Chapter 125 What Truly Happened to Angela's Parents
"What the hell are you talking about?" Bryce asked, turning to face Mrs Anderson, who was standing on her feet.
"Yes. Ten years ago, your father, my husband and I turned Angela into an orphan," Mrs Anderson repeated.
"I already know the story of how Angela's parents died. The greedy man whose greed had no end caused his own doom," Bryce said through gritted teeth. "What do you hope to gain, twisting the truth and accusing my father?" he questioned. "Are you looking for salvation for your murderous adopted daughter?" he threw the words at Mrs Anderson.
"Paul Adams was greedy, and that is why we killed him," Mrs Anderson said.
"If you killed him, that is your family's business; don't involve my dad in your crime," Bryce said sternly, already believing Mrs Anderson was just there to make up a story to defend Angela's criminal act.
"Give me ten minutes of your time. That is all I ask for?" Mrs Anderson requested.
"You have already exhausted ten minutes of my time. So get out," Bryce said harshly to her.
"This may sound like a threat to you, but that is the option I have now. Either I tell you the story in person, or I have someone publish it in the papers. Either way, you will hear the story. My husband is dead. I am ready to turn myself in for the crime committed. And I will take your father along with me," Mrs Anderson said, and Bryce stared at her for a while.
He could tell from her eyes that she was not joking. She meant every word coming out of her mouth. Bryce was not scared of her threat, but the Moore family has been in the papers lately for negative things. Another scandal coming up with their name dragged alongside might not be good for their image.
"Alright, you have my attention for ten minutes, and your time starts now," Bryce said, and Mrs Anderson inhaled deeply.
"Eleven years ago, I was invited by my husband to partner with him and his friend on a great business idea. I was the only girl in a male-dominated class of engineers. We were not married by then. Just friends. He briefed me on the business idea, and it sounded amazing. We would be the trio- CEO. Count me in. I said," Mrs Anderson narrated, staring at the floor while Bryce stood on the side staring at her like she was crazy.
"I met Paul Adams the next day, and we discussed further the business idea. We didn't have enough funding. Your father, Devon, provided the investment capital for the business after the passing of your uncle," Mrs Anderson said, and Bryce frowned.
Bryce recalled his father had told him he inherited from his uncle, who had passed, and that was where he got the funds for the business. He never got the chance to meet his father's uncle, but he was just a little boy when his uncle, his father's brother, died. So what is Mrs Anderson talking about? Bryce thought.
"We started the business, and we became the trio- CEO of A.A.M Group. Anderson, Adams, Moore Group. That is the full meaning of A.A.M. Group. Business was great. Mr Anderson had proposed to me by then, so I didn't see the need to use my surname since I was going to become an Anderson soon. The business was doing great. We were into jewellery designs and artefacts. We became the talk of the city when we hit and exceeded our target within a year. You are a businessman, so you know that it is quite an achievement. We celebrated our achievements and continued to work hard. Mr Adams suddenly terminated the contract of our finance manager and took over the position. He showed us documents that proved that the finance manager was stealing money from the company. It was a baby company, so we didn't say much about his decision to manage the company's finances," Mrs Anderson narrated. "We were coming up with a new project, and I was applying my engineering skills to that. I walked up late in the company, and that was when I heard Mr Adams talking on the phone with someone. He said, those two idiots would not know what hit them once this is done. I will kick them out of the company. My heart skipped multiple beats. I remained in my office, whose door was slightly ajar, and listened to Mr Adams as he spoke to whoever it was on the phone while walking down the hallway. I informed my husband. He was just my fiancée by then. And he alerted your father. We hacked into our system and realised we were just employees of the company. How? Was the question on our minds? When we confronted him, he showed us documents that proved that we willingly sold our shares to him and paid us. My mind quickly went to some huge sums of money which hit our account. He had told us we made triple profit, and that is why he paid a huge amount of money into our account. How could we have known he was scheming against us? We trusted him. He gave us two options: either we work for him as employees, or we exit the company. I decided to leave, but your father and my husband were not ready to let him keep the company. This was when we plotted against him. We wanted him to transfer the ownership of the company to us, and we will just terminate him. His wife and little girl, who was 13 years old by then, were not to be harmed. I got to know that Mrs Adams and little Angela took a trip and will not be back until the next day. We decided to take out Mr Adams, but unfortunately, it was Angela's birthday, Mrs Adams came back home the night before, so Angela could celebrate her birthday with both parents. The night, the people we hired to end Mr Adam's life, carried out our instructions perfectly, but Mrs Adams was also killed, Angela got shot in the back, and they took Mr Adams's favourite Artefact. A family inheritance was passed down to him from his father. I was really angry. We took Angela in and gave her the life her parents would have given her. My husband and I didn't feel comfortable being the CEO of A.A.M Group, so we exited the company. Your father approached us, saying he couldn't work in the company either, so he sold the company. He brought us a share of the money, but we gave it out. My husband started a small business of our own, and we remained average income earners of the society," Mrs Anderson narrated.
"I know Angela, didn't harm your sister, nor did she harm your mother. Someone knows this story and is using it for selfish gain," Mrs Anderson said.
"Are you by this suggesting my father is the one?" Bryce questioned with a frown.
"You are an intelligent man. Look into it," Mrs Anderson said.