The entire boulevard fell silent.
Victor couldn’t breathe.
Twenty years.
For twenty years he believed the man was dead.
Yet here he stood.
Alive.
Watching him.
Liam stared in confusion.
“Dad… who is that?”
His father stepped forward.
The stranger answered first.
“My name is Alexander Carter.”
Liam froze.
Carter.
His last name.
The man looked directly at Liam.
“I’m your grandfather.”
Liam’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Victor suddenly shouted.
“Don’t listen to him!”
Alexander’s gaze snapped toward Victor.
“You stole everything from this family.”
Victor backed away.
“You can’t prove that.”
Alexander smiled.
“Oh, I can.”
One of the SUV doors opened.
A woman stepped out carrying a briefcase.
She placed it on the hood of the sedan.
Click.
The case opened.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Bank records.
Signed contracts.
Victor’s face drained of color.
“No…”
Alexander looked at Liam.
“Twenty years ago, Victor betrayed our family, stole our company, and tried to erase me forever.”
The crowd gathering nearby gasped.
Victor suddenly lunged toward the briefcase.
But security agents surrounded him instantly.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this!” Victor screamed.
Alexander shook his head.
“It happened exactly how it was supposed to.”
Police sirens echoed in the distance.
Growing louder.
Closer.
Victor looked around desperately.
There was nowhere left to run.
Then Liam spoke.
One question.
The question nobody expected.
He looked at Alexander.
“If you’re my grandfather…”
Alexander nodded.
Liam swallowed hard.
“Then why did my dad tell me you abandoned us?”
Alexander’s confident expression vanished.
For the first time all day—
He looked shocked.
Slowly, he turned toward Liam’s father.
And Liam realized there was a much bigger secret still hidden.
