Aiden

"The boy was sent away to live with his aunt," grandpa said softly. "To Ukraine."

At these revelations, I locked my gaze on Grandpa.

"I received a call from your father at the accident scene. He was hysterical. Of course, I called the cops. The youngster was rushed to the hospital, but he quickly fell into a coma. I looked for his relatives and discovered Paul's sister, Lucia Ponomarenko, who was married to a Ukrainian. I asked her to visit the United States in the hopes that she would accept custody of the boy. I informed her of the situation. She was a devout Christian who felt bad about her brother's actions in the embezzlement . She insisted on taking the boy back to Ukraine," he paused again.


"I arranged for him to be treated at the best hospital, with the best doctors and specialists. I also paid a monthly payment of $250,000 to cover the boy's medical bills and costs. She expressed her gratitude and informed me that she had founded a clothing business in honour of her brother and his family. Rather than paying her, she insisted that I invest in this company." Grandpa halted once more.

"Was that Munoz holdings?" I inquired.

He smiled and nodded.

"Unfortunately, the youngster died a few years later; he never awoke from his coma. Lucia requested that I stop sending money to her. But I persisted in trying to make amends for your father's errors. Since he had wiped off her brother's family, it was the least I could do for her. It wasn't so much an investment as it was a remuneration for what your father had done. Lucia died 10 years ago, and I stopped giving money to her. The business never made a profit, and by the time Lucia died, it had gone out of business. I'm not sure how that company got back on its feet or why it's buying our stock. I  have never forgiven myself for what happened to that boy." Grandpa sighed and put an end to the sorrowful tale.



"How come I've never heard of this before? Wasn't there a legal battle?" I inquired.



"Well, I had people in the right places to assist us with the investigation. Your father was completely blameless. We had a closed-door court hearing since it was an act of self-defense. Of course, the court had found him not guilty! I didn't want the press to know that the Reiners had been duped out of millions of dollars by an accountant. It would have harmed our reputation. The public would lose faith in our companies. I did everything in my power to save my family." Grandpa clarified.



I did not believe grandpa. Everything seemed too far-fetched. I could sense he was lying. There was more in this story. If dad was innocent, why have a closed-door proceeding? What was he trying to hide? He wiped out an entire family and got away so easily? If dad was as innocent as grandpa had portrayed why the need to go at length to hide it from the public?
"Well, I think that settles everything for the time being. Perhaps this company has a new owner who has no connection to Munoz and is simply utilising the name." I casually stated.



"I'm sorry Aiden, you had to discover this dreadful secret in this manner. Would you forgive me for this?" He inquired.

"Grandpa, you did what you thought was right, there's no point dragging up the past, no matter how horrible it was," I said, taking his wrinkled hand in mine. "Dad, along with everyone else involved, has been dead for a long time. You are not required to apologise for my dad's errors."
Grandpa returned my smile, as though he was delighted and satisfied with my explanation. There was more to it, but bothering Grandpa would be pointless. This was something I needed to look into for myself. At the very least, I had a lead.



*************

Mike

As usual, I was at the hideout. To keep them off my back, I had to show them my appearance. Eric's most recent scheme had really blown my head.

"You are crazy! I am sick of your stupid plans !" I shouted angrily at Eric. Even Marilyn looked a bit pale at his latest suggestion.

Tampering with their soft drink was bad enough. When I was forced to deliver that stupid gift box in broad daylight. It had freaked me out. Despite my disguise. And now he wanted me to blow up one of the Aiden's weapons factories! If I was caught it wouldn't be just a random act. This would be taken as terrorism. My life would be screwed, and so would Leah's.

"You have any friggin idea what you're asking me to do? Planting a bomb is an act of terrorism. If I'm caught, you're all doomed! Look, do one thing. Just kill me. Death would be more preferable than doing this!" I yelled at Eric.



"Eric, he is right, don't you think you are taking this a  bit too far ?" Marilyn said she was as pale as a sheet.

"Oh, my goodness! Come on, Marilyn, it wouldn't be much fun if there weren't some fireworks! Besides, don't you want Aiden?" Eric gave her a friendly smile.

"How is this going to get me Aiden ?" She asked.

Eric smiled cryptically.

William's voice said, "He is correct." He'd returned from upstairs with a drink in his hand.



"I have been doing some digging around in the finance," Willaim said.
Marilyn snorted and he glared at her.
"I'm not that naive. Accounting is one of my strong traits." He took a seat next to Eric. "If we pull this off, Reiner Industries will be in a major problem."

"You're all fucking insane!" I grumbled.

William ignored me.

"We just need to show this as an act of negligence, by the Reiners, a lapse in safety. The FBI, cops, the media everyone would be on them. They would lose their weapons manufacturing licence. It will destroy Aiden." Will said gleefully.

"Then you can swoop in to save your man." Eric looked at Marilyn with a smirk.


She whispered, "I still don't believe this is a good idea."



"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice; either you're with me or you're against me." Eric warned.



"Fine," Marilyn grumbled.



Eric then turned to face me. "You don't have to do this if you don't want. I never insisted on you doing it. I was just asking you. I can always find someone else to do the job. I know it's a bit dangerous. I do understand the problem you are facing," he said with exceptional sympathy.

My ears couldn't believe what they were hearing. Of course, he was bluffing.

"Really? You are not going to threaten me? Use my sister as bait? Look, you can kill me for all I care but if you touch my sister. I am going straight to the cops." I threatened.

Eric sighed," how cruel do you think I am ? You don't think I would harm your sister? Do you? I am not as bad as you believe I am. I will not touch your sister. I promise," he said solemnly, I wanted to laugh but that might have triggered him.

"Instead I have a deal," Eric smiled at me.



" I am not interested in your schemes," I snapped angrily.


"However, are you planning to flee?"



My face was emptied of blood. How did he figure it out?



"Don't be alarmed; I'm not trying to harm you. It won't be simple to get away, especially if the cops are on your tail." He smiled sarcastically.

"What exactly do you mean?"



"Just finish this last job, and I'll make sure you get out of here."

I regarded him with suspicion.

"Why would you do anything like that?"

"Because I don't let hard work go unrewarded. We'll talk about this later. Go home and get some beauty sleep. We have our stage show today. Don't want you to look all drained out." He smiled.

I looked at him warily. He was toying with my emotions. But I had more important things to attend to. I had to meet Sydney, at the bank. Once I had the money I would be free.