Chapter 78 Chapter Seventy-eight

Chapter 78 Chapter Seventy-eight
CHAPTER 78

The wedding party ended much earlier than anyone had expected.

What should have been the happiest day of Damian and Aria’s lives was ruined by one big question.

Two necklaces. One design. Two women. And only two had ever been made in the whole world.

The guests left the grand room in an uncomfortable silence, whispering to each other as they walked out. Outside, the reporters noticed that members of both the Cross and Voss families were leaving unusually early.

Inside a private room, Damian stood next to Aria. Her fingers were still tightly holding the silver necklace around her neck. She had barely said a word since Mr. Voss saw the jewelry.

Rodriguez stood near the window, watching everyone closely. Evelyn sat quietly on a sofa, trying to understand what had just happened. Across from them, Mr. Voss remained completely silent. For once, he did not look like a powerful, scary businessman. He looked like a man trapped by his own bad memories.

Rodriguez finally broke the silence. "Victor."

Mr. Voss slowly raised his head.

"You recognized those necklaces," Rodriguez said.

Mr. Voss did not answer right away.

"I asked you a question," Rodriguez repeated.

After a few long moments, Mr. Voss sighed. "I did."

Damian’s eyes narrowed angrily. "Then explain it to us."

Mr. Voss looked toward Aria. "That necklace belonged to a woman I knew many years ago."

"My mother?" Aria asked quietly.

"I don't know," Mr. Voss answered immediately. "I never knew her name."

The room became completely quiet again. Rodriguez watched the old man very carefully. "You expect us to believe that?"

"I have spent many years trying to forget that part of my life," Mr. Voss said.

Damian folded his arms. "You don't get to hide things from us anymore."

Before Mr. Voss could reply, Rodriguez’s phone shook in his pocket. He looked at the screen and frowned. "It’s a message from Miguel."

Damian knew that name. Miguel had worked with Rodriguez for decades, secretly investigating financial crimes and corrupt companies in different countries.

Rodriguez answered the call. No one interrupted him. As he listened, the look on his face completely changed. First, he looked surprised. Then, he looked like he couldn't believe it. Finally, his face grew very dark.

When he hung up the phone, everyone waited for him to speak.

"What happened?" Damian asked.

Rodriguez did not answer right away. Instead, he looked straight at Mr. Voss. "I just received the bank records we asked for."

Mr. Voss’s face showed no emotion.

Rodriguez continued, "The records go back almost twenty-five years."

Damian frowned. "And? What do they show?"

"There were regular bank payments," Rodriguez said.

"Paid to whom?"

Rodriguez placed his phone on the table so they could see. "To a security company."

Damian waited for more.

"But that company never really existed," Rodriguez said. "It was just a fake name used to hide the money."

Rodriguez opened one of the files Miguel had sent him. "The money eventually went to one single man." He turned the phone screen toward Damian.

A familiar picture appeared on the screen. It was Leonard.

Aria gasped loudly. "No..."

Damian’s jaw tightened with anger.

Rodriguez nodded. "For years, Leonard received millions of dollars through fake companies. And all that money came from one source." He looked directly at Mr. Voss. "The Voss Group."

Evelyn slowly stood up from the sofa. "Victor..."

Mr. Voss did not deny it. "I gave him the money. He worked for me.”

The words felt like a heavy blow to everyone in the room.

Damian’s voice became dangerously quiet and calm. "What kind of work did he do for you?"

Mr. Voss stayed silent.

Rodriguez answered for him. "The kind of dirty work that honest companies never talk about."

It was corporate bullying, taking back stolen property, and private security. These were bad operations that stayed in the dark. On paper, everything looked perfectly legal. In reality, it was dangerous and wrong.

Damian’s face grew harder. "And what about my father?"

Rodriguez hesitated for a second. "There was another file." He opened it slowly. "It is about the night your father died."

Evelyn gripped the back of a chair to keep from falling. For twenty-five years, she believed her husband had died in a random robbery. She thought it was just a terrible tragedy.

Rodriguez looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Evelyn." He handed the papers to Damian.

The report was short. It was just a collection of old insurance papers, witness statements, and bank details. But one paragraph was highlighted in yellow.

The papers showed that Leonard was seen near the warehouses less than an hour before Adrian Cross was attacked.

Damian’s breathing slowed down, but he was incredibly angry.

Rodriguez kept speaking. "A large payment was sent to Leonard just two days before your father's death. The amount matched his usual fee for a hit."

Silence filled the room.

"Nobody connected the two events back then," Rodriguez explained.

"Why not?" Damian asked.

"Because the payment was hidden through four different fake companies," Rodriguez said. He looked at Mr. Voss again. "It took twenty-five years for someone to finally follow the path of money."

Evelyn shook her head over and over again. "No..." Her voice broke, and she began to cry. "No..." She looked at Mr. Voss. "You knew about this?"

He did not answer.

"Victor!" she cried out.

Still, he said nothing.

Tears ran down Evelyn's face. "My husband trusted you."

Mr. Voss closed his eyes tightly. "I never wanted—"

"Stop," Evelyn interrupted him, her voice sharp. "You do not get to explain yourself tonight."

Aria quietly walked over to Evelyn and held her arm to help her stand. The older woman let Aria help her without a word.

Damian stood completely still. He read the report once, and then he read it again.

His father’s death was not an accident. It was not random. Someone had planned to kill him.

Rodriguez spoke carefully. "We still do not know every single detail. We have the financial proof, and we know Leonard is connected. But we need more information before we know exactly who ordered the attack."

Damian nodded his head slowly. When he spoke, his voice was so calm it frightened everyone. "We are not going to act out of anger."

Rodriguez looked at him.

"We are going to act on facts," Damian said, closing the file. "If Leonard is still alive, he will pay for what he did." Then, he looked over at Mr. Voss. "And if anyone else helped him..."

Damian did not finish the sentence. He did not need to. Everyone in the room understood exactly what he meant.