Chapter 6 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The office door handle moved again.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like whoever was outside knew exactly how much fear they were creating.
I still had Julian on the phone.
His breathing was quiet.
Controlled.
But I could hear something underneath it.
Panic.
"Adrian," Julian whispered.
"Do not open that door."
I stared at the handle.
Nobody spoke.
Not Clara.
Not Richard.
Not even Lily.
The baby was watching the door.
Her small fingers were wrapped tightly around Clara's shirt.
"Who is outside?" I asked.
Julian didn't answer.
That scared me more than anything.
Because Julian always had an answer.
Even when things were impossible.
Even when the world was falling apart.
He found a way to explain.
But now he was silent.
"Julian."
His voice finally returned.
"It's someone you trust."
My eyes moved toward Richard.
Then Clara.
The words felt heavier than a threat.
Someone I trusted.
Someone close enough to enter my life without suspicion.
Someone who knew exactly where I was.
The handle stopped moving.
For one second, everything was quiet.
Then my office lights flickered.
The security screens turned back on.
Every monitor showed the hallway outside.
But the hallway was empty.
Nobody was there.
I looked at Richard.
"Where are your people?"
He looked confused.
"I don't have people here."
"Someone got into a restricted floor."
Richard stepped closer to the screen.
Then he froze.
"What?"
I looked at the monitor.
A small red symbol appeared in the corner.
A security override.
Someone had used executive access.
My access.
The system recognized the person as someone allowed inside the building.
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Who has access to this floor?"
Richard didn't answer.
"Richard."
He slowly turned.
"There are only three people with that level of access."
"Who?"
Richard looked at me.
"You."
I waited.
"And?"
He hesitated.
"Julian."
My heart stopped.
That was impossible.
Julian had been missing for eighteen months.
His accounts were frozen.
His identity was considered inactive.
But the system had recognized his access.
Unless...
Unless someone had been using it.
I looked at Clara.
"Who else?"
Richard's face became pale.
"The third person..."
He didn't finish.
Because my phone suddenly disconnected.
Julian was gone.
I called back.
Nothing.
No signal.
The entire building had become a prison.
I walked toward my desk and grabbed the memory drive Richard had brought.
"We leave now."
Clara nodded immediately.
Richard didn't move.
"You don't understand."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"If they wanted to stop you from leaving, they would have done it already."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Then what are they waiting for?"
Richard looked toward the door.
"They want you to open it."
Nobody moved.
Because that was the truth.
The person outside wasn't trying to break in.
They wanted me to invite them inside.
I stepped closer to the door.
Clara grabbed my arm.
"Don't."
I looked at her.
"If someone is trying to manipulate me, I need to know who."
Richard shook his head.
"That is exactly what they want."
Before I could answer, a sound came from the hallway.
A baby crying.
Not Lily.
Another baby.
My blood ran cold.
Everyone heard it.
Clara's face changed instantly.
"No..."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She whispered:
"There shouldn't be anyone else."
The crying continued.
Closer.
Like someone was standing directly outside the door.
I slowly placed my hand on the lock.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One picture.
My heart stopped.
It was Lily.
Taken inside my office.
But the picture was from five minutes earlier.
From an angle behind me.
Someone had been inside the room.
Someone had been watching us.
Below the picture was one sentence.
YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHO BROUGHT HER TO YOU.
I looked at Clara.
She looked terrified.
Not because of the message.
Because she knew something.
"What does that mean?"
She didn't answer.
"Clara."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I lied to you."
The room became silent.
Richard stepped back.
"What did you do?"
Clara looked at Lily.
Then at me.
"Julian didn't send me to protect Lily."
My heart dropped.
"Then why?"
She swallowed.
"Because he sent me to find you."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He knew something would happen when you discovered the truth."
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"What truth?"
Clara looked toward the door.
"Adrian..."
Her voice broke.
"Your brother wasn't the only one who survived that night."
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"What are you saying?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she walked to the desk.
She opened the old envelope again.
But this time, there was something hidden inside.
A second photograph.
She handed it to me.
My hands shook as I looked down.
The picture showed the night of the accident.
Julian's burning car.
The second vehicle.
The person standing near the road.
But this time...
The image was clearer.
I could see the person.
I could see the face.
And I knew him.
Because he had attended my brother's funeral.
He had stood beside me.
He had told me Julian was gone.
I looked up.
"That's impossible."
Richard stepped closer.
"What?"
I handed him the photograph.
His expression changed.
Because he recognized him too.
The man in the picture.
The man who watched Julian's car burn.
The man who helped create the lie.
Was the last person I expected.
My own uncle.
A man who had been declared dead twenty years ago.
Richard whispered his name.
And at that exact moment...
May you like
The office door unlocked from the outside.
Someone slowly pushed it open.
