Chapter 5: The Enemy Sitting at Our Table
The name on the screen felt impossible.
Fiona Martinez.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
I waited for my father to deny it.
To say there had been a mistake.
He didn’t.
Instead, he slowly sat down.
“She signed the documents?””
Michael nodded.
“She was given access through her engagement relationship with you.””
I felt sick.
My engagement.
My wedding.
My love.
It had all been a doorway.
My father looked heartbroken.
Not angry.
Heartbroken.
That hurt more.
“She was young,” he said quietly.
I stared at him.
“Dad.””
He looked up.
“I know what you’re thinking.””
“What am I thinking?””
“That you should have seen it.””
I looked away.
Because he was right.
There had been signs.
Every time Fiona made a comment about my father’s clothes.
Every time her family treated him like he was beneath them.
Every time they smiled while insulting him.
I had defended them.
I had chosen to believe love mattered more than evidence.
Then Michael spoke.
“There’s something else.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He placed another file on the table.
“This wasn’t only about money.””
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Messages.
George Martinez had been planning something much bigger.
A merger.
A takeover.
And my father’s company was only the beginning.
“He wanted control of everything,” Michael said.
My father looked toward the window.
“He always did.””
I turned.
“You knew him before?””
My father nodded.
“Years ago.””
“How?””
A long silence followed.
Then my father said something I never expected.
“George Martinez worked for me.””
The room went still.
“What?””
“He wasn’t always wealthy.””
My father looked at the old kitchen around us.
“He was desperate.””
“And you helped him?””
“I gave him a chance.””
My chest tightened.
The man who insulted my father had once needed him.
My father had lifted him up.
And now he had tried to destroy him.
That night, I returned to the hotel.
Not for Fiona.
For answers.
The ballroom was empty.
The decorations were still there.
Hundreds of flowers beginning to wilt.
A perfect wedding abandoned.
I walked toward the stage where Beverly had humiliated my father.
Then I heard footsteps.
I turned.
George Martinez stood in the doorway.
Alone.
No smile.
No confidence.
“You shouldn’t have looked into this,” he said.
I stared at him.
“You should have respected my father.””
His jaw tightened.
“You have no idea what your father did.””
“Then tell me.””
George stepped closer.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“Your father destroyed my life.””
I almost laughed.
“My father saved your life.””
George’s expression changed.
“How much did he tell you?””
“Enough.””
He looked toward the empty ballroom.
Then he whispered:
“Your father didn’t walk away from his company because your mother was sick.””
I froze.
“What?””
George smiled faintly.
A cruel smile.
“He left because he had something to hide.””
The lights above us flickered.
And before I could ask another question, George said the words that changed everything.
“The man you worship spent twenty years making you believe he was a victim…”
May you like
He stepped closer.
“When the truth comes out, you’ll realize your father was the villain all along.””
