The next day...
Chaos erupted at Beaumont Group when rumors spread that Denis had embezzled company funds and leaked sensitive data to rival corporations. The boardroom was on fire with outrage—directors slamming the table, voices raised in fury—while the managent team scrambled helplessly to contain the storm.
To make matters worse, Denis hadn’t shown up at the office, and his phone was unreachable. Haris dialed his number over and over, each ti t with silence.
"Where are you?" he muttered anxiously. "Why won’t you answer my calls?"
Just then, Denis’s secretary burst in, panic written across her face. "Where is he? Why isn’t he here yet? The Chairman is livid, the directors are losing their tempers, and so are already demanding he be stripped of his CEO position. The press is catching wind of this, too—if he doesn’t show up soon, we’ll be facing a full-blown scandal. I’m terrified. I don’t know what to do."
Haris looked just as rattled. He swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the crisis closing in. "I’ve been trying to reach him, but he is not answering my calls. I don’t know where he has gone."
The woman hesitated, then asked, "Do you think he is actually capable of this?"
Haris ran a tense hand through his hair. Every instinct told him Denis wasn’t capable of betraying the company. Yet the evidence stacked against him was damning, almost impossible to dismiss. Still, deep down, Haris was convinced Denis would never sabotage the company and that he was being set up.
"I can’t imagine him doing this," Haris muttered. "But the evidence... it’s too strong. He has to co back and defend himself before they destroy him completely."
"Try calling him again," the secretary urged. "Maybe he’ll answer this ti."
Haris tried Denis’s number once more, praying the call would finally go through.
Inside his car, Denis stirred at last. He had been unconscious after an accident on his way to the office, but the ringing phone on the dashboard dragged him back to awareness.
"Uh..." A groan escaped his lips as he forced his eyes open, his skull pounding and his ears ringing.
He winced, struggling to lift his head, only for another wave of pain to tear through him. His hand instinctively pressed to his forehead. When he pulled it back, his fingertips were sared with blood.
"What... happened to ?" he muttered, dazed.
Fragnts of mory pieced themselves together through the haze.
Early in the morning, he had received a call from the police station. They had told him there was a lead on his mother. Jeanne’s phone location showed that she had been at a stretch of jungle along the highway, a few kiloters from where her phone had last been found.
Why had she been out there, in the middle of the night? The question raised doubts.
The police suspected sothing had gone terribly wrong and had already begun searching for her in the jungle.
Determined to get the answer, Denis had gone there himself to check their progress. On his way back to the office, lost in the storm of his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed a truck speeding toward him from a curve. By the ti he realized, it was too late. He had lost control in panic and slamd into a tree.
That was the last thing he rembered before everything went dark.
"Yes... an accident," he muttered again, wincing as pain coursed through him.
The relentless ringing of the phone pulled Denis back from the fog. With a trembling hand, he fumbled for it and pressed it to his ear.
"Hello?" he croaked.
"Boss! Thank God you answered," Haris’s voice ca in a rush, urgent and panicked. "Where are you? Everything is spiraling out of control here. You need to co to the office imdiately."
Denis could barely process his words. "I... I had an accident," he forced out, his voice strained with pain.
"What? An accident?" Haris exclaid, stunned. "Where are you right now?"
"On the highway," Denis managed. "I don’t know how long I’ve been unconscious. My head... it hurts so bad..."
The sound of his agony sent Haris into a frenzy. "Stay where you are—I’m coming to you."
The call was disconnected.
His strength was ebbing fast, his head heavy, his body weak. But then, a sharp odor of fuel reached his nose, cutting through the haze. His eyes widened in alarm. If the car ignited, it would explode at any mont.
Summoning every ounce of strength left in him, he shoved the door open and stumbled out. His body ached with every movent, but he forced himself to drag along the ground, desperate to put distance between himself and the wreck.
Then it happened.
Flas engulfed the vehicle, and in the next instant, an explosion tore through the air. The force knocked him off his feet, slamming him against the ground.
Already battered and dazed, Denis couldn’t fight the darkness that swallowed him once more.
At Augustine’s office...
The uproar at the Beaumont Group quickly reached Augustine’s ears. He was taken aback to hear that Denis was accused of such a grave scandal—leaking confidential data to competitors and siphoning company funds.
A shadow of doubt crossed his face. Sothing about it didn’t add up.
"Do you really think he is capable of that?" Augustine asked, his sharp gaze locking onto Gustave.
"All the proof points directly at him," Gustave answered grimly. "It’s hard to believe, but that’s the truth staring at us."
Yet Augustine refused to accept it. It wasn’t just because he had discovered Denis was his brother—it was because he understood Denis’s character. Flawed as he might be, with a history of reckless mistakes, one thing was undeniable: Denis took his work seriously.
He had poured effort into building the company’s success. Why would he throw it all away now?
"I don’t think so," Augustine muttered, shaking his head. "This isn’t as simple as it looks. Gabriel has brought Tania into his house while Jeanne is still missing. Denis must be furious. Maybe he has done it out of spite. But even so, we can’t take this at face value. We have to look into it properly."
Augustine leaned back in his chair, his features hardening as he considered the situation. He had only recently discovered the truth that Denis was his brother, and with that knowledge ca a responsibility he couldn’t ignore. He wouldn’t let Denis suffer injustice.
Turning back to Gustave, Augustine’s tone hardened, resolute. "Investigate this thoroughly. And be ready—we’ll need to push Gabriel out of his seat. I’m stepping in myself."
His words carried the weight of finality. His chest burned with a mix of anger and determination. The Beaumont Group wasn’t just a business—it was his grandfather’s legacy, the very foundation of his family’s na. He wouldn’t let it fall into Gabriel’s hands.
He would not allow betrayal and incompetence to tarnish what generations had built.
Before Gustave could reply, his phone buzzed insistently. "Excuse , I need to take this," he muttered, stepping aside.
The instant he pressed the device to his ear, his expression shifted, shock and disbelief flickering across his face.
"What do you an, an accident?" he blurted out.
On the other end, a man’s voice spoke quickly, urgently. "Denis was found unconscious on the highway. His car went up in flas. Fortunately, his injuries aren’t life-threatening, but he has been rushed to the hospital. The bigger problem is—his father has already filed charges, and the police are there waiting to question him."
Gustave’s brows furrowed deeply. "I understand. Keep updated," he said curtly, though his mind reeled at the revelation.
Ending the call, he turned to find Augustine watching him with sharp curiosity. "It’s Denis," Gustave reported. "He has been in an accident."
Augustine froze, tension running through him, alarm flashing in his eyes. For the first ti, a genuine worry for Denis clawed at his chest.
Gustave quickly relayed everything he had learned. "He is at the hospital now, but the police are already there for questioning."
Augustine rose from his chair. "We are going." He pulled open a drawer, retrieved the envelope Dimitri had sent him, and strode out of the office with determined steps.
"Wait," Gustave called, hurrying after him. "What’s the point of going there now? All the evidence points straight at him. Shouldn’t we uncover the truth first?"
"I can’t just sit back and watch him suffer," Augustine snapped, coming to an abrupt halt. When he turned, his face was carved with stormy anger mixed with raw worry.
Gustave faltered, the words catching in his throat.
"I only just found out he is my brother," Augustine went on. "I’ve already lost my parents to Gabriel’s cruelty. I won’t let Denis beco his next victim."
Realizing there was no stopping him, Gustave exhaled sharply. "Alright. Then what’s the plan?"
"Speak to the lead investigator," Augustine ordered. "Make him understand what is really happening in the Beaumont family. Do whatever it takes, but make sure they don’t press charges against Denis for the ti being. Urge him to investigate it properly. Assure him that we’ll cooperate with the investigation."
Reviews
All reviews (0)