Chapter 6: The Secret Beneath The First Office
The photograph remained on Daniel's phone.
He stared at it again.
And again.
And again.
As if looking long enough could somehow change what he was seeing.
Emily was alive.
That was the only thing that mattered.
Her small face looked calm.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't injured.
But she was standing beside Andrew Cole.
The man Daniel once trusted.
The man who disappeared after the company's biggest security failure.
The man everyone blamed.
The man Daniel believed had betrayed him.
Now he was holding the key to the biggest mystery of Daniel's life.
"He's at the old office."
David Miller looked over his shoulder.
"The first Carter Technologies building?"
Daniel nodded.
The memories came back instantly.
A small brick building on the edge of the city.
A place nobody cared about.
A place where two young men worked eighteen-hour days because they believed they could change the world.
Before the skyscraper.
Before the investors.
Before the billions.
That place was where Daniel Carter was created.
And apparently...
That place was also where the truth was buried.
The police wanted to control the situation.
They wanted a tactical team.
Negotiators.
A carefully planned operation.
But Daniel refused.
"My daughter is there."
The detective looked at him.
"Mr. Carter, you need to understand. We don't know who Andrew Cole is working with."
Daniel looked back.
"I do."
Everyone became silent.
"You don't?"
Daniel pointed at the documents on the table.
"Andrew isn't the person who started this."
He looked at the names.
"Victor."
"Laura."
"Mason."
"They are all pieces."
David frowned.
"Pieces of what?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Because the truth was starting to form.
And it was terrifying.
"A company."
One hour later, Daniel arrived at the abandoned Carter Technologies building.
The place looked forgotten.
The windows were covered with dust.
The sign outside had faded.
Nobody had entered this building in years.
At least...
That was what everyone believed.
Daniel walked through the broken entrance.
Every step brought back memories.
The old reception desk.
The cracked walls.
The tiny meeting room where he and Victor celebrated their first contract.
Everything was still there.
Frozen in time.
Then he saw something strange.
A light.
Coming from the basement.
Daniel stopped.
This building had no power.
Not officially.
He walked downstairs slowly.
The basement door was locked.
But the lock had already been broken.
Someone wanted him to enter.
Inside was a room Daniel had never seen before.
His breathing stopped.
Because hidden beneath the first Carter Technologies office was a completely equipped underground facility.
Computers.
Servers.
Documents.
Security monitors.
A secret operation hidden beneath the company from the beginning.
"What is this?"
David whispered.
Daniel couldn't answer.
He had no idea.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"Welcome back, Daniel."
Daniel turned.
Andrew Cole stepped forward.
Emily stood beside him.
The moment Daniel saw his daughter, everything else disappeared.
"Emily!"
He moved forward.
But Andrew raised a hand.
"Wait."
Daniel froze.
"Don't come closer yet."
The anger returned instantly.
"You took my daughter."
Andrew looked at Emily.
"I protected your daughter."
"You kidnapped her."
"No."
Andrew shook his head.
"I saved her."
Daniel clenched his fists.
"From what?"
Andrew looked at the underground room.
"From the people who wanted her father destroyed."
Daniel looked around.
"Explain."
Andrew walked toward one of the computers.
"For years, Carter Technologies had two companies inside one."
Daniel frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The company everyone saw."
Andrew pointed upward.
"The products."
"The investors."
"The public image."
Then he pointed around them.
"And the company nobody saw."
A screen turned on.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Daniel stepped closer.
"What are those?"
Andrew answered:
"Every secret deal."
"Every illegal transaction."
"Every person who used Carter Technologies for their own benefit."
Daniel's face changed.
"I don't understand."
Andrew looked at him.
"Because you were never supposed to know."
The screen showed a list of names.
Executives.
Investors.
Government officials.
People connected to the company.
Daniel recognized many of them.
Some were powerful.
Some were famous.
Some were people he trusted.
David stared.
"This is impossible."
Andrew shook his head.
"No."
"It's exactly what happened."
Daniel looked at him.
"Who created this?"
Andrew looked at the screen.
"Victor."
Daniel felt the room become colder.
"My partner?"
Andrew nodded.
"Victor discovered it years ago."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
Andrew looked at him.
"Because he didn't trust you."
The words hurt.
Even after everything.
They still hurt.
"Why?"
"Because Victor believed you cared more about protecting the company than exposing the truth."
Daniel looked away.
Maybe that was partly true.
He had spent years protecting Carter Technologies.
Protecting its reputation.
Protecting its value.
But he never imagined what was happening underneath.
"What does Emily have to do with this?"
Andrew became quiet.
Then he walked toward a small box on the table.
Inside was a collection of drawings.
Daniel recognized them.
Emily's drawings.
The ones she made when she was younger.
"She found something."
Daniel looked confused.
"What?"
Andrew opened another file.
Inside was a recording.
A child's voice.
Emily.
From months earlier.
"Daddy, why is there a secret room under your office?"
Daniel froze.
"What?"
Andrew looked at him.
"Your daughter discovered the entrance accidentally."
Daniel felt his heart drop.
"She knew about this?"
Andrew nodded.
"She found the hidden door while playing."
Rachel's voice suddenly came through Daniel's memory.
Emily had always loved exploring.
She had always asked questions.
But he never imagined...
Never imagined his daughter had discovered a secret that powerful.
"What did she see?"
Andrew looked serious.
"Everything."
A noise suddenly came from above.
Everyone stopped.
Footsteps.
Multiple people.
Andrew's expression changed.
"They found us."
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
"Who?"
Andrew reached for a hidden weapon.
"The people who don't want this information released."
David whispered:
"Victor?"
Andrew shook his head.
"No."
"Someone much worse."
The lights suddenly went out.
The entire basement disappeared into darkness.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
A voice Daniel recognized.
A voice that made his blood freeze.
"Daniel."
A pause.
"You spent years believing you were the smartest person in the room."
The voice laughed softly.
"But you never realized you were only playing a role."
Daniel stared into the darkness.
"Who are you?"
The answer came.
A name.
A name that changed everything.
"I am the person who built Carter Technologies before you ever touched it."
The lights flickered back on.
And standing at the top of the stairs was someone Daniel thought had been gone for twenty years.
Someone from the very beginning.
Someone who knew every secret.
Every lie.
Every betrayal.
Daniel whispered:
"No..."
Because the person standing there was the last person he expected.
His own father.
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End of Chapter 6
(Chương tiếp theo: Chapter 7: The Father Who Never Died.)
