Chapter 4: The Person Veronika Trusted Most
The mansion was silent.
Not peaceful.
Silent.
There was a difference.
Peace felt warm.
This silence felt like something was waiting.
Veronika stood in the middle of the library, staring at the blank screen where Damian Cross had disappeared.
For years, she had believed she understood every person around her.
She had built companies across continents.
She had negotiated billion-dollar deals.
She had survived enemies who wanted to destroy everything she created.
But now, standing inside her own home, she felt something she rarely experienced.
Uncertainty.
Someone had entered her life.
Someone had studied her.
Someone had known her weaknesses.
And someone had been close enough to make her sign a document that could destroy everything.
Richard broke the silence.
“We need to leave.”
Veronika did not move.
“No.”
Richard looked at her.
“Veronika.”
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
But there was steel beneath it.
“I spent my entire life running from threats.”
She looked around the mansion.
“My enemies attacked my companies. They attacked my reputation. They attacked my finances.”
A pause.
“But this time, someone attacked my heart.”
Her eyes moved toward Alex.
“And I want to know who.”
Alex looked uncomfortable.
For the first time, he was not trying to escape.
He was trying to understand.
Because Damian Cross had revealed something Alex never expected.
He was not the villain of the story.
He was only one chapter.
Two hours later, Veronika, Richard, and Alex gathered inside the underground security room beneath the mansion.
A room Alex had never known existed.
The walls were covered with monitors.
Security footage.
Financial records.
Private files.
Everything Veronika had collected over decades.
Alex stared around.
“You had this the entire time?”
Richard answered.
“She trusts technology more than people.”
Veronika looked at him.
“People can lie.”
She touched one of the screens.
“Machines only record what happens.”
Richard exchanged a glance with her.
That sentence carried more meaning than Alex understood.
Because Veronika had always been careful.
She did not become a billionaire by being careless.
But love had created a blind spot.
Alex.
The one thing she never investigated deeply enough.
Until it was too late.
Or at least, that was what she thought.
“Show him,” Veronika said.
Richard hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Richard typed a password.
A folder appeared.
The title:
PROJECT MIRROR
Alex frowned.
“What is that?”
Veronika looked at him.
“My investigation.”
Richard opened the file.
Inside were months of surveillance reports.
Photos.
Bank transactions.
Phone records.
Names.
Alex stepped closer.
His face slowly changed.
Because he saw himself.
Pictures of him meeting unknown people.
Financial transfers.
Secret conversations.
Dates.
Locations.
Everything.
“You were watching me.”
Veronika nodded.
“For three months.”
Alex laughed bitterly.
“So you knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected I was planning to kill you.”
“Yes.”
The answer was so simple that it hurt.
Alex stared at her.
“Then why did you stay?”
Veronika looked away.
And for the first time, her expression softened.
“Because I wanted to believe I was wrong.”
Those words affected Alex more than anger would have.
Because anger was easy.
But disappointment was heavier.
Richard opened another file.
This one was marked:
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
“This is where it gets strange.”
The screen showed a timeline.
Three months before the wedding.
Alex’s first suspicious meeting.
A financial transfer.
A hidden account.
But then another name appeared.
A name that shocked Alex.
“Impossible.”
Veronika looked at him.
“You know her?”
Alex stared at the screen.
The name belonged to:
Elena Marquez.
His former fiancée.
The woman everyone believed had disappeared from his life years ago.
Alex stepped back.
“No.”
Richard looked at him.
“Who is Elena?”
Alex didn’t answer.
Veronika noticed.
“Alex.”
He swallowed.
“Elena was…”
He stopped.
The memories came back.
Five years earlier.
Before Veronika.
Before the mansion.
Before the billions.
Alex had been engaged to Elena.
She was the only person who knew the real him.
The poor version.
The ambitious version.
The desperate version.
But one night, Elena discovered something.
She discovered Alex was not the victim he pretended to be.
He had debts.
He had lied about his past.
He had manipulated people.
When she confronted him, he disappeared.
A week later, everyone believed Elena had left the country.
Alex never searched for her.
Because he thought she was gone forever.
But now...
she was back.
And she had been connected to the plan.
“How is she involved?” Alex whispered.
Richard looked at Veronika.
“She was the first person to contact Damian Cross.”
Alex’s face turned pale.
“No.”
Veronika studied him.
“You’re afraid of her.”
Alex didn’t respond.
That answer was enough.
Suddenly, one of the security monitors flickered.
Everyone turned.
The screen showed the mansion’s front entrance.
A woman was standing outside.
Rain poured around her.
She held a black umbrella.
The security camera zoomed closer.
Alex stopped breathing.
Because he knew that face.
Even after five years.
Even after believing she was gone.
He knew.
Elena Marquez.
Alive.
Standing at Veronika’s front door.
Richard immediately reached for the security controls.
“I’ll call security.”
“No.”
Veronika stopped him.
Everyone looked at her.
“She came here for a reason.”
Alex stared at her.
“You don’t know what she wants.”
Veronika looked at him.
“Neither do you.”
The doorbell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Then Elena’s voice came through the intercom.
“Veronika.”
Everyone froze.
“How does she know I’m here?” Veronika whispered.
Elena continued.
“I know the truth about Alex.”
Alex clenched his jaw.
“Don’t open that door.”
Veronika ignored him.
Elena’s voice became colder.
“And I know who really ordered your death.”
The room went completely silent.
Richard looked at Veronika.
Because this was the information they needed.
The person behind everything.
The real mastermind.
Veronika walked toward the entrance.
Alex grabbed her arm.
“Don’t.”
She looked at him.
The man who tried to kill her.
The man who betrayed her.
The man who was now afraid of the same person she was about to meet.
“Why?”
Alex looked toward the door.
Because deep down, he knew.
Elena was not here to save them.
She was here because she had her own game.
Finally, Veronika opened the door.
Elena stood there.
Soaked from the rain.
Older.
Different.
Dangerous.
She looked directly at Alex.
And smiled.
“Hello, Alex.”
A pause.
Then she looked at Veronika.
“Thank you for surviving.”
Veronika narrowed her eyes.
“Why?”
Elena stepped inside.
“Because if you had died…”
She looked at Alex.
“…he would have gotten away with everything.”
Alex’s face changed.
“What are you talking about?”
Elena slowly removed her coat.
Underneath was a folder.
She placed it on the table.
The title made everyone freeze.
THE ORIGINAL MURDER PLAN
Elena looked at Veronika.
“You think Alex planned your death?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Her eyes moved toward Alex.
“He only planned to kill you.”
A terrifying silence followed.
“Someone else planned what would happen after.”
Elena opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of someone standing beside Alex months before the wedding.
Someone Alex thought was on his side.
Someone who had been manipulating him from the beginning.
Elena whispered:
“The person who wanted you dead…”
She looked at Veronika.
“…is sitting in this room.”
Everyone turned.
Slowly.
Toward Alex.
But Alex looked just as shocked as everyone else.
Because he knew the truth.
The person in the photograph...
May you like
was not him.
End of Chapter 4
