Chapter 10 - The Woman Who SurvivedThe woman on the phone gave us an address.
An abandoned church outside the city.
Detective Morgan insisted on going first.
Alex refused to let me stay behind.
We arrived at dawn.
The church was empty.
Broken windows.
Dusty pews.
A bell tower leaning against the sky.
Then we found her.
She was hiding beneath the floorboards.
Alive.
Her name was Nadia.
Victor's sister.
Sofia's mother.
She had spent twelve years believing her daughter was dead.
When she saw Sofia, she collapsed.
Mother and daughter held each other for several minutes without speaking.
Victor watched from behind the police line.
He looked destroyed.
Nadia finally faced him.
"You knew she was alive."
Victor shook his head.
"I suspected."
"You let him take her."
"I was seventeen."
"You were twenty-three when she disappeared."
Victor looked down.
"I was afraid."
Nadia slapped him.
"You should have been afraid for her."
Victor didn't defend himself.
Nadia turned to me.
"Your mother tried to help me."
"When?"
"Before my arrest."
"Arrest?"
Nadia explained.
Richard had framed her for financial fraud.
He had her imprisoned under a false identity.
When she was released, she fled.
She had spent years gathering evidence.
She had met my mother.
Together, they planned to expose Richard.
But someone betrayed them.
"Who?"
Nadia looked at Victor.
"His father."
Victor's father had died three years earlier.
He had been part of the conspiracy.
Nadia handed Detective Morgan a small drive.
"Everything is on this."
"What?"
"Payments. Names. Locations. The full operation."
Detective Morgan connected the drive.
Files opened.
There were dozens of victims.
Women.
Employees.
Doctors.
Police officers.
Judges.
Politicians.
A network stretching across decades.
I looked at the screen.
"This is bigger than Richard."
Nadia nodded.
"Richard inherited it."
"From who?"
She looked at me.
"Your grandfather."
My blood ran cold.
"My grandfather started this?"
"He started the company."
Nadia shook her head.
"The corruption came later."
Then she pointed to one folder.
"That's why Richard wants your baby."
I opened it.
Inside was a legal agreement from twenty-six years ago.
It described an ownership transfer.
A descendant of my mother's bloodline would eventually inherit controlling power.
But there was a second condition.
Evidence of criminal wrongdoing had to be proven in court.
Once activated, every asset linked to the illegal network would be seized.
Richard would lose everything.
And the people under his control would be exposed.
I looked at Nadia.
"Then why didn't my mother activate it?"
"She tried."
"What stopped her?"
Nadia looked away.
"She was murdered."
The room went silent.
"Who killed her?"
Nadia took a long breath.
"Your husband."
I looked at Victor.
He shook his head violently.
"No."
Nadia continued.
"Not directly."
She pointed at the drive.
"There's a recording."
Detective Morgan opened it.
Victor appeared.
He was younger.
Twenty-seven.
He was standing in my mother's house.
She was yelling at him.
"You need to leave my daughter alone!"
Victor shouted.
"I'm trying to protect her."
Then Richard entered.
He said something we couldn't hear.
My mother turned.
Richard attacked her.
Victor froze.
The recording continued.
My mother's body fell.
Victor stepped back.
Richard looked at him.
"Now you understand what happens when you disobey."
The video ended.
I stared at Victor.
"You watched him kill her."
Victor was crying.
"I was scared."
"You left her there."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Richard said if I called the police, he'd kill Nadia."
I turned away.
I couldn't look at him.
Then Detective Morgan said something.
"The recording proves Richard ordered the murder."
Nadia nodded.
"But there's one problem."
"What?"
"The file is incomplete."
"Why?"
"Because the final section is missing."
"What's on it?"
Nadia looked at me.
"The part where your mother tells Victor where she hid the evidence."
I felt my stomach drop.
"Does Richard know?"
"He knows there was another recording."
"Where is it?"
Nadia didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the church doors.
Her expression changed.
"Get down."
A gunshot shattered the stained glass.
Everyone dropped.
Another shot.
Then another.
Detective Morgan shouted.
"Move!"
I crawled behind a stone pillar.
Alex shielded me.
Outside, tires screamed.
The shooter escaped.
Silence returned.
Nadia stood slowly.
She was bleeding.
"Are you hit?"
She looked down.
The bullet had grazed her shoulder.
She shook her head.
Then she pointed toward the floor.
Something had fallen from the shooter's coat.
A small metal key.
Detective Morgan picked it up.
May you like
Stamped on the side were three numbers.
Room 314.
