Chapter 5: The Woman Behind the Screen
The name on the screen didn’t make sense.
It couldn’t.
I stared at it until the letters blurred.
*Fiona Martinez.*
My fiancée.
The woman I had planned to spend the rest of my life with.
The woman whose hand I had held hours earlier while promising forever.
The woman who had stood beside me when I thought my biggest problem was convincing her family that my father deserved a seat at the front table.
Now her name was glowing on a screen in front of five hundred people.
The room waited for me to react.
But I couldn’t.
Because sometimes the most painful moments aren’t the ones where someone hurts you.
They’re the moments where your mind refuses to accept that they could.
“No.””
Fiona’s voice broke through the silence.
Everyone turned toward her.
“No, that’s not possible.””
Her face had gone pale.
For the first time that night, she looked genuinely afraid.
Not embarrassed.
Not uncomfortable.
Afraid.
I looked at her.
“Isn’t it?””
She shook her head immediately.
“Ethan, I swear to you, I didn’t send that.””
I wanted to believe her.
God, I wanted to.
Because believing she was guilty meant accepting that two years of my life had been built on a lie.
It meant accepting that every memory I cherished had a question mark attached to it.
The first time we met at the coffee shop where she spilled her drink on my jacket.
The night she stayed awake with me after my father’s surgery.
The day she told me she admired how much I loved my family.
Were those real?
Or had she just been playing a role?
“Then explain it,” I said.
My voice was quiet.
That made it worse.
Fiona looked at the screen.
“I don’t know.””
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
She stepped toward me.
“Ethan, I don’t know why my name is there.””
I stepped back.
And the look on her face changed.
Because she finally understood.
I wasn’t angry.
I was afraid.
Behind her, Beverly immediately moved forward.
“This is ridiculous.””
Nobody answered.
She pointed at the screen.
“Anyone could have used Fiona’s name.””
George looked at her.
“Beverly.””
“What?””
“You saw the email.””
“Yes.””
“You know how these things work.””
She crossed her arms.
“Are you accusing my daughter?””
The irony almost made me smile.
An hour earlier, they had accused my father in front of everyone.
Now that the accusation landed closer to home, suddenly everything required evidence.
My father stood beside me.
His expression was unreadable.
“Ethan.””
I looked at him.
He nodded toward the folder.
“Keep watching.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“There’s more.””
I looked back at the screen.
The video had ended.
But beneath the video file was another attachment.
A document.
George noticed it too.
“That wasn’t there before.””
“What do you mean?””
He looked confused.
“The file I received only had the video.””
I opened the attachment.
The first page loaded.
And my heart sank.
It was a bank transfer record.
A payment.
From an account connected to Martinez Holdings.
To a private account.
The date was six months ago.
The amount was enormous.
$250,000.
The recipient name was hidden.
But the account number was visible.
George stepped closer.
“That’s not mine.””
Beverly looked at him.
“Of course it isn’t.””
Her voice was sharp.
Too sharp.
I noticed.
So did my father.
“Whose account is it?””
Nobody answered.
Then Fiona whispered:
“Mine.””
The room erupted.
A hundred conversations started at once.
I looked at her.
“What?””
She looked like she might collapse.
“That account…”
She swallowed.
“It’s mine.””
My chest tightened.
“Why would someone transfer a quarter of a million dollars into your account?””
“I don’t know.””
The answer came too quickly.
I stared at her.
“Fiona.””
“I don’t know!””
Her voice cracked.
She looked around desperately.
“Everyone thinks I’m involved, but I swear I’m not.””
Beverly moved beside her.
“Fiona, don’t say anything else.””
I turned toward Beverly.
“Why?””
She looked at me.
“Because she’s emotional.””
“No.””
My voice hardened.
“Because you’re scared of what she might say.””
Beverly’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
George saw it too.
“Beverly.””
She ignored him.
“Ethan, you need to understand something. This family has been under pressure for years.””
I looked at her.
“You mean your family.””
She tightened her jaw.
“My family.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“Your family built itself on making people feel small.””
Her face darkened.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.””
“Then tell me.””
Silence.
“Tell me why my father’s company disappeared.””
Silence.
“Tell me why my mother recorded a video saying someone close to her betrayed her.””
Silence.
“Tell me why your daughter’s name is attached to evidence about it.””
Still silence.
And that silence was becoming the answer.
My father picked up the folder.
“There is something else.””
Everyone looked at him.
He removed another document.
“This was inside.””
He handed it to me.
It was a letter.
The handwriting was familiar.
I had seen it before.
On birthday cards.
On old notes my father kept in a drawer.
My mother’s handwriting.
My hands trembled.
I unfolded it.
The letter was dated two weeks before she died.
*Thomas,*
*If anything happens to me, please promise me one thing.*
*Do not let Ethan grow up believing he was unwanted.*
My vision blurred.
I kept reading.
*I know you want to protect him. I know you think hiding the truth will spare him pain. But someday he needs to know that none of this was his fault.*
I stopped.
My father looked away.
The next line destroyed me.
*You gave up everything for me, and I know you will spend the rest of your life pretending you don’t regret it.*
A tear fell onto the paper.
I continued.
*But Ethan needs to know his father was never a failure.*
I looked at my dad.
He was crying silently.
My mother’s words continued.
*The people who took from us will eventually reveal themselves. They always do. Greed makes people careless.*
Then the final paragraph.
The one that made my entire body freeze.
*The person you should fear most is not the one who stole from us. It is the one who knows where everything is hidden.*
I read the sentence again.
Then again.
“What does that mean?””
Nobody answered.
My father looked at George.
George looked terrified.
Then Beverly whispered:
“She knew.””
Everyone turned toward her.
“What?””
Beverly’s face had changed.
The arrogance was gone.
“She knew where the money went.””
My father stepped forward.
“Beverly.””
“No, Thomas.””
She looked at me.
“Your mother wasn’t just investigating the company.””
My stomach tightened.
“She was investigating someone.””
“Who?””
Beverly looked at Fiona.
And Fiona’s face collapsed.
“Mom…”
I turned.
“Fiona?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
But Beverly kept going.
“She found out someone was using Martinez Holdings to move stolen funds.””
My heart pounded.
“And?””
Beverly looked at her own daughter.
Then said the words nobody expected.
“The account wasn’t opened under Fiona’s name.””
The room went silent.
“Then whose?””
Beverly took a breath.
“It was opened under mine.””
The entire ballroom froze.
Fiona stared at her mother.
“What?””
Beverly looked like she had aged ten years in one night.
“I was trying to protect you.””
Fiona’s voice broke.
“Protect me from what?””
Beverly didn’t answer.
Because she knew.
Everyone knew.
There was one question left.
The one nobody wanted to ask.
I looked at my father.
“Dad.””
He nodded slowly.
As if he had been afraid of this moment for twenty-six years.
“Your mother discovered the truth.””
I whispered:
“What truth?””
My father looked toward Beverly.
Then toward Fiona.
And finally back at me.
“The person who betrayed your mother…”
He paused.
“The person who caused everything…”
The ballroom held its breath.
May you like
“…was someone inside her own family.””
Then every light in the ballroom suddenly went out.
