Page 82 of The Innovator

“I’m sure he can see you from up there.” Uncle Derek points to the sky. “And he’s super proud of you the way I am.”

I’ve done it, Daddy. This tree house is for you, too. I can show you all my building sketches when I’m done. I’m going to be the best architect!

“Now I’m a twelve-year-old with an awesome tree house that I helped build. My friends are going to be so jealous.” I embrace him, appreciating all the time he spent teaching and showing me how to construct from my simple sketch. “You’re good at building too. Why didn’t you become an architect?”

“Nah.” He shrugs. “My interest is in finance.”

I laugh. “You love money.”

“Who doesn’t?” He sighs. “But there’s a dark side to money. Just don’t get yourself caught in it. You’ll be trapped forever.”

I scratch my head. “What do you mean?”

He smiles. “You’re too young to understand, kiddo. When you’re older, you’ll know that money has a dark side.”

“Like the guy in the black helmet from that sci-fi movie? He was good, then turned bad.”

Uncle Derek nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”

I supposed he taught me a few life lessons back then. There was a dark side to money. I’d seen how it corrupted people easily. There had been opportunities for me to make three times the money on projects, but I’d declined. I chose projects that aligned with my interests and didn’t push me toward something I didn’t resonate with. Growing up with a mom and a dad who taught me the value of money made me realize it should be respected, that it couldn’t buy everything, and it couldn’t make everyone happy. They always preferred to do things the right way and believed that hard-earned money had a special power all on its own—it attracted more of its kind and opened opportunities that weren’t available to others.

Karma will always demand justice.That was what Dad used to say. He believed that karma would come when you least expected it to take away what mattered most to you.So live life as though it’s your last day.

Being cautious didn’t mean being stupid. I knew how to negotiate, and I made sure I was paid my worth.

Derek was in prison because of the dark side of money.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, trying not to show any emotion.

“To tell you the truth.” He muttered and looked down at the table as though preventing the cameras from seeing his face. “My time here is limited.”

I snorted. “You seem to be lasting longer than I expected.” Leaning closer to the panel, I whispered, “The Trogyn’s getting to you?”

“Shut up.” Derek grunted, and his eyes showed he didn’t like my comment.

I was going to tell him to fuck off, but then he lifted a finger, moving ever so slightly to the right of his shoulder. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a camera. Someone from the organization could be watching us.

Shit.I’d let my anger cloud my judgment. The last thing I needed was for the crime organization to connect me to him. Though I’d paid some guards to keep tabs on Derek, I didn’t fully trust them. I made a mental note to request the PI hack into the prison’s computer system to delete my visit.

Crossing my arms, I said, “So tell me the truth. I’m all ears.”

“I made a huge mistake. I was blinded by money, greed, power, and jealousy.” He swallowed, and his expression appeared genuine.

But I couldn’t believe his words. Everything he’d said before had seemed genuine until the day he confessed to killing my dad. So no, I took his comments with more than a grain of salt.

“Money has an evil side. You warned me about it.”

“I did.” He nodded. “It consumed me. I got involved with extremely bad people—powerful people—and I couldn’t get out. They’re everywhere.” He glanced down at his hands again.

“Why?”

I’d asked him that question on the day he confessed his crime, but his answer hadn’t satisfied me. So now I inquired again, looking for closure.

Why would he kill my father—his biological brother?

“Because if I didn’t, they were going to do it.” His eyes hardened. “They’d have killed you, your mom, your dad, and your sister.”

Those words were like blocks of ice in my stomach. “You placed my family in danger.”

---