The Weight Of Leaving by Riven Kade novel Chapter 72

Chapter 9

Aubrey suddenly snapped like a cornered cat, her voice shrill as she shouted across the room at me.

“Rowan! Why would you fake that video just to smear Nathan?!”

‘He saved all of us–he’s the reason we’re alive! How could you do this to him?!”

Her voice broke as she cried, tears glistening in her eyes like some picture–perfect betrayal victim. It was her final act.

one last attempt to salvage the image.

I didn’t even bother responding.

Her performance was pitiful.

Instead, I reached into my coat pocket and tossed a USB drive onto the stage.

“Smear him?” I said coolly. “You sure about that?”

“Because everything on that drive is the result of a three–month investigation conducted by my private investigator.”

“Nathan. Aubrey.”

“The two of you have been working together since last year–using a shell company registered in the Calypsia to secretly

transfer ownership of seventeen of my deep–sea tech patents.”

“This was never about a rescue.”

This was a setup. A clean, professional assassination attempt disguised as a disaster.”

*All you had to do was let me die down there–and once I was out of the way, you’d inherit the credit, the patents, the

reputation.”

“You’d rewrite the narrative. Make my life’s work your legacy.”

“And that so–called ‘underwater earthquake‘? That ‘communication failure? Yeah… all part of the script.”

One of the tech staff–hands visibly shaking–plugged the USB into the main terminal.

The projector flared to life.

On screen, the evidence rolled out like a dam bursting-

Company registration papers.

Massive wire transfers through offshore accounts.

Patent reassignment drafts, all filled out and time–stamped–ready to file the moment I was dead.

The auditorium exploded into chaos.

Chapter 9

Gasps Shouts Screams.

“No! That’s not true! It’s not-

Theresa completely lost it.

She stormed forward, shrieking like a banshee, finger jabbing in my face.

“You! This is all your fault, you ungrateful little bastard!”

“You couldn’t stand to see your sister succeed! You’ve always been jealous!”

“Your father always wanted the company to go to her! Who the hell are you to fight for it?!”

Her words slipped out faster than she realized.

And just like that, the real secret slipped out too.

It was like someone had detonated a landmine.

I seized the moment and turned to Richard–who looked like the ground had just been ripped out from under him.

My voice dropped to a razor’s edge.

“She said what, Dad?”

“You’ve always planned to give Carter Dynamics to Aubrey?”

“Why?”

I stepped forward, each word sharper than the last. “Is it because she’s your real daughter?”

Then I turned to the big screen and tapped my phone.

A second document appeared–a legally notarized paternity test I’d commissioned months ago.

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