"At my graduation party, I noticed my father doing something suspicious with my champagne. I stayed calm, observed carefully, and made sure the truth would be revealed at the right moment.

Chapter 3: The Secret in the Safe

My heart pounded so loudly I was certain my father could hear it.

I didn't stop running until I reached the crowded ballroom again.

Laughter, music, and clinking glasses filled the room, creating the perfect disguise. I forced a smile, accepted hugs from relatives, and thanked guests for coming. Inside, however, every word my father had spoken echoed through my mind.

"The dosage wasn't enough."

"If Natalie stays healthy long enough to sign those documents tomorrow..."

Whatever those papers were, they mattered enough for someone to risk my life.

I had two choices.

Confront him immediately...

Or find out exactly what he was hiding.

I chose the second.

An hour later, the party was winding down. Guests drifted toward the gardens to watch fireworks while the staff cleared the dining room.

I noticed my father disappear upstairs.

A few minutes later, my mother asked him where he had gone.

"He said he needed to make a business call," she replied with a puzzled smile.

That was my chance.

I quietly slipped upstairs.

The hallway outside my father's private office was empty.

The door was locked.

I wasn't surprised.

Growing up, Madison and I had joked that Dad guarded that room more carefully than the family jewelry.

Then I remembered something.

When I was sixteen, he had hidden a spare office key inside an old globe in the library because he kept forgetting where he put it.

He probably assumed no one remembered.

I did.

Within two minutes I had the key in my hand.

My fingers trembled as I unlocked the office.

The room smelled of leather and cedar.

Everything was perfectly organized.

Books lined the shelves.

Family photographs sat on the desk.

Awards and business certificates covered one wall.

To anyone else, it looked like the office of a successful businessman.

To me, it suddenly felt like the headquarters of a stranger.

I searched quickly but carefully.

Desk drawers.

Cabinets.

Computer.

Nothing unusual.

Then I noticed something odd.

One painting hung slightly crooked.

Behind it...

A digital safe.

Of course.

My father never trusted banks.

He trusted himself.

Unfortunately for him, he also had predictable habits.

Every password in our house revolved around family birthdays.

I tried Madison's birthday.

Wrong.

Mine.

Wrong.

My parents' anniversary.

Wrong.

The safe emitted a warning beep.

One attempt remained before it locked.

I closed my eyes.

Think.

What mattered most to Richard?

Not family.

Not love.

Control.

Then it hit me.

The year Grandpa Brooks had founded Brooks Holdings.

I entered the four digits.

The lock clicked open.

Inside were stacks of documents, several passports, bundles of cash...

...and a thick blue folder labeled:

CONFIDENTIAL – BROOKS FAMILY TRUST

My pulse quickened.

I opened it.

The first page was a copy of my late grandfather's final estate plan.

Halfway down the page, one sentence caught my attention.

"Upon Natalie Brooks reaching the age of twenty-two and completing her university education, she shall receive controlling ownership of Brooks Holdings, representing fifty-one percent of all voting shares."

I read it again.

Then again.

Fifty-one percent.

Control of the company.

Not my father.

Me.

My hands began shaking.

Dad had spent years acting like he owned everything.

According to Grandpa's will...

He never had.

He had only been managing the company until I graduated.

Tomorrow.