Chapter 7 - The Girl Who DisappearedElena spent most of her childhood believing her mother had abandoned her.
She had been twelve when it happened.
One morning, she woke to find the apartment empty.
No note.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
Her father's friends told her not to ask questions.
Then they disappeared too.
She spent years believing her mother had simply chosen another life.
Until now.
Cassian watched as Elena stared at the screen.
“What happened to her?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The monitor flickered.
A new video began.
Elena's mother appeared on screen.
Older.
Tired.
Terrified.
“Elena, if you're watching this, they failed to kill you.”
Elena stopped breathing.
Her mother continued.
“Your father never abandoned you. He was murdered because he discovered what Blackwood was.”
Cassian frowned.
“What?”
“Blackwood wasn't originally a mansion.”
The recording continued.
“It was a network.”
Elena stared.
Her mother spoke about financiers, intelligence officers, criminal organizations, and political brokers who had created a hidden structure decades earlier.
They did not control countries.
They controlled decisions.
Who got arrested.
Who escaped.
Which company won a contract.
Which politician survived a scandal.
Which syndicate disappeared.
Cassian listened.
“Why would they use my family?”
Elena's mother answered from the screen.
“Because the Thornes inherited one of the network's most important financial channels.”
Cassian went still.
“Your family wasn't merely a crime syndicate.”
“They were trustees.”
Elena's mother's voice broke.
“Your father wanted out.”
A second recording appeared.
Cassian's father.
The date was seventeen years earlier.
He was standing in the same study where Cassian had grown up.
“I made a mistake,” he said.
“I thought I could protect my family by cooperating with them. I was wrong.”
Cassian's face hardened.
“Who are they?”
His father looked into the camera.
“The Council.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
Elena turned toward Cassian.
“The Council?”
He nodded slowly.
“You've heard of it.”
“I've heard rumors.”
Marcus looked confused.
“Rumors of what?”
Elena answered.
“An organization that doesn't officially exist.”
Dante entered the command room.
He was pale.
“We have another problem.”
Cassian turned.
“What?”
Dante held up a phone.
“Every financial account in the syndicate just received a transfer.”
“How much?”
“Everything.”
Cassian stared.
“Everything?”
Dante nodded.
“Every account. Every offshore reserve. Every emergency fund.”
Marcus whispered.
“Someone emptied the empire.”
Cassian turned toward Elena.
She looked at the screen.
The transfer destination appeared.
One account.
No company name.
No bank logo.
Only a series of numbers.
Elena's eyes widened.
“I know that account.”
“How?”
“It belonged to my father.”
Cassian stared.
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who controls it?”
Elena looked at the timestamp.
The transfer had occurred four minutes ago.
She whispered:
“Someone who knew he was going to die.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“Can you trace it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn't a bank account.”
“What is it?”
Elena looked at him.
“A trap.”
The lights went out.
Again.
This time, the doors locked automatically.
A voice came over the speakers.
“Good evening, Elena.”
Cassian looked around.
The voice continued.
“You wanted the truth.”
A pause.
“Now you get all of it.”
The screens switched on.
May you like
Every one displayed a countdown.
60:00
