken away.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Emily looked at him.
"Because Patrick believed you would destroy yourself trying to find the people responsible."
Arthur gave a cold smile.
"He knew me well."
"Yes."
Emily looked at Paige.
"He also knew you would protect her."
Arthur followed her eyes.
Paige.
The woman who had walked into his office.
The woman who touched him.
The woman who somehow became connected to every secret in his life.
Leo interrupted.
"There's something else."
Everyone looked at him.
He held a folder.
"I checked the company records again."
Arthur looked at him.
"And?"
Leo opened the folder.
"Emily wasn't the only person planted inside Gallagher Freight & Harbor."
Arthur's expression changed.
"Who else?"
Leo hesitated.
Then:
"Someone changed Paige's employee records six months before she was hired."
Paige looked confused.
"Changed them?"
Leo nodded.
"Someone wanted her here."
Arthur immediately looked at Paige.
She understood what he was thinking.
"Someone hired me?"
Nobody answered.
Because the answer was obvious.
Someone wanted Paige close to Arthur.
Someone wanted the person connected to Patrick's secret standing beside him every day.
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"Who approved her position?"
Leo checked.
"Your board."
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"My board?"
Leo nodded.
"But the request came from someone else."
"Who?"
Leo turned the document around.
A signature.
Arthur stared.
Because he recognized it.
A signature from a man who had been dead for five years.
Patrick Doyle.
The room went silent again.
Paige whispered:
"How can a dead man hire me?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
Arthur grabbed the document.
"There is another copy."
Leo nodded.
"Already searching."
Arthur looked at Emily.
"You knew."
Emily looked away.
"I suspected."
"You let her work here?"
Emily's eyes met his.
"I needed to know if you were still the same man my father feared."
Arthur became still.
"And?"
Emily looked at Paige.
"I was wrong."
That surprised him.
"About what?"
Emily answered quietly.
"My father didn't fear you."
She paused.
"He was afraid of what would happen if you lost her."
Arthur looked at Paige.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then the building alarm sounded.
A sharp, sudden noise.
Leo immediately checked his phone.
"Security breach."
Arthur turned.
"Location."
Leo looked at the screen.
His face changed.
"The archive."
Arthur moved instantly.
The hidden room.
The place where Patrick left answers.
The place someone was now trying to reach.
They ran.
Arthur entered first.
The room had been destroyed.
Files scattered everywhere.
The wooden box was gone.
The letter was gone.
Only one thing remained.
A small envelope on the floor.
Arthur picked it up.
His name was written on the front.
Not Patrick's handwriting.
Someone else's.
Paige stepped closer.
"Who wrote that?"
Arthur opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
His face changed immediately.
Leo saw it.
"What?"
Arthur handed him the paper.
Leo read.
Then went silent.
Paige looked between them.
"What does it say?"
Arthur slowly looked toward her.
"It says..."
He stopped.
Because footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Someone was approaching.
Not running.
Walking.
Calmly.
Like they belonged there.
Arthur turned toward the door.
A shadow appeared behind the glass.
Then a voice spoke.
A voice Paige recognized.
A voice she never expected to hear inside Arthur's private archive.
"Arthur..."
The door handle moved.
May you like
And the person outside whispered:
"You're finally ready to meet the man who started all of this..."
