THE HEIRESS BEHIND THE LIE

CHAPTER 5: The Search

Jenna's POV

The name on the file stayed in my head even after I looked away from it. I had seen it in my father's papers, but I had never understood why it mattered.

Zach pushed another file toward me. “Start here.”

I opened it and began comparing the names. This time, I was not looking for the companies. I was looking for the man connected to them.

Several names appeared more than once, but each time they were connected to a different business. I followed the records until I found the same man listed beside three separate companies.

I looked at the dates carefully.

“There,” I said.

Zach looked up. “What?”

“This name appears in all three records, but he was never listed as an owner.”

Zach took the papers from me and studied them. “Keep going.”

I turned to the next page. “He was a consultant for the first company, an adviser for the second, and his name appears in a payment record connected to the third.”

Zach's expression changed.

“Who made the payment?” he asked.

I pointed to the account details. “The same account that was connected to the other companies.”

He picked up his phone and made a call.

“Find everything on this man. His addresses, business connections, bank records, and anyone he has met in the last six months.”

The man on the other end said something.

Zach's expression hardened. “I do not care how long it takes. I want it today.”

He ended the call and placed the phone on the desk.

I looked at him. “What happens if he refuses to give you the information?”

“He will give it to me.”

There was no anger in his voice, but something about the certainty in it made me believe him.

I returned to the file. “There is something else.”

Zach looked at me.

I pointed to an address beside the man's name. “This one.”

He leaned closer.

“Have you seen this address before?” I asked.

He took the document from me and studied it for several seconds. “No.”

I pulled my father's photograph from my bag and turned it over, keeping the writing on the back hidden from him. I checked the address against the small note my father had written beside the man's name.

It was the same.

My heart began beating faster.

“What's wrong?” Zach asked.

I put the photograph back in my bag. “Nothing.”

He looked at me for a moment. “You are a terrible liar.”

I froze.

“I told you I do not know much,” I said.

“I know.”

His eyes stayed on mine. “You do not have to tell me the truth today. I'll find it myself.”

I looked away and returned to the file.

The address was still there, staring back at me.

I checked the date beside it.

My father's visit had been recorded only days before his death.

My body went still.

“Zach.”

He looked at me.

“My father went there.”

He took the document from my hand. “How do you know?”

“Because he wrote the address down.”

Zach studied the page again. “Why would he go there?”

“I do not know.”

I looked at the date once more. “But he was there.”

Zach picked up his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting a team ready.”

“For what?”

“We're going there.”

His answer came so quickly that I barely had time to react.

“I am coming with you.”

“No.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“You found the address. That does not make you prepared for what might be waiting there.”

“I found the connection,” I replied. “If my dad was there, I need to see it myself.”

Zach stared at me for a moment.

“You will stay beside me,” he said. “You will do exactly what I tell you, and you will not move away from my men.”

I nodded. “Fine.”

He picked up his phone again.

“Have two cars ready. No one goes inside until I give the order.”

I watched him make the arrangements, and I realized how quickly everyone around him responded. Nobody questioned him. Nobody asked why.

They simply did what he said.

As we stood up, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the screen and saw a message from an unknown number.

‘Stop asking questions.’

I read it twice, then locked my phone before Zach could notice.

Another message appeared almost immediately.

‘You are not as safe as you think.’

My hands went cold.

Someone knew I was investigating my father's death.

Worse, they might know that I was staying with Zach.

I deleted the messages before following him outside. I did not tell Zach because I still did not know whether he could protect me or whether he was part of the reason I was being watched.

His men were already waiting by the vehicles when we reached the entrance.

The property looked empty when we arrived. The gates had not been maintained for years, and weeds had grown through the cracks in the driveway.

Zach's men spread out while he stayed beside me.

“Stay close,” he said.

I nodded and followed him toward the main building.

The entrance was covered in dust, and most of the windows were broken. Nothing looked familiar until I noticed a small mark scratched into the side of an old wooden door.

I stopped walking.

My father had used that mark on documents when he wanted to identify something important. Whatever it was he had to investigate himself, it was trouble.

I stepped closer and touched it with my fingers.

“What did you find?” Zach asked.

I pulled my hand away and looked at him. “Nothing. I thought I saw something.”

He studied me for a second but said nothing.

I looked at the mark again.

My father had been here and someone had been waiting for him.

I stared at the door, suddenly aware that we might not be alone.

“Get down now!”