He Mocked a Janitor at His Gala — Then the Vault Screen Lit Up With the Janitor's Face

A Pier Showdown With a Ghost

The old pier was a rotting skeleton of wood and rust, its planks groaning under my boots as I walked to the end. Salt wind whipped my coat, and the grey sky mirrored my mood. Sebastian stood at the railing, his ivory blazer now wrinkled, his smirk gone. In his hand was a manila folder — the one I'd been looking for.

"You came," he said, not turning around. "I'm impressed. Most founders would've sent a lawyer."

"I'm not most founders," I said, stopping ten feet away. "And you're not half the man you think you are. What do you want?"

He turned, and his eyes were wild, desperate. "I want my job back. And I want a clean record. That's all."

I laughed — a short, hard sound. "You threatened my daughter. You think I'd give you anything but a prison cell?"

Sebastian's jaw clenched. "You don't understand. I'm in debt. Real debt. The kind that gets you hurt if you don't pay. I was desperate. I thought if I could squeeze you, I could —"

"Squeeze me?" I stepped closer. "You killed my wife. You drove her to the edge, and she fell. I have the video."

He shook his head. "That video is edited. I swear, it's not what it looks like. Elena was already sick — she had a heart condition. I didn't push her. She just — collapsed. I panicked and ran. But I didn't kill her."

"Then why hide it?" I demanded. "Why erase the footage from that night?"

"Because I was scared!" His voice cracked. "I was the manager. If anyone found out she died during an argument with me, I'd be ruined. So I deleted the files, paid off a guard, and made it look like an accident. I'm a coward. I know that. But I didn't kill her."

I stared at him, my mind racing. The video I'd found was damning, but it cut off before the moment of her collapse. Could he be telling the truth? Or was this another lie, another manipulation?

"Prove it," I said. "Give me the original footage. The uncut version."

Sebastian's face twisted. "I can't. The guard I paid — he died last year. The footage was on his hard drive. It's gone."

"Then you have nothing," I said. "And this conversation is over."

I turned to walk away, but his voice stopped me. "Wait! I know who killed her. Or at least, I know who ordered it."

I froze. "What?"

"There was a man — a shareholder. He wanted Elena's research destroyed because it threatened his investment in a competing tech. He hired someone to make her look unstable, to push her into a breakdown. I was just a pawn. He's the one who made me delete the footage."

"Who?" I demanded, my voice low and dangerous.

Sebastian hesitated. "If I tell you, you have to protect me. I'm a dead man if he finds out."

"Who?" I repeated, stepping closer.

"Ashworth," he whispered. "Lord Ashworth."

The name hit me like a freight train. Ashworth — the man who'd saluted me, who'd been my most trusted advisor. "You're lying," I said, but my voice was shaking.

"I'm not," Sebastian said. "He's been siphoning funds for years. He's the one who set up the shell company that almost bankrupted the firm. He used Elena's project to cover his tracks, and when she threatened to expose him, he made her disappear."

I felt the world tilt. "Why would he do that? He's worth millions."

"Because he's in debt too," Sebastian said. "Gambling. Bad investments. He was desperate. And desperate men do terrible things."

I took a deep breath. "If you're lying, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in a cell."

"I'm not lying," he said. "Check his office. The top drawer of his desk. There's a burner phone with all the evidence — texts, bank transfers, even a recording of him ordering the hit."

I stared at him, and for the first time, I saw something in his eyes that looked like truth. "Why now?" I asked. "Why not tell me this years ago?"

"Because I was scared," he said. "And because I thought if I could just get away clean, I'd be okay. But you ruined that. You ruined everything. And now I have nothing left to lose."

I turned and walked away, my mind churning. Part of me wanted to believe him. Part of me wanted to find Ashworth and rip him apart with my bare hands. But I had to be smart. I had to be patient.

Mia was waiting in the car, her nose pressed to the window. When I slid into the driver's seat, she looked at me with those big, trusting eyes. "Did the mean man tell you the truth?" she asked.

"I don't know yet," I said. "But I'm going to find out."

I drove to Pendelton Tower, the engine humming like a war drum. Ashworth's office was on the top floor, and I bypassed the elevator, taking the stairs two at a time. When I burst through his door, he was sitting at his desk, sipping scotch like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Dominic," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I walked to his desk, yanked open the top drawer, and pulled out the burner phone. His face went pale. "You should've thrown this into the ocean," I said, holding it up. "Now, let's see what you've been hiding."

I scrolled through the texts, the bank transfers, the recorded call. It was all there — the proof that Ashworth had ordered Elena's death, had paid Sebastian to cover it up, had been robbing the company blind for years. My hands were shaking as I held the phone.

"You killed her," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "You killed my wife."

Ashworth stood slowly, his eyes cold. "Elena was a liability. She was about to expose the siphoning. I had no choice."

"You had a choice!" I shouted. "You could've walked away, taken the hit, made things right. Instead, you took everything."

He smiled — a thin, cruel smile. "And what are you going to do about it, Dominic? Call the police? I have connections. I'll be out on bail before you finish your sentence."

"No," I said, "I'm not going to call the police. I'm going to let the board see this." I held up the phone. "And then I'm going to let the world see what a monster you are."

Ashworth lunged for the phone, but I was faster. I sidestepped, and he stumbled into his desk, knocking over the scotch. "You'll regret this," he hissed.

"I regret not finding out sooner," I said. "Now, you're going to stay right there until security arrives."

But as I reached for my phone to call the guards, the lights in the building flickered and went out. The only light was the glow of Ashworth's smile in the darkness. "You think I didn't plan for this?" he said. "The whole building is on my network. You'll be lucky if you make it out alive."

I heard a door open behind me, and the sound of footsteps. Many footsteps. And I knew, in that moment, that Ashworth had prepared for this confrontation — and he had no intention of letting me leave.