Chap 3
The flashing red and blue lights outside the mansion illuminated the grand windows.
The birthday party had turned into a crime scene.
Guests who had arrived expecting champagne and celebration now stood silently as detectives photographed every corner of the kitchen.
The untouched birthday cake.
The blood on the marble floor.
The shattered wine glass.
The cake knife Nathan had slammed onto the counter.
Every detail was carefully documented.
Nathan suddenly realized this was no longer a family argument.
It was evidence.
A female detective gently escorted Isabella into the dining room.
"You're safe now."
A paramedic carefully examined her injuries.
When he lifted a flashlight toward her face, his expression immediately changed.
"These bruises aren't recent."
He looked toward the detective.
"Some are only hours old."
"But others..."
He paused.
"They're weeks old."
The detective quietly wrote another note.
"Repeated assault."
Victor heard every word.
His hands clenched into fists.
He had built an empire protecting thousands of employees.
Yet he had failed to see his own daughter crying behind closed doors.
He walked over to Isabella and knelt beside her.
"I'm sorry."
His voice trembled.
"I should have known."
Isabella gently shook her head.
"You asked me."
"So many times."
"I lied."
Victor looked at her in confusion.
"Why?"
She burst into tears.
"Because every time I wanted to leave..."
"Nathan said he'd destroy your company."
"He said he'd ruin everything you'd spent your life building."
Victor stared at her.
"My company?"
She nodded weakly.
"He said he had powerful investors."
"He said if I divorced him..."
"...he'd bankrupt you."
Victor slowly stood.
Then...
For the first time that night...
He laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the lie was so absurd.
Nathan frowned.
"What are you laughing at?"
Victor looked directly at him.
"You really believed that?"
Nathan folded his arms.
"I know exactly who backs my business."
Victor smiled coldly.
"No."
"You don't."
At that moment, Victor's longtime attorney entered the mansion carrying a thick leather briefcase.
Behind him came two senior executives from Salvon Global Holdings.
The attorney nodded respectfully.
"Mr. Salvon."
"You asked for the acquisition files."
Victor turned toward Nathan.
"I think it's time you learned something."
The attorney opened the briefcase.
Several confidential contracts were placed across the dining table.
Nathan glanced at them casually.
Then his expression froze.
One contract carried the logo of his own company.
Another contained his personal signature.
"What..."
He whispered.
"...is this?"
The attorney calmly adjusted his glasses.
"Three years ago..."
"When your construction company nearly went bankrupt..."
"An anonymous investment group purchased sixty-eight percent of your outstanding debt."
Nathan frowned.
"I know."
"My investors saved me."
The attorney nodded.
"They did."
He slid another document across the table.
"But you never asked who those investors were."
Nathan picked it up.
Across the top was a familiar logo.
SALVON GLOBAL PRIVATE CAPITAL
His hands began shaking.
"No..."
Victor answered quietly.
"Yes."
"You've been building your business with my money."
The room fell silent.
Nathan looked back and forth between the papers.
"This..."
"This has to be fake."
The attorney shook his head.
"Every document has already been filed with the Securities Commission."
"You simply never bothered to read the ownership structure."
Nathan staggered backward.
For years...
He had bragged about becoming a successful businessman without help.
He had mocked Victor behind his back.
He had constantly claimed he would one day surpass his wealthy father-in-law.
The truth was devastating.
His entire company had survived because Victor had secretly financed it.
Not for Nathan.
For Isabella.
Victor had wanted to protect his daughter's future without making Nathan feel inferior.
Instead...
Nathan had used that future to abuse her.
Victor looked him straight in the eyes.
"I gave you every opportunity."
"I treated you like my own son."
"I invested in your dream."
"You repaid my kindness..."
He glanced toward Isabella's bruised face.
"...by destroying my daughter's life."
Nathan's confidence finally collapsed.
He dropped into a chair.
His breathing became uneven.
"I..."
"I never knew."
Victor's voice turned icy.
"No."
"You never cared enough to know."
Before Nathan could respond, another detective hurried into the room carrying a sealed evidence box.
"Sir..."
"We searched the upstairs office."
"We found something."
Inside the box were hidden medical bills.
Photographs of Isabella's previous injuries.
And a diary.
The detective carefully opened it.
"It belongs to Mrs. Reynolds."
Victor looked at Isabella.
She nodded through tears.
"I wrote everything down..."
"So if something ever happened to me..."
"...someone would know the truth."
The detective turned to the first page.
Every entry carried the same heartbreaking ending.
'Today I told my father I was fine.'
The room fell silent.
Even the officers lowered their heads.
Nathan closed his eyes.
For the first time...
May you like
He understood that every lie he had forced Isabella to tell...
Had become the evidence that would destroy him.
