Chapter 10 - The Enemy Inside The Family
A warning appeared on Ren's phone, and Kenji Takahashi slowly turned around: "The person you're looking for is standing behind you."
When Kenji faced the people inside the headquarters, he discovered an old security recording hidden in the system. But the footage showed someone entering his private office before Lily disappeared. Someone who had his access code.
Kenji realized the enemy had never broken into his world.
They had always belonged there.
Nobody moved.
The message stayed on Ren's screen.
The person you're looking for is standing behind you.
Kenji looked around the room.
Akira.
Emma.
Hiro.
Ren.
Everyone who had been beside him.
Everyone who had helped him.
Everyone who had hidden something.
The silence was unbearable.
"Show me the recording."
Ren immediately connected the phone to the main security system.
The large screen turned on.
A timeline appeared.
Eight minutes before Lily disappeared.
Kenji watched himself entering the lobby.
He watched Hiro arrive.
He watched Emma.
He watched the moment the power failed.
Then the footage changed.
A hidden camera.
One Kenji didn't know existed.
The angle was different.
It showed his private office.
The place where Lily had been standing before the blackout.
Then someone entered.
Not through the door.
Through a hidden passage behind the wall.
Kenji's eyes narrowed.
He knew that passage.
Only three people knew about it.
Himself.
His father.
And one other person.
The figure stepped into the room.
The camera captured the person's face.
The entire room went silent.
Because it was not Masato.
It was not Hiro.
It was not Akira.
It was someone Kenji trusted more than anyone.
Ren.
Kenji slowly turned.
The room became colder.
Ren stared at the screen.
His face changed.
Not with fear.
With guilt.
"Boss..."
Nobody spoke.
Kenji looked at him.
"Explain."
Ren opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
That was enough.
For years, Ren had been the person standing beside him.
The person who protected him.
The person who carried out his orders.
The person Kenji believed would never betray him.
But the footage showed him entering the room.
The footage showed him taking Lily.
"Why?"
Kenji's voice was quiet.
That was more dangerous than anger.
Ren looked down.
"I didn't take her."
Kenji stared.
"Then why were you there?"
Ren didn't answer.
Akira stepped forward.
"Kenji."
Kenji raised his hand.
"No."
His eyes remained on Ren.
"Let him speak."
Ren took a slow breath.
"I was trying to stop it."
"Stop what?"
Ren looked at Emma.
Then Akira.
Then Kenji.
"The plan."
Kenji's expression hardened.
"Whose plan?"
Ren closed his eyes.
"The same person who has been controlling everything."
A pause.
"Masato."
Kenji shook his head.
"You're lying."
"I wish I was."
Ren looked at the screen.
"The hidden passage was created by Masato twenty years ago."
Kenji said nothing.
"He used it to move information without anyone knowing."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ren looked at him.
"Because I was ordered not to."
The answer hit harder.
"Ordered by who?"
Ren looked directly at him.
"Your mother."
Everyone froze.
Emma stepped back.
"Me?"
Ren nodded.
"Yuna."
Kenji stared.
"You're saying my mother controlled you?"
"No."
Ren's voice became softer.
"She asked me to protect you."
Kenji laughed once.
A bitter sound.
"Everyone says they were protecting me."
He looked around.
"Everyone lied."
Ren lowered his eyes.
"Because the truth would have killed you."
Kenji stepped closer.
"Then tell me the truth now."
A long silence.
Then Ren said:
"Twenty years ago, your real father discovered a secret organization."
Kenji had heard it before.
But this time, something was different.
"Continue."
"That organization had people everywhere."
Ren looked at Hiro.
"Even inside Masato's own circle."
Hiro looked away.
Ren continued.
"Masato wasn't the leader."
Kenji frowned.
"What?"
"He was trying to stop them."
The room went silent.
Akira looked at Ren.
"You knew?"
Ren nodded.
"I knew everything."
Kenji stared.
"Then why?"
Ren looked broken.
"Because Masato made me promise."
"Promise what?"
"That if anything happened..."
Ren swallowed.
"I would make sure you hated him."
Kenji froze.
"What?"
Ren looked at him.
"Because hate was safer than the truth."
Nobody moved.
The entire foundation of Kenji's life shifted again.
Masato wasn't the villain.
Or maybe he was.
But not in the way Kenji believed.
The truth was becoming impossible to separate.
Emma walked forward.
"Ren."
He looked at her.
"Where is Lily?"
Ren's face changed.
And Kenji noticed.
"You know."
Ren hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
Kenji's eyes turned cold.
"Where?"
Ren looked toward the hidden passage.
"The old family estate."
Kenji immediately moved.
But Ren stopped him.
"Boss."
Kenji turned.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Ren looked afraid.
"The estate isn't empty."
Kenji waited.
"Who is there?"
Ren answered quietly:
"Everyone who disappeared."
A chill moved through the room.
Akira stepped forward.
"The missing members?"
Ren nodded.
"People we thought were dead."
Kenji stared.
"Why keep them there?"
Ren looked at him.
"Because they were witnesses."
"To what?"
Ren's voice dropped.
"The night your family was destroyed."
Kenji's mind returned to the hospital bracelet.
The old photograph.
The erased records.
The secrets.
Everything pointed to one night.
One event.
One truth hidden for twenty years.
Kenji turned to Emma.
"You knew."
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
"I knew pieces."
"And you still let me live like this?"
"I was trying to keep you alive."
Kenji looked away.
He wanted to be angry.
But every person in front of him carried the same pain.
Everyone had lost something.
Everyone had been trapped.
Then Ren's phone suddenly rang.
Everyone looked at it.
Ren answered.
No one spoke.
A few seconds later, his face changed.
"Boss."
Kenji looked at him.
"What?"
Ren slowly lowered the phone.
"The old estate."
"What about it?"
Ren looked at the screen.
"Someone opened the front gate."
Kenji grabbed his weapon.
"Who?"
Ren looked up.
His voice was almost a whisper.
"Nobody."
A pause.
"The gate opened from the inside."
The room went silent.
Kenji stared at the security feed.
The old family estate appeared on the screen.
The abandoned mansion.
The place where everyone disappeared.
Then the camera moved toward the front door.
May you like
It was already opening.
And standing in the doorway was someone holding Lily's hand.
