Chapter 14 - My Father’s Secret
The photograph was real.
Marcus verified it.
My father, Thomas Sinclair, had worked as an accountant for one of Charles Beaumont’s earliest companies.
He discovered suspicious payments.
Then he became an informant.
His testimony helped launch the investigation that eventually became my career.
I had never known.
My father hadn’t died because of Project Hearth.
His death had genuinely been an accident.
But his files survived.
Stored in an evidence archive nobody had examined in decades.
Inside them was the original blueprint for the Beaumont network.
My father had tried to stop it.
Years later, without knowing his history, I had continued the same fight.
When I told Toby, he became fascinated.
“So Grandpa Sinclair was a spy?”
“No.”
“Secret agent?”
“No.”
“Undercover ninja accountant?”
I smiled.
“Closer.”
Toby decided that was good enough.
The discovery helped investigators connect Charles Beaumont to the earliest crimes.
International authorities detained him weeks later.
The empire Richard believed protected him began collapsing.
Properties were seized.
Accounts frozen.
Victims came forward.
But the greatest consequence wasn’t financial.
People stopped being afraid.
Former employees testified.
Old witnesses returned.
Families told their stories.
The Beaumont name, once powerful enough to silence rooms, became associated with court dates and evidence exhibits.
Then trial day arrived.
And Toby asked to attend.
I said no.
He argued.
I still said no.
Finally he looked at me.
“Dad, he said you weren’t coming.”
I froze.
“I want Grandpa to see that you did.”
May you like
That changed my answer.
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