Chapter 6: The Traitor in the Room
No one spoke.
The words on the giant LED screen hung over the ballroom like a sentence waiting to be carried out.
THE TRAITOR IS WATCHING YOU RIGHT NOW.
One by one, the guests instinctively stepped away from each other.
Couples loosened their grip.
Friends exchanged suspicious glances.
Business partners quietly moved apart.
In less than ten seconds, the elegant birthday celebration had transformed into a room full of strangers.
Richard Harrington slowly scanned the crowd.
More than two hundred people had attended the party.
Family members.
Executives.
Politicians.
Charity board members.
Household staff.
Caterers.
Musicians.
Photographers.
Security.
If the message was true...
the person responsible could be standing only a few feet away.
Watching.
Waiting.
"Nobody leaves this ballroom," Richard ordered.
His voice was calm, but everyone heard the steel beneath it.
"Until we know what's happening."
A guest immediately protested.
"You can't imprison us!"
Another added,
"I have children at home!"
Richard didn't raise his voice.
"I don't intend to imprison anyone."
He looked toward the locked doors.
"But someone else already has."
No one argued after that.
Vanessa stood perfectly still.
Her makeup was flawless.
Her posture elegant.
But inside...
she was unraveling.
She wasn't afraid of the guests.
She wasn't afraid of the police.
She wasn't even afraid of the videos.
She was afraid of one name.
Lucas.
Because if Lucas was alive...
then someone had broken a promise made seven years ago.
A promise sealed with money.
And silence.
Emily quietly walked toward the untouched birthday cake.
She stared at the seven candles.
"So pretty..."
she whispered.
Sophia joined her.
"You can blow them out with me."
Emily looked surprised.
"Really?"
Sophia nodded.
"It's your birthday too."
For the first time that evening...
Emily smiled.
A real smile.
Several guests wiped away tears.
Even in the middle of scandal and fear...
the two little girls had found kindness.
Just as Sophia reached for Emily's hand...
a loud voice interrupted.
"No."
Everyone turned.
Vanessa had stepped forward.
Her face was pale.
Her voice sharp.
"She doesn't belong here."
The words landed like a slap.
Sophia frowned.
"Mom..."
"It's okay."
Vanessa wasn't looking at her daughter.
Her eyes never left Emily.
"Take that girl away from the cake."
Emily's smile disappeared.
The room grew tense.
Then...
Richard spoke.
"No."
Vanessa looked at him.
"What?"
"I said no."
Richard walked across the ballroom and stood beside Emily.
"If today is her birthday..."
"...she deserves to stand here."
Vanessa stared at him in disbelief.
"You don't know who she is."
Richard answered quietly.
"Neither do you."
A murmur swept through the guests.
This was the first time anyone had ever seen Richard publicly oppose his wife.
Suddenly...
Dr. Brooks cleared his throat.
"I've remembered something."
Every head turned toward him.
"It happened after the births."
"The hospital security chief came to my office."
"He asked for copies of the delivery records."
Margaret Ellis frowned.
"That wasn't standard procedure."
"I know."
"I refused."
"What happened then?"
"He smiled."
"And said..."
The old doctor's expression darkened.
"'Someone much more powerful than you has already decided these children's futures.'"
Silence.
Richard slowly repeated the sentence.
"Someone more powerful..."
His eyes drifted toward Vanessa.
She looked away.
One of the younger guests suddenly shouted.
"The screen!"
Everyone looked up.
The LED display had changed again.
This time...
it showed a live floor plan of Royal Star Manor.
Every room.
Every hallway.
Every staircase.
Tiny blue dots represented the people inside.
Guests gasped.
"It's tracking us."
"How?"
"Those aren't cameras..."
A red dot suddenly appeared.
Moving.
Unlike the blue ones.
It wasn't inside the ballroom.
It was somewhere beneath it.
Deep underground.
The map labeled the location.
SUBLEVEL B.
Richard frowned.
"This building doesn't have a basement."
The estate manager stepped forward.
"It does."
Everyone looked at him.
He hesitated.
"It was sealed years ago."
"Why?"
"It used to be the manor's wine cellar."
"Then?"
He swallowed.
"Mr. Harrington ordered it closed after buying the property."
Richard stared at him.
"My father?"
The manager nodded.
"He said..."
"...some doors should never be opened again."
Emily suddenly spoke.
"I've been there."
Every adult turned toward her.
Richard blinked.
"What?"
Emily pointed toward the floor beneath her feet.
"I dreamed about it."
The room fell silent.
She continued softly.
"I kept having the same dream."
"A little boy was sitting alone."
"He wasn't crying."
"He just kept drawing pictures."
Sophia whispered,
"What pictures?"
Emily answered without hesitation.
"Our birthdays."
A chill spread across the ballroom.
Then...
the red dot on the map began moving.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
It was heading toward a staircase no guest knew existed.
One of the security guards shouted.
"There's a hidden passage!"
The estate manager's face drained of color.
"No..."
"There can't be..."
Before he could finish...
a loud metallic sound echoed beneath the ballroom.
CLANG.
Then another.
CLANG.
Like someone unlocking heavy iron doors that had remained closed for years.
Dust drifted down from the ceiling.
Several chandeliers trembled.
Emily looked toward the floor.
Then whispered the words that made every heartbeat stop.
"He's coming upstairs."
The ballroom lights flickered.
The red dot reached the hidden staircase.
Then...
it disappeared.
A second later...
someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Not on the front door.
Not on the ballroom entrance.
But from beneath the floor.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
And a child's voice echoed through the silent hall.
"Emily..."
May you like
"I'm finally home."
End of Chapter 6
