Chapter 7 - Daniel Vale entered the estate alone.No guards stopped him.
No alarm sounded.
The front doors simply opened.
Adrian stood in the foyer with a gun pointed at his chest.
Daniel smiled.
"You still hold it the same way."
Adrian's finger tightened on the trigger.
"You died."
"No."
"You were buried."
"Someone was."
Elena stared at him.
He looked older than Adrian.
Thinner.
His face was marked by years Adrian could not explain.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
The same gray eyes.
Daniel looked at Elena.
"You're different."
"From what?"
"From the last time I saw you."
Elena went cold.
"You've seen me before?"
Daniel smiled sadly.
"When you were six."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Don't."
Daniel ignored him.
"She remembers the red door."
Elena's mind flashed.
A childhood memory.
A red door.
A hand around hers.
A woman's voice saying:
Don't look back.
Then a scream.
Elena pressed her fingers to her temple.
"What did you do to me?"
"Nothing."
"Then who did?"
Daniel looked at Adrian.
"Our father."
Adrian's voice hardened.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"You don't have to."
Daniel reached into his coat.
Elena raised the gun.
He stopped.
Slowly, he removed a photograph.
He placed it on the floor.
Elena looked down.
It showed a young girl standing beside a woman.
The girl was six.
The woman was Elena's mother.
Behind them stood Adrian's father.
And beside him was Vanessa.
Elena's heart stopped.
"Vanessa knew my mother."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Daniel looked at Adrian.
"Because she was part of the exchange."
Adrian's face changed.
"What exchange?"
Daniel finally answered.
"Our father was covering up a child-trafficking operation."
Silence.
Elena stared.
"What?"
"Families with money paid for children. Families with influence erased records. Hospitals changed names. Lawyers changed dates."
Maya's face turned pale.
"And the Vales?"
"We were at the center."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
"You were twelve. You saw the operation. Father threatened to kill Daniel and your mother."
Elena interrupted.
"My mother?"
"She tried to expose him."
"And?"
"She disappeared."
Adrian lowered his gun slightly.
"Then why didn't you come back?"
"Because I was told you were dead."
Elena stared at Daniel.
"Who told you?"
"Vanessa."
The name hit like a stone.
Daniel continued.
"Vanessa wasn't your enemy at first."
"Then what happened?"
"She made a deal."
"With who?"
Daniel looked toward the study.
"With the man who controls this house."
Adrian said nothing.
Daniel stepped closer.
"There is someone above all of us."
"Who?"
"Your father."
"He died."
Daniel shook his head.
"That is what you were told."
Elena's stomach dropped.
Adrian whispered.
"Where is he?"
Daniel looked toward the floor.
"Closer than you think."
The lights flickered.
A hidden compartment opened beneath the staircase.
Inside was an old telephone.
It rang.
Once.
Twice.
Adrian picked it up.
A man's voice answered.
"You've brought Daniel back."
Adrian froze.
"Who is this?"
The voice laughed.
"You still don't recognize me."
Adrian closed his eyes.
The memory came suddenly.
A study.
A locked door.
His father yelling.
A child crying.
A little girl being carried away.
Then a woman's voice:
"Adrian, don't let him take her."
He opened his eyes.
The old telephone slipped from his hand.
Elena caught it.
The voice on the other end whispered:
"Ask your brother who he killed to make sure you lived."
Daniel's face collapsed.
Adrian stared.
"What did you do?"
Daniel whispered:
"I killed our father."
Elena looked at him.
"Then who is calling us?"
The voice answered before Daniel could.
"Me."
A door opened behind them.
Vanessa stepped into the foyer.
May you like
She was holding Emma.
And a gun was pressed to the baby's head.
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