« I insist, » he said, rising. « I will compensate the customer. »
His voice was authoritative, natural and unquestionable. My manager, wide-eyed, nodded from the counter.
So I sat down.
As I got closer, I noticed things I hadn’t seen before. His hands trembled slightly. His eyes were red, as if he hadn’t slept.
« My name is Thomas Gray, » he said in a calm voice. « I’m the CEO of Graystone Industries. »
I had heard that name. Everyone knew him.
« And this document, » he continued, « is part of a business acquisition involving a silent partner that disappeared more than twenty-five years ago. »
I gasped.
« My father disappeared when I was nine, » I said. « One night, he just didn’t come home. Everyone said he was gone. That he didn’t want us anymore. »
Thomas closed his eyes.
« He has not left, » he said. « He was forced to leave. »
The world has been turned upside down.
Thomas told me everything.
My father was his closest friend. A genius engineer. The true architect of Graystone’s early technologies. But when investors pressured Thomas to oust him, my father refused to sell his work. He intended to denounce them.
On the night of his disappearance, he had transferred his shares to a blind trust fund — to protect his family.
« To protect you, » Thomas said, his voice breaking. « I thought he would come back. When he didn’t come back… I spent years looking for it. This document helps to restore that trust. »
I had ringing in my ears.
« He wrote letters, » Thomas added. « Dozens. Yours. To your mother. I never knew they had been intercepted. »
I felt something break inside me.
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