Chapter 9: The Traitor Within
The phone call ended.
But Gabriel's voice remained.
"Don't trust your mother."
Julian sat motionless in his study for nearly an hour.
The fireplace burned low.
The clock on the wall continued ticking.
Everything around him looked exactly the same.
The same bookshelves.
The same family portraits.
The same furniture that had belonged to generations of Hales.
Yet Julian no longer trusted any of it.
Because every corner of the mansion now felt like it was hiding another secret.
Someone had erased his memories.
Someone had watched Bianca for years.
Someone had protected him from the shadows.
Someone had murdered people to keep information buried.
And now the person claiming to be his missing brother had warned him about Martha.
The woman who raised him.
The woman who loved him.
The woman who had confessed her greatest guilt.
Julian hated that a small part of him wondered whether Gabriel was right.
The next morning, Julian made a decision.
He would investigate everyone.
Not just outsiders.
Not just enemies.
Everyone inside the Hale estate.
For generations, the mansion had been considered the safest place in the family empire.
A fortress.
A sanctuary.
But Julian finally understood something.
The most dangerous place wasn't outside the walls.
It was behind them.
He started with the staff.
Every employee.
Every servant.
Every security officer.
Every person who had access to the mansion.
The Hale family had always valued loyalty above everything else.
Many employees had served for decades.
Some had inherited their positions from their parents.
The head gardener had worked for the family for forty years.
The chef had prepared meals for three generations of Hales.
The security director had protected Elias before Julian was even born.
But loyalty was no longer enough.
Not after everything Julian had discovered.
The first interviews revealed nothing unusual.
Everyone appeared exactly as expected.
They spoke about the Hale family with respect.
They described Elias as demanding but fair.
They remembered Gabriel as a quiet child who always watched over Julian.
They expressed concern about Martha's condition.
They appeared genuine.
Almost too genuine.
Julian hated himself for thinking that way.
Suspicion was changing him.
The same way secrets had changed his family.
Only one person remained.
Edmund Vale.
The Hale family's elderly butler.
Thirty years of service.
He had arrived at the estate before Julian was born.
He knew every room.
Every hidden passage.
Every tradition.
Every family secret.
As a child, Julian had considered him almost another grandfather.
Edmund had taught him how to play chess.
He had secretly given him sweets before dinner.
He had covered for him whenever Julian broke something expensive.
If there was one person Julian never imagined betraying the family...
It was Edmund.
Julian found him arranging old documents in the library.
The elderly butler smiled.
"Mr. Julian."
"You are awake early."
Julian closed the library door behind him.
"We need to talk."
Edmund noticed the seriousness in his expression.
"About what?"
"Trust."
The old man's hands stopped moving.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Julian saw it.
"You've served this family for thirty years."
"Yes."
"You know every secret in this house."
Edmund looked away.
"Everyone who serves a family long enough learns things."
"Some things are better left unknown."
Julian stepped closer.
"Are you one of those things?"
The butler slowly turned back.
"Why would you ask me that?"
"Because I found evidence someone inside this estate has been leaking information."
Silence.
The library suddenly felt smaller.
"Did you?"
Edmund whispered.
"Find evidence?"
Julian narrowed his eyes.
The question wasn't a denial.
It was confirmation.
Before Julian could continue, Edmund sat down heavily.
"I always hoped this day would never come."
Julian's heartbeat accelerated.
"What organization are you working for?"
The old butler looked genuinely sad.
"You're asking the wrong question."
"Then give me the right one."
Edmund stared at the family portrait above the fireplace.
"The question isn't who I work for."
"The question is why they have been watching the Hale family for decades."
Julian stepped forward.
"Who?"
Edmund opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
His eyes suddenly widened.
Not with fear.
With realization.
"No..."
Julian turned.
"What?"
Edmund looked toward the library window.
"Get down!"
The warning came too late.
The sound was almost silent.
A sharp crack.
The glass exploded inward.
Julian dropped instinctively.
Edmund collapsed beside the desk.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then alarms erupted throughout the mansion.
Security personnel rushed into the library.
Julian crawled toward the old butler.
"Edmund!"
Blood spread across the floor.
The bullet had struck him before he could reveal the truth.
His breathing became weaker.
Julian grabbed his hand.
"Who sent you?"
Edmund's eyes struggled to focus.
His lips moved.
A few words escaped.
"The organization..."
Julian leaned closer.
"Which one?"
Edmund tried again.
But before the answer came...
His eyes closed.
The old butler was gone.
The entire estate went into lockdown.
No one entered.
No one left.
Security searched every building.
Every room.
Every vehicle.
Every surrounding area.
The police arrived within minutes.
The first report seemed impossible.
"There was no shooter outside."
The security chief looked confused.
Julian frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The angle."
"The bullet trajectory."
"It didn't come from the garden."
"Or the forest."
"Or any location outside the property."
Julian stared at him.
"Then where?"
The security chief hesitated.
"The shot came from inside the estate."
Nobody spoke.
The library fell silent.
A sniper had killed Edmund.
From inside the Hale mansion.
Someone had been standing within the walls.
Someone close enough to see everything.
Someone with access.
Someone who knew exactly where Edmund would stand.
Julian immediately demanded the security footage.
Every camera.
Every hallway.
Every entrance.
Every hidden corridor.
The footage played across multiple screens.
Hours of recording.
Nothing.
No suspicious movement.
No strangers.
No open doors.
No missing cameras.
The mansion was a sealed fortress.
The security chief looked pale.
"Sir..."
Julian turned.
"What?"
"There is no record of anyone entering."
"And no record of anyone leaving."
Julian stared at the screens.
The impossible truth slowly formed.
The killer had been inside the estate...
Before the shooting ever happened.
Which meant one thing.
The traitor wasn't an intruder.
The traitor belonged here.
That night, Julian stood alone in the library.
The broken window had been replaced.
The blood had been cleaned.
But the room still felt haunted.
On the floor where Edmund died, Julian found something security had missed.
A small piece of paper hidden beneath the old butler's hand.
Only one sentence was written.
"The enemy has always lived among the Hales."
Julian folded the note.
His hands tightened.
For the first time in his life...
May you like
He looked at his own family home and wondered:
How many people inside these walls were waiting for him to discover the truth?
