Chapter 4 - The Man Who Wanted the DoorRichard Had Been Waiting Twenty YearsRichard's voice echoed through the hidden chamber.
Calm.
Almost amused.
Alexander stared at the ceiling speaker.
“Open the door.”
Richard laughed softly.
“You finally found it.”
Alexander looked at the security team.
Their faces were pale.
“What do you want?”
“The drive.”
Alexander glanced at the metal box.
Richard continued.
“And the woman.”
Elena stepped backward.
Alexander moved in front of her.
“You aren't taking either.”
“You still think this is about Elena?”
Richard's voice turned colder.
“This is about your father.”
Alexander clenched his jaw.
“What did he do?”
“He betrayed everyone.”
“That sounds like your version.”
Richard laughed.
“My version?”
A pause.
“Your father stole one hundred million dollars from the company and used it to build an escape route.”
Alexander frowned.
“Escape for whom?”
“For you.”
Alexander looked at the drive.
“Why would he need to protect me?”
“Because he knew what was coming.”
The speaker went silent.
Then Richard said something that made Elena collapse into the nearest chair.
“He knew his death wasn't an accident.”
Alexander froze.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“No.”
Richard's voice was almost a whisper.
“He was poisoned.”
The guards looked at one another.
Alexander shook his head.
“You're lying.”
“Ask the hospital.”
“They confirmed it.”
“Because I paid them.”
Alexander's hands curled into fists.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to open the drive.”
Alexander stared at the black device.
He had spent eleven years believing his father had died naturally.
His father's death had shaped everything.
Alexander had taken over the company at twenty-nine.
He had crushed competitors.
Expanded internationally.
Made Carter Holdings untouchable.
And now a man trapped outside a hidden room was telling him that the entire foundation of his life was built on a lie.
Alexander inserted the drive into a laptop.
A password appeared.
ENTER DATE OF BIRTH.
Alexander typed his own.
Wrong.
He tried his father's.
Wrong.
Elena shook her head.
“Try Sofie's.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
He entered Sofie's birth date.
The screen unlocked.
A folder appeared.
PROJECT ORCHID.
Inside were hundreds of files.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Names.
Payments.
Politicians.
Judges.
Offshore companies.
Alexander scrolled.
Then stopped.
One account had received exactly $100,000,000.
The beneficiary name was:
ORCHID TRUST.
Alexander opened the file.
A legal document appeared.
The trustees were:
William Carter.
Elena Morales.
And...
Sofie Morales Carter.
Alexander's mouth went dry.
Elena whispered:
“I never agreed to that.”
“You didn't have to.”
William's recorded voice suddenly came through the laptop.
“If Elena is reading this, she deserves to know the truth.”
The screen displayed a video.
William Carter appeared older than Alexander remembered.
Tired.
Pale.
He sat at the same desk where Alexander now worked.
“I created the Orchid Trust because I discovered Richard was preparing to take control of the company.”
William looked directly into the camera.
“He was not working alone.”
A document appeared.
A list of names.
Alexander recognized almost everyone.
Executives.
Attorneys.
Security officers.
And one name near the bottom.
His own.
Alexander stared.
“That's impossible.”
His name was listed under a heading:
SUCCESSION TARGET.
Richard's voice came through the speaker.
“You see it now.”
Alexander looked upward.
“You put my name there.”
“No.”
“You knew.”
“I protected you.”
“You tried to kill Elena.”
Richard laughed.
“I tried to keep her quiet.”
Elena cried out.
“Why?”
“Because she stole something.”
Alexander turned toward Elena.
“What did you steal?”
Elena's lips trembled.
“I didn't know what it was.”
Richard interrupted.
“She took the original ledger.”
Alexander stared.
Elena shook her head.
“It was given to me.”
“By William.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“I burned it.”
Richard laughed.
“You burned a copy.”
Elena went silent.
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
“A copy?”
Richard's voice became sharp.
“Where is the original, Elena?”
She didn't answer.
Richard's breathing changed.
“You have one hour.”
The intercom clicked.
Then silence.
Alexander looked at Elena.
She looked terrified.
“What's he talking about?”
Elena whispered:
“The ledger isn't with me.”
“Then where is it?”
She looked at Sofie.
Alexander followed her gaze.
The little girl was holding something.
A tiny plastic bracelet.
The same bracelet from the photograph.
She turned it over.
A small symbol was engraved on the underside.
Three circles.
One line.
Elena whispered:
“No.”
Alexander crouched.
“What is it?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“The last thing your father gave Sofie.”
“What is it?”
May you like
Elena's answer came softly.
“A key.”
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