Chapter 7 - I couldn't breathe.The woman stared at me from across the hidden room.
Her hair was streaked with gray.
A long scar ran from her jaw toward her neck.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
My eyes.
I took one step forward.
“Mom?”
She began to cry.
Not loudly.
Just tears slipping down her cheeks.
“Claire.”
Dominic lowered his gun.
“You're alive.”
She looked at him.
“Barely.”
I turned.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You knew she was alive?”
“No.”
The woman laughed bitterly.
“He didn't.”
She looked at Dominic.
“Not until tonight.”
I approached her slowly.
“Who are you?”
She touched her chest.
“Ana.”
“Why did you leave me?”
“I didn't.”
“Then why did everyone tell me you were dead?”
She looked at Dominic.
Then Mason.
Then at me.
“Because they wanted you to forget me.”
“Who?”
“Elias.”
My heart pounded.
“Why?”
“Because your father stole something from him.”
“The ledger?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What then?”
She looked toward the giant safe.
“The original accounts.”
Dominic's face changed.
“There's no way.”
“There is.”
She walked toward the safe.
“Your father didn't steal money.”
She placed her hand on the steel.
“He stole identities.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Ana looked at me.
“He discovered that Elias had built his empire using people who didn't exist.”
“What?”
“Dead people.”
She explained.
Elias created identities using children who died young.
He used their names to open companies.
Bank accounts.
Trusts.
Investment portfolios.
Then he moved billions through them.
My father discovered the system.
He secretly copied every identity.
Every account.
Every transaction.
Then he hid the evidence.
“And I was part of it?”
Ana nodded.
“You were the only person he could never touch.”
“Why?”
“Because the largest account was created in your name.”
I looked at Dominic.
“The four hundred million?”
Ana shook her head.
“More.”
My stomach dropped.
“How much?”
“Your father never finished counting.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Where is the ledger?”
Ana smiled sadly.
“It's already inside the casino.”
I stared.
“What?”
She looked at Dominic.
“You've been guarding it for twenty years without knowing.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Where?”
Ana pointed to him.
“Beneath your office.”
Silence.
I remembered the phone ringing underground.
The hidden room.
The secret door.
The key.
Everything suddenly connected.
Dominic took a step back.
“How did you get here?”
Ana looked at him.
“Elias let me.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He wanted me to lead you here.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“Claire, get behind me.”
Ana didn't move.
“It's too late.”
A red light appeared on the ceiling.
Then another.
Then another.
The room was wired with explosives.
Mason swore.
“Everyone move!”
We ran toward the door.
A blast shook the room.
Bookshelves collapsed.
Dust filled the air.
The steel door slammed shut.
We were trapped.
Ana grabbed my hand.
“Listen to me.”
“What?”
“Your father knew this would happen.”
“What would happen?”
“That you would be brought here.”
She pulled a small key from beneath her necklace.
“This opens the final box.”
I stared.
“Where is it?”
She pointed toward the safe.
“Behind that.”
Dominic approached the safe.
“Step back.”
He examined the lock.
“There are three mechanisms.”
Ana looked at me.
“Your father expected you to open it.”
“Why?”
“Because the system recognizes your fingerprint.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Then do it.”
I placed my hand against the scanner.
The safe opened.
Inside was a single black box.
No money.
No documents.
Just a phone.
It powered on automatically.
A video appeared.
My father.
Older.
Tired.
Sitting at the same desk I remembered.
“Claire.”
I covered my mouth.
“If you're watching this, Ana survived.”
My mother cried.
My father continued.
“And if Dominic is with you, then everything has gone wrong.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
My father's expression hardened.
“Dominic, I know what you did.”
The video paused.
Then continued.
“You promised to protect my daughter.”
Dominic looked down.
“But you made a deal with Elias.”
My blood ran cold.
My father continued.
“You gave him one thing.”
A pause.
“You gave him my daughter's location.”
Dominic whispered:
“No.”
The video ended.
I turned toward him.
“You sold me.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Claire…”
Before he could finish, the hidden room shook again.
Ana screamed.
Then the speakers came alive.
Elias's voice echoed around us.
“Now you know.”
I looked toward the ceiling.
“Know what?”
Elias laughed.
“Dominic didn't betray your father.”
I froze.
“He betrayed you.”
Then every light in the room turned red.
May you like
And Dominic whispered the one sentence that terrified me most.
“He's lying.”
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