“Who?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Because he suddenly understood.
The missing reports.
The unexplained expenses.
The destroyed office.
Thomas.
But before Daniel could say anything, the investigator asked another question.
“Do you know a company called Black River Holdings?”
Daniel frowned.
“No.”
“You've never heard of it?”
“No.”
The investigator placed another document in front of him.
Black River Holdings had received $23 million.
The company was registered six months earlier.
Its listed director was unknown.
But its banking records showed something disturbing.
Daniel Morgan had personally authorized its creation.
Daniel stared at the paper.
Then he whispered:
“Someone is trying to frame me.”
The investigator closed the folder.
“That's what we're trying to determine.”
Three days later, Daniel was arrested.
And Thomas Reed held a press conference.
He stood before dozens of reporters.
His face looked devastated.
“Daniel was my friend,” Thomas said.
He lowered his head.
“I trusted him.”
Daniel watched the broadcast from the holding cell.
Thomas continued.
“I never believed he could do this.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“If he had simply asked for help, perhaps none of this would have happened.”
Daniel slowly closed his eyes.
He finally understood.
Thomas wasn't defending himself.
He was writing the story.
The Missing File
Sarah Collins visited Daniel the next morning.
She placed a box on the table.
“I've been looking through your records.”
Daniel nodded.
“What did you find?”
“Almost nothing.”
Daniel frowned.
“Almost?”
“Someone cleaned the digital archive.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What?”
“Important documents disappeared eighteen months ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Eighteen months?”
“Yes.”
“Exactly when the transfers started.”
Sarah nodded.
“I think so.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Can we recover them?”
“Maybe.”
“How?”
“Your old server.”
Daniel remembered.
Morgan Steel had used an outdated backup system before moving to a cloud platform.
Most people considered it useless.
But Daniel had insisted they keep it.
“It's in the old warehouse.”
Sarah looked surprised.
“You still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Then we're going there.”
That afternoon, they entered the abandoned warehouse.
Dust covered everything.
Daniel walked toward a locked storage room.
He opened it.
Inside were old servers.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Paper records.
Sarah smiled.
“This might be enough.”
They spent six hours searching.
At 8:40 p.m., Daniel found something.
An old encrypted drive.
He handed it to Sarah.
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
They opened the files.
There were hundreds.
Invoices.
Emails.
Bank transfers.
Internal messages.
Then Daniel saw a folder.
PROJECT NIGHTFALL.
He opened it.
Inside were documents that made his blood run cold.
A list of executives.
A list of investors.
A list of accounts.
And a timeline.
The first entry was dated eighteen months earlier.
Phase One: Isolate Morgan.
Daniel continued reading.
Phase Two: Create unauthorized transfers.
Phase Three: Establish Black River Holdings.
Phase Four: Damage credibility.
Phase Five: Force resignation.