His Billion-Dollar Secret

Chapter 7

"Emma! Emma, can you hear me?"

Leonard Warden pressed his ear against the storage closet door. He had been searching the mansion for the past hour after Emma didn't show up for her morning duties. The other servants said she always woke up early, so her absence was strange.

Inside the closet, Emma heard Leonard's voice and wanted to scream, but she was too scared. What if Richard Stone was nearby? What if he heard her and hurt her brother?

"Boss, I found something," Leonard spoke into his phone. "There's a locked closet on the first floor. Someone changed the lock recently. It doesn't match the other doors."

"Break it down," Jayce's voice came through the phone. "Now."

Leonard stepped back and kicked the door hard. The wood cracked but didn't break. He kicked again, and this time the door flew open. Emma was inside, curled up on the floor, her face red from crying.

"Emma!" Leonard knelt beside her. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"My brother," Emma whispered, her voice hoarse from crying all night. "He said he'll hurt my brother if I tell anyone what I heard."

"Who said that?"

"Mr. Richard Stone. The lawyer."

Leonard's face became hard and angry. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He locked me in here last night and left." Emma grabbed Leonard's arm. "Please, you have to protect my brother! He's just a little boy!"

"Don't worry. We'll protect him." Leonard helped Emma stand up and called Jayce again. "Boss, Richard Stone is the problem. He threatened Emma's brother."

"Get Emma and her brother to a safe location immediately. Use the safe house on Maple Street." Jayce paused. "And Leonard, find Richard Stone. I want to talk to him."

Twenty minutes later, Emma was in a car with two of Leonard's security team, heading to pick up her brother from school. Leonard stayed at the mansion, searching for Richard Stone.

He found the lawyer in the garden, calmly drinking coffee and reading the newspaper like nothing had happened.

"Good morning, Leonard," Richard said with a fake smile. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Where were you last night around midnight?"

"Asleep in my room. Why do you ask?"

"Because someone locked a young girl in a closet and threatened to hurt her little brother." Leonard stepped closer, his hands forming fists. "And that someone was you."

Richard's smile faded. "I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe the girl is lying. Servants lie all the time to get attention."

"Emma has never lied about anything in her life." Leonard grabbed Richard by his expensive suit jacket and pulled him up from his chair. "You have three seconds to tell me why you did it, or I'll break every bone in your hand so you can never hold a pen to sign your dirty contracts again."

"You're threatening me? That's illegal!"

"One. Two."

"Wait! Wait!" Richard's tough act disappeared. "I was just following orders! Rose Barker told me to keep the girl quiet! She said Emma was spying and needed to be scared into silence!"

"What did Emma hear?"

"I don't know! Rose didn't tell me! She just said to make sure Emma didn't talk to anyone, especially Jayce!" Richard was sweating now, his face pale. "Look, I'm just a lawyer. I do what my clients pay me to do. It's nothing personal!"

Leonard threw Richard to the ground. "You threatened a child. That makes it very personal." He pulled out his phone and took several pictures of Richard. "These photos are going to the police and the bar association. By tomorrow, you won't be a lawyer anymore. You'll be lucky if you're not in jail."

"You can't do that! I have powerful friends!"

"Not as powerful as Jayce Walker." Leonard walked away, leaving Richard sitting on the ground, looking terrified.

Inside the mansion, Jayce was having breakfast with Hailey when Rose walked into the dining room. She looked surprised to see them sitting together, talking and even laughing.

"Good morning, Mother," Hailey said, her voice cold.

"Good morning, dear. And good morning to you, Jayce." Rose forced a smile. "I heard about the incident at the Plaza Hotel last night. Quite the scene you caused."

"Damson caused the scene by grabbing Hailey. I just removed him from my property." Jayce took a sip of his coffee, watching Rose carefully.

"Your property?" Rose laughed, but it sounded nervous. "My, my. We're full of surprises, aren't we?"

"You have no idea," Hailey said quietly.

Rose looked between them, realizing something had changed. "Hailey, sweetheart, can I talk to you privately?"

"Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of my husband."

"Your husband?" Rose's smile disappeared completely. "Since when do you call him that? Yesterday you wanted a divorce!"

"Yesterday I didn't know the truth. Today I do." Hailey stood up, facing her mother. "And I think it's time you told me some truths too, Mother. Like why you received five million dollars from Stephen Winchestar ten years ago."

Rose's face went white. "How... how do you know about that?"

"So it's true," Hailey's voice shook with emotion. "You really did take money from that monster."

"It was a business deal! Nothing illegal!"

"Really? Because it seems very strange that you got paid by Stephen the same year his company had some problems with the police. Almost like you helped him with something." Jayce stood up too, his voice calm but dangerous. "Want to tell us what you did to earn that money, Rose?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you!"

"Actually, you do. Because at noon today, Stephen is coming here to collect a debt. And I think you know a lot more about that debt than you've been telling everyone."

Rose backed toward the door. "You're both crazy. I don't know what lies Stephen told you, but—"

"Stephen didn't tell us anything. We found bank records. Police reports. Security footage." Jayce walked slowly toward Rose, and she backed away with each step. "We know you helped him ten years ago. We know you're helping him now. The only question is why."

"I want you out of this house!" Rose screamed. "You're poisoning my daughter's mind against me! Guards! Security! Someone remove this man!"

But no one came. Leonard had already sent all of Rose's personal security guards away and replaced them with his own people.

"Your guards are gone, Rose," Leonard said, walking into the room. "It's just you, your lies, and the truth now."

Rose looked around like a trapped animal. Then she did something unexpected. She ran to the window, opened it, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Help! Someone help me! He's trying to kill me!"

Neighbors started looking out their windows. Someone would call the police soon. Jayce knew he had to act fast.

"Leonard, call Jason Cross. Tell him we need the FBI here now." Jayce turned to Hailey. "I'm sorry you have to see this."

"Don't be sorry," Hailey said, tears running down her face. "I need to see who my mother really is."