Chapter 7 - Victor disappeared in eleven minutes.No ambulance.
No hospital.
No emergency call.
The entire shooting had been staged.
The guards who were supposed to secure him had vanished.
One camera went offline.
Then another.
The third never showed anyone leaving.
Gabriel looked at me.
“They planned this.”
I nodded.
“Of course they did.”
We returned to the red room.
The photographs had been removed.
Every file was gone.
The desk had been wiped clean.
The walls were bare.
Someone had emptied the room while we were downstairs.
Almost everything.
One file remained.
Sophia's.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena was younger.
My wife stood beside her.
And in front of them was a newborn baby.
Sophia.
But Sophia had not been born yet according to the date written on the photograph.
I stared.
“This date is wrong.”
Elena shook her head.
“It isn't.”
“What does that mean?”
She looked at me.
“Your wife knew about Sophia before she was born.”
“Impossible.”
“No.”
Elena wiped her tears.
“She helped me hide.”
“From Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor was looking for proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Elena hesitated.
“That Sophia was yours.”
I looked at the photograph again.
My wife was smiling.
Not sadly.
Not fearfully.
Almost proudly.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because Victor controlled the doctors. Your lawyers. Your finances. Your schedule.”
Elena looked at me.
“And she believed he was listening to your house.”
He probably was.
My entire life suddenly looked different.
All those times I thought I was paranoid.
All those times my wife lowered her voice.
All those times Victor appeared in a room exactly when we had begun discussing something private.
He had not been a servant.
He had been surveillance with a human face.
Gabriel entered.
“We found the missing cameras.”
“Where?”
“In the basement.”
We followed him.
A server rack was hidden behind a wine wall.
The storage drives were still there.
Gabriel pulled footage.
Years of footage.
Thousands of hours.
My marriage.
My business.
My arguments.
My private conversations.
Then a video from eleven years ago.
My wife entered the red room.
Victor was already there.
We watched silently.
My wife placed a folder on the table.
“I know what you're doing.”
Victor said nothing.
“You cannot control him forever.”
“I don't need forever.”
She stepped closer.
“You are planning to kill him.”
Victor smiled.
“I am planning to protect what is mine.”
“What is yours?”
“Everything he built.”
My wife shook her head.
“You're sick.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“No.”
He pointed to the folder.
“Your husband is about to sign a succession agreement.”
My wife froze.
“What succession agreement?”
“The one that transfers the majority of the Mercer assets into a trust.”
She stepped forward.
“Whose trust?”
Victor smiled.
“Mine.”
The footage ended.
I stared at the frozen screen.
Gabriel whispered:
“He was preparing the takeover eleven years ago.”
I nodded.
“And my wife caught him.”
Then we noticed something.
Another file.
Recorded two days later.
My wife was crying.
She held the same folder.
And she was talking to someone off-camera.
“If Julian ever discovers this, tell him Sophia is alive.”
My breathing stopped.
The footage continued.
“He will try to protect her.”
A pause.
“That is what Victor is counting on.”
Then another voice answered.
Male.
“We need proof.”
My wife nodded.
“I have it.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the camera.
“Inside Julian's first watch.”
The screen went black.
I touched my wrist.
My oldest watch.
The one my wife had given me twenty-five years ago.
The one I had worn almost every day.
I removed it.
Turned it over.
There was a tiny screw I had never noticed.
Gabriel opened it.
Inside was a microchip.
A data chip.
We connected it.
One file appeared.
An audio recording.
My wife's voice.
“Julian, if you are hearing this, Victor failed.”
I closed my eyes.
Her voice continued.
“He will try again.”
Static.
“And when he does, remember one thing.”
A long pause.
“Do not trust Gabriel.”
The recording ended.
I slowly turned toward my security chief.
Gabriel looked devastated.
“Julian.”
I took a step back.
He raised his hands.
“I can explain.”
“How long?”
“What?”
“How long have you known?”
He shook his head.
“Known what?”
I held up the watch.
“My wife warned me about you.”
Gabriel stared at the chip.
May you like
Then whispered:
“She warned you about the wrong man.”
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