THE MAN BEHIND THE SCANDAL
1387 Words
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
The garden seemed to fall into complete silence.
Even the distant sounds of traffic beyond the Hart estate walls faded into nothing.
Amelia stared at Lucas.
She was certain she had heard him incorrectly.
“My father’s investigation came from Harrison Kingston?”
Lucas nodded slowly.
“According to Daniel’s voicemail.”
Amelia looked at Adrian.
His expression had hardened into something unreadable.
“You already knew,” she said quietly.
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“I suspected my grandfather was involved in many things. Your father was not one of them.”
Amelia searched his face for deception.
She found none.
The problem was that honesty changed nothing.
For years, she had believed someone within the Kingston family had destroyed her father.
Now she had a name.
Harrison Kingston.
The most powerful man in the country.
The man arranging her marriage.
The man who controlled both their futures.
A cold wave of anger spread through her chest.
“I need to hear the voicemail.”
Lucas hesitated.
“The police haven’t released it.”
“Then I want to know exactly what it said.”
Lucas exchanged a glance with Adrian.
“He left the message for Adrian at six thirty this morning. Daniel said he had finally identified the person who hired him to investigate Edward Hart eight years ago.”
“Investigate him for what?”
“We don’t know.”
Amelia frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s the truth,” Adrian said. “Daniel died before he could explain.”
Amelia turned away.
The garden suddenly felt suffocating.
Her father had spent the last years of his life fighting accusations of financial misconduct, insider trading, and corporate espionage.
Every investigation had concluded that he acted alone.
Yet her father had always insisted someone was manipulating events behind the scenes.
No one believed him.
Not even Amelia.
Until the flash drive.
Until tonight.
“Why would Harrison investigate my father?” she asked.
Neither man answered.
Because none of them knew.
The sound of raised voices drifted from inside the house.
Adrian looked toward the mansion.
“Something’s happened.”
They hurried back inside.
The drawing room had transformed into chaos.
Victoria Hart stood near the fireplace, visibly shaken.
Richard Hart was arguing with Detective Hale.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?” Richard demanded.
“We’re not accusing anyone.”
“Then why are you here again?”
Detective Hale remained calm.
“We have additional questions regarding your meeting with Daniel Price.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“This is becoming harassment.”
Amelia immediately noticed something strange.
Sebastian Kingston stood near the window.
No one had mentioned his arrival.
Yet there he was.
Perfectly composed.
Watching.
When his gaze met Amelia’s, something flickered across his face.
Concern.
“Gentlemen,” Sebastian said quietly. “Perhaps this discussion should continue elsewhere.”
Richard visibly relaxed.
Detective Hale nodded reluctantly.
“Tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock.”
Once the detective left, silence settled across the room.
Victoria looked exhausted.
“I don’t understand any of this.”
Sebastian stepped forward.
“You should all get some rest.”
Richard immediately agreed.
“He’s right.”
Amelia studied her uncle.
For someone under investigation, he seemed eager to end the conversation.
Too eager.
As everyone prepared to leave, Sebastian approached her quietly.
“Can we speak privately?”
Amelia hesitated.
Then nodded.
A few minutes later, they stood alone inside her father’s old study.
The room remained exactly as Edward Hart had left it.
Leather-bound books lined the shelves.
A silver fountain pen still rested neatly on the desk.
Amelia had never found the strength to change anything.
Sebastian noticed.
“You’ve kept everything.”
“He deserved that much.”
Sebastian nodded.
“He was a good man.”
Amelia looked directly at him.
“Did you know Harrison investigated my father?”
The question landed heavily.
Sebastian’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
“Where did you hear that?”
“You didn’t answer me.”
He looked away.
“Grandfather investigated many people.”
“Sebastian.”
His jaw tightened.
“I knew there was an investigation.”
Amelia felt something break inside her.
“You knew.”
“I was twenty-three years old.”
“So?”
“So I had no authority.”
“You had information.”
“I had suspicions.”
Amelia stepped back.
“How long have you been keeping secrets from me?”
Sebastian remained silent.
The answer was enough.
“You should leave.”
“Amelia.”
“Please leave.”
For the first time since she had known him, Sebastian looked genuinely defeated.
Without another word, he walked away.
Amelia remained alone in the study.
After several minutes, she opened her father’s desk drawer.
The flash drive remained hidden exactly where she had left it.
Slowly, she inserted it into the laptop on the desk.
She had already reviewed every file countless times.
Tonight she needed to see them again.
Perhaps she had missed something.
The familiar folders appeared.
Financial Records.
Internal Communications.
Personal Notes.
Audio Files.
Amelia froze.
Audio files.
There had never been an audio folder.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
Someone had added new files.
Impossible.
No one knew about the drive.
Hands trembling slightly, she opened the folder.
Only one recording existed.
No title.
No date.
Amelia pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then her father’s voice emerged.
Weak.
Breathless.
“Amelia, if you’re hearing this, then something has gone terribly wrong.”
She stopped breathing.
Her father had never recorded messages.
Never.
“Listen carefully. The evidence isn’t inside the Kingston company. It’s hidden beneath Blackwood.”
Amelia frowned.
Blackwood.
The name meant nothing.
“The person you should fear isn’t Harrison.”
Her father’s breathing grew uneven.
“It’s his son.”
The recording ended.
Amelia stared at the screen.
Harrison’s son.
Which son?
Sebastian’s father.
Adrian’s father.
Or someone else entirely.
A soft knock startled her.
She quickly removed the drive.
Adrian entered.
“You disappeared.”
“I needed space.”
His gaze moved to the laptop.
“You found something.”
It wasn’t a question.
Amelia hesitated.
Trust no one.
Her father’s final warning echoed inside her mind.
But Adrian already knew too much.
And for reasons she couldn’t explain, she didn’t think he was her enemy.
“Maybe.”
Adrian remained silent.
Patient.
Waiting.
Eventually, she told him about the recording.
He listened without interruption.
When she finished, he looked thoughtful.
“Blackwood.”
“You know it?”
He nodded.
“Blackwood Estate.”
Amelia frowned.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Most people haven’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it belonged to my mother.”
The revelation stunned her.
“My mother inherited Blackwood Estate shortly before she died,” Adrian continued quietly.
“The Kingston family sold it after her death.”
“Who owns it now?”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“My father.”
Amelia slowly understood.
Adrian’s father.
Damian Kingston.
The man Harrison had hidden from public life for years.
The man no one discussed.
The man Amelia had never met.
“Where is he?”
“Switzerland.”
“Can we contact him?”
Adrian laughed softly.
“There are many things my father doesn’t do.”
“Such as?”
“He doesn’t answer calls.”
The sadness beneath his words surprised her.
Before Amelia could respond, Lucas appeared in the doorway.
He looked unusually tense.
“We have a problem.”
Adrian immediately straightened.
“What happened?”
Lucas handed him a tablet.
Adrian’s face went cold.
Amelia stepped closer.
The screen displayed breaking news.
KINGSTON HOLDINGS EXECUTIVE FOUND DEAD
The accompanying photograph showed Ethan Cole.
Adrian’s former head of security.
The same man photographed a meeting with Richard Hart.
The same man is connected to Daniel Price.
Amelia looked at Adrian.
“Another murder.”
Lucas nodded grimly.
“It gets worse.”
He enlarged the photograph.
Near Ethan’s body, police had recovered a single object.
A silver cufflink engraved with the Hart family crest.
Richard Hart’s personal crest.
Adrian looked at Amelia.
Neither of them spoke.
Because they both understood the same terrifying possibility.
Someone wasn’t simply killing witnesses.
Someone was framing her family.
- Writer
