Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Beneath The Name
The signature was visible on the screen.
One name.
One person.
And Harlan Voss stopped breathing.
Because the person who signed the document was not his enemy.
Not a rival.
Not someone trying to destroy him.
It was someone who had been standing beside him for years.
Someone he trusted with everything.
Adrian Voss.
Harlan stared at the screen.
Nobody spoke.
The room felt frozen.
Then Elena whispered:
“I knew it.”
Harlan slowly turned toward her.
“You knew Adrian signed this?”
Elena shook her head.
“Not this document.”
She looked at the screen.
“But I knew he was hiding something.”
Harlan’s jaw tightened.
“How long?”
Elena looked down.
“Before I disappeared.”
The anger in his eyes returned.
“You knew my brother was involved.”
“I knew someone was.”
“You suspected him.”
“Yes.”
“And you still left me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I left because I thought staying would get Belle killed.”
The words hit harder than anything else.
Harlan looked toward his daughter.
Belle was standing at the doorway.
She had heard everything.
“Daddy…”
His expression changed immediately.
He walked toward her.
“No, Belle.”
She looked confused.
“Did Uncle Adrian hurt Mommy?”
Harlan stopped.
Because he didn’t have an answer.
And for the first time, Belle saw uncertainty in her father’s eyes.
That scared her more than anything.
I stepped closer to her.
“Belle.”
She looked at me.
I lowered my voice.
“Your dad is trying to figure this out.”
She nodded slowly.
But she still looked afraid.
Because children always knew when adults were lying.
Even when adults were trying to protect them.
Harlan turned back toward the computer.
The video had ended.
But the files remained.
Hundreds of pages.
Records.
Photographs.
Messages.
A complete history of secrets.
He opened the first file.
The title immediately caught his attention.
Project Guardian.
“What is this?”
Elena looked over his shoulder.
Her face changed.
“I’ve never seen that.”
Harlan opened the document.
The first page contained information about Belle.
Her medical history.
Her security schedule.
Her daily routines.
Everything.
Someone had been tracking his daughter.
For years.
My stomach turned.
“They were watching her.”
Harlan didn’t answer.
He already knew.
The next page showed something worse.
A list of names.
Employees.
Security.
House staff.
People who worked for Harlan.
People who had access to Belle.
One name was highlighted.
Harlan stared.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Who is it?”
He didn’t respond.
He just closed the file.
Too quickly.
That told me everything.
“Harlan.”
He looked at me.
For a second, I forgot who he was.
The feared mafia boss.
The man everyone obeyed.
Because right there, he looked like a father who had just discovered someone he loved had been watching his child.
“It’s impossible.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Who?”
Harlan looked at her.
Then said the name.
“Marcus.”
The room went silent.
I remembered him.
One of the men at the garage.
One of the guards who arrived with Harlan.
The man who looked uncomfortable when Belle said someone from home had taken her.
“He’s been with me twelve years.”
Elena shook her head.
“That’s why.”
Harlan looked at her.
“What?”
“The people closest to you are the only ones who can hurt you.”
Those words stayed in the room.
Because they were true.
A stranger could attack from outside.
But betrayal came from inside.
Suddenly, the mansion alarm stopped.
The silence afterward felt worse.
Harlan immediately reached for his phone.
No signal.
The security system was still down.
Then a sound came from downstairs.
A door closing.
Everyone heard it.
Harlan looked toward the hallway.
“Stay here.”
This time, nobody argued.
Because everyone knew.
Someone was inside.
Harlan grabbed the weapon from his guard.
He moved quietly.
The kind of movement that came from years of danger.
I stayed with Belle and Elena.
But Belle was staring at the hallway.
“Rue.”
I looked down.
“What?”
She whispered:
“He’s angry.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
She looked toward the darkness.
“Uncle Adrian.”
My heart dropped.
“How do you know?”
Belle didn’t answer.
She just pointed.
At the floor.
A small object had been left near the stairs.
A bracelet.
A child’s bracelet.
Belle recognized it immediately.
“My bracelet.”
Elena rushed forward.
“No.”
She picked it up carefully.
“What?”
Elena looked terrified.
“This was the bracelet Belle wore the night I disappeared.”
Nobody moved.
I looked at Harlan.
He had heard.
And his face changed.
Because that meant someone had kept it.
Someone had saved a piece of that night.
Someone had been waiting to use it.
Harlan came back into the room.
“He’s gone.”
“Who?” Elena asked.
“Marcus.”
Harlan looked at the bracelet.
Then at Belle.
“Did he give you this?”
Belle shook her head.
“He said Mommy left it.”
Elena went pale.
“That’s a lie.”
Harlan looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I had it when I disappeared.”
The room went quiet.
Harlan slowly picked up his phone.
A message appeared.
Unknown sender.
Only one sentence.
You’re looking at the wrong traitor.
Then another message arrived.
A photo.
Harlan opened it.
His face changed.
“What?”
Elena stepped closer.
“What is it?”
He turned the screen.
The photo showed Marcus.
Standing beside Adrian.
But they weren’t alone.
There was another person in the picture.
Someone hidden in the background.
Someone whose face was partially visible.
I looked at Harlan.
“Who is that?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he recognized them.
The person standing beside Adrian and Marcus was someone I had seen since the beginning.
Someone who had been helping us.
Someone everyone trusted.
The phone vibrated again.
Another message appeared.
Ask Rue why she was really chosen.
My blood went cold.
Harlan looked at me.
Elena looked at me.
Even Belle looked confused.
Because suddenly the question wasn’t only who betrayed Harlan.
It was why someone had placed me in the middle of this.
Harlan stepped closer.
“Rue.”
I felt my heart race.
“What?”
His eyes stayed on me.
“Tell me everything about the night you found my daughter.”
“I already did.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“Tell me what you didn’t notice.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t understand.”
Then the lights went out again.
But this time, nobody moved.
Because a voice came from behind us.
A voice I had never heard before.
A voice that made Harlan turn around instantly.
“Don’t ask her.”
The emergency lights flickered on.
A man stood at the entrance.
Holding a file.
May you like
Looking directly at me.
And Harlan whispered his name because he knew exactly who he was...
