He stopped to cough, a dry, painful sound that made his chest heave.

I reached for a plastic cup of water on the bedside table, but it was empty.

“They staged the accident at the ravine,” my father continued after a moment.

“They threw my car into the freezing water, but they dragged me out first.”

“Julian Bellamy couldn’t just kill me.”

“I had already encrypted the master ledger and hid the hard drive.”

“He kept me in this hidden wing, drugged and locked away, trying to make me talk.”

The red emergency light in the corner of the ceiling suddenly began to pulse, casting a rhythmic crimson glow over us.

Outside, the wind howled against the reinforced glass windows, rattling the panes.

“They used Trevor to watch you, Emily,” my father said, his eyes filled with a deep, aching sorrow.

“To make sure you never looked too closely at what happened.”

“That’s why he hired you at the restaurant,” I whispered, the realization sending a chill down my spine.

“He wanted to keep me close, where he could control me.”