Chapter 4 - The gunshot echoed through the underground corridor.Emma felt Vincent grab her and pull her down.
Glass shattered above them.
Someone screamed.
Then emergency lights flickered red.
Emma looked around.
No one had been hit.
The gun had fired into the ceiling.
A warning.
Victoria stood near the stairway, furious.
Gabriel was gone.
So was the security guard who had been beside him.
Vincent grabbed Victoria's wrist.
“Where did he go?”
She smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
Vincent tightened his grip.
“Where?”
“Too late.”
He released her.
“Security!”
No answer.
The underground passage had been sealed.
Emma ran toward Isabella.
“Are you okay?”
The elderly woman nodded.
Then she looked at Emma’s hand.
“You have it.”
Emma frowned.
“What?”
Isabella pointed to the key.
Victoria had dropped it during the chaos.
Emma picked it up.
The silver key was engraved with two letters.
D.C.
Daniel Carter.
Emma stared at it.
“He made this.”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
Isabella's eyes lowered.
“Because he gave it to me.”
Emma looked at her.
“You had this?”
“For twenty-two years.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought hiding the truth would keep you alive.”
Emma's anger rose.
“You let me believe my father abandoned us.”
“I know.”
“You let my mother hate him.”
“I know.”
“You let me grow up thinking he never cared!”
Isabella began crying.
“He loved you.”
Emma's voice broke.
“Then why didn't he come back?”
Isabella whispered,
“Because he couldn't.”
A heavy silence followed.
Vincent walked toward them.
“We need to leave.”
Emma looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“That's not an answer.”
He stared at her.
“Yes.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“You knew my father might still be alive?”
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“For how long?”
“Six months.”
Emma stepped backward.
“You knew for six months?”
“I was trying to verify it.”
“And you never told me?”
Vincent’s voice softened.
“Because if Daniel is alive, someone is hunting him.”
Emma shook her head.
“You don't get to make that decision for me.”
Before Vincent could answer, his phone rang.
He checked the screen.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?”
Static.
Then a voice.
Old.
Weak.
But familiar.
Emma heard only three words.
“Vincent... it's Daniel.”
The phone nearly slipped from Vincent’s hand.
Emma stared.
“No.”
The voice continued.
“Don't trust...”
The call cut off.
Vincent immediately called back.
Disconnected.
Emma grabbed his arm.
“That was my father.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Find him.”
“I will.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“We will.”
Vincent hesitated.
Then nodded.
Together, they climbed the stairs.
But halfway up, Isabella stopped.
“Wait.”
She looked at the wall.
A faint red light blinked behind a painting.
Vincent removed it.
A tiny camera was hidden behind the frame.
He stared.
Someone had been watching them.
For years.
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“Who installed it?”
Vincent examined the wiring.
“It connects to the main security system.”
“Can you trace it?”
“Yes.”
He followed the cable through the wall.
It led upstairs.
To Victoria's private office.
They rushed there.
The room was empty.
But a computer monitor was still on.
One video file was open.
Vincent pressed play.
The screen showed footage from twenty-two years ago.
Daniel stood in the same ballroom.
He was speaking to someone.
The image quality was poor.
But the voice was clear.
Daniel said,
“If anything happens to me, the person responsible is—”
The footage stopped.
Emma leaned toward the screen.
“Why did it cut?”
Vincent checked the file.
“It was edited.”
A second file appeared automatically.
This one showed Daniel sitting alone.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Emma.”
She stopped breathing.
Her father spoke to the screen.
“If you're watching this, I'm probably already gone.”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“I need you to know something.”
Daniel looked terrified.
“You were never abandoned.”
He reached toward the camera.
Then whispered,
“Your mother lied to you because Isabella asked her to.”
Emma froze.
“Why?”
Daniel said the final words.
“Because Victoria was not the person who wanted me dead.”
The screen went black.
A message appeared.
THE REAL ENEMY IS INSIDE THE MORETTI FAMILY.
Emma slowly turned toward Vincent.
He stared at the screen.
Then his phone buzzed.
A text.
One sentence.
You brought her here. Now she knows too much.
Another message arrived.
Attached was a photograph.
It showed Emma's mother standing beside a hospital bed.
Beside her was Vincent’s father.
And lying in the hospital bed...
was Daniel Carter.
Emma's blood ran cold.
“My father was alive.”
Vincent stared at the photograph.
May you like
Then noticed the date.
It had been taken three years ago.
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