Chapter 5 - Ramon couldn't move.His uncle was dead.
He had seen the body.
He had stood beside the coffin.
He had watched the funeral.
Yet here he was.
Alive.
Older.
Smiling.
“Uncle Victor.”
Victor spread his arms.
“It's been a long time.”
Ramon raised his gun.
Victor laughed.
“Still solving everything with bullets.”
“You're dead.”
“So were you, according to the newspapers.”
Ramon stepped toward Emma.
Victor placed one hand gently on the child's shoulder.
“Don't.”
Ramon stopped.
“Release her.”
Victor shook his head.
“You don't understand what you've walked into.”
“I understand enough.”
“No. You understand nothing.”
Victor pointed toward the walls.
“The Ortega family wasn't built on illegal business.”
Ramon said nothing.
“It was built to protect the vault.”
“The Circle?”
Victor nodded.
“The Circle wanted what was inside.”
“What?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Victor smiled.
“Of who controls America.”
Ramon looked at the photographs.
“This is bigger than Chicago.”
“Much bigger.”
Emma suddenly spoke.
“Mommy said the vault must stay closed.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You said that?”
Emma nodded.
Victor grabbed her arm.
Ramon aimed immediately.
“Let her go.”
Victor stared at him.
“You have no idea what she carries.”
“My daughter.”
Victor laughed.
“No, Ramon.”
He pointed to Emma.
“She is the daughter of the man who murdered your father.”
Ramon froze.
“Mateo?”
“No.”
Victor leaned closer.
“The third heir.”
Ramon's face hardened.
“There are three Ortega children.”
Victor nodded.
“Your father had three sons.”
Ramon felt the room shift beneath him.
“Who is the third?”
Victor's expression became unreadable.
“You.”
Ramon stared.
“You're lying.”
“Then ask yourself why Arturo never allowed anyone to take your blood.”
Ramon remembered.
Every childhood medical exam.
Every physical.
His father always insisted on being present.
Victor continued.
“Because you are not biologically Ortega.”
Silence.
Ramon's heart beat once.
Hard.
“You were adopted.”
“Who am I?”
Victor smiled.
“The last surviving descendant of the family that originally created The Circle.”
Ramon's gun lowered by an inch.
“What family?”
Victor didn't answer.
A sudden explosion shook the chamber.
The lights died.
Emma screamed.
Gunfire erupted.
Victor vanished.
Ramon grabbed Emma.
“Stay with me!”
They ran through the darkness.
A laser dot crossed the wall.
Ramon fired.
Someone shouted.
He pulled Emma into a tunnel.
They ran.
Behind them, footsteps followed.
Then Mateo's voice echoed through the corridor.
“Ramon!”
Ramon stopped.
Mateo emerged from the darkness.
No weapon.
Just standing there.
“Give me the girl.”
Ramon put himself between them.
“No.”
Mateo's face changed.
“You don't know what she's capable of.”
“She is six.”
“She remembers.”
“Remembers what?”
Mateo stepped closer.
“The night they killed Arturo.”
Ramon stared.
“Your father was murdered six years ago.”
“No.”
Mateo shook his head.
“They killed him the night Emma was born.”
Ramon felt cold.
“My father died twenty-two years ago.”
Mateo smiled.
“That was a body.”
Ramon's eyes widened.
“Arturo is alive.”
Another voice spoke from the darkness.
This time, it was older.
Calmer.
More terrifying.
“Enough.”
Everyone froze.
A figure stepped into the emergency light.
Arturo Ortega.
Ramon's father.
Alive.
Older.
Scarred.
But unmistakable.
Ramon stared at him.
His entire life collapsed in a single second.
Arturo looked at his son.
“Ramon.”
Ramon raised his gun.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me build an empire.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me become a monster.”
Arturo's eyes filled with regret.
“That was the point.”
Ramon's hand trembled.
“Why?”
Arturo looked at Emma.
“Because one day, you would need to become something worse.”
The chamber doors slammed shut.
Red lights turned on.
Arturo said:
“They're coming.”
Ramon looked at him.
“Who?”
Arturo's expression hardened.
“The people I've been hiding you from.”
Then every phone in the chamber began ringing.
One after another.
Hundreds of phones.
And a woman's voice whispered from every speaker:
“Hello, Ramon.”
May you like
Arturo looked terrified.
“They found us.”
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