Chapter 5 - The Woman in Room 314The photograph led us to a private hospital outside the city.

Room 314.

The nurse who met me was seventy years old.

She stared at my face.

Then covered her mouth.

"I knew you'd come."

She gave me a key.

"Your mother left this for you."

Inside the room was an old cassette recorder.

A red notebook.

And a letter.

I played the tape.

My mother's voice filled the room.

"Caroline, if you're hearing this, then they failed."

I closed my eyes.

"Your father believes he controls everything."

Her voice trembled.

"He doesn't."

She explained the ledger.

The money.

The identities.

The people who had disappeared.

Then she said something that changed everything.

"The person who betrayed me wasn't your father."

Silence.

"The betrayal came from someone closer."

I looked at Juliette.

She looked back at me.

The tape continued.

"Caroline, never trust the person who claims to have saved you."

The recorder clicked off.

A sound came from the hallway.

Footsteps.

Juliette grabbed my hand.

We hid behind the door.

A man entered.

Marcus.

I almost called his name.

Then I saw the gun in his hand.

He walked to the bed.

Checked beneath it.

Then whispered:

"She's here."

My blood froze.

He knew.

Juliette looked at me.

We waited.

Marcus left.

I followed him.

He disappeared through an emergency exit.

Outside, he got into a black sedan.

I memorized the plate.

Then someone grabbed me from behind.

A cloth covered my mouth.

Everything went black.

When I woke, I was tied to a chair.

A single lamp hung above me.

My father sat across from me.

He looked exhausted.

"You should never have returned."

I stared at him.

"Where is my mother?"

He closed his eyes.

"Dead."

"You're lying."

"I watched her die."

"Then why did she leave the tape?"

He looked at me.

And whispered:

"Because she knew I was going to kill her."

I stopped breathing.

My father leaned forward.

"I didn't start the fire."

"Then who did?"

He looked toward the door.

A woman entered.

She was wearing a white dress.

Her face was hidden.

She removed the veil.

I knew her immediately.

My mother.

Alive.

She looked at me.

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And said:

"Caroline, I'm sorry."