Chapter 9 - The Woman Behind The Secret
Nobody moved.
The name stayed in the air.
Margaret.
Adrian looked at Elena.
His sister's face had lost all color.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Real fear.
And Adrian noticed something that disturbed him more than anything.
Elena was not afraid of the woman.
She was afraid of what the woman's presence meant.
"Who is she?" Adrian asked.
Nobody answered.
The woman standing in front of the elevator smiled softly.
She looked calm.
Too calm.
Like she had been waiting for this exact moment for years.
"I see you still ask the same questions."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"You know me?"
Margaret looked at him.
"I knew you before you became Adrian Vale."
The hallway became silent.
Vincent immediately stepped forward.
"Adrian, don't listen to her."
Margaret turned toward Vincent.
A small smile appeared.
"You still protect him."
Vincent's expression changed.
Because those words meant something.
Something only they understood.
Adrian noticed.
"You know her too."
Vincent didn't answer.
Adrian's voice became colder.
"Everybody knows something except me."
His father looked down.
Elena closed her eyes.
And Margaret walked slowly into the room.
"You deserve the truth."
Adrian watched her carefully.
"No."
He shook his head.
"I deserve all of it."
Margaret stopped.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then she nodded.
"You're right."
She looked at Elena.
"You were always the strongest one."
Elena looked away.
"Don't."
Margaret smiled sadly.
"You spent fifteen years running because you thought you were protecting him."
She looked back at Adrian.
"But you never understood what your family was protecting you from."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Explain."
Margaret reached into her coat.
Everyone immediately became alert.
Vincent reached for his weapon.
But Margaret only pulled out an old envelope.
Yellowed.
Damaged.
Like it had been hidden for years.
She held it toward Adrian.
"This belongs to you."
Adrian didn't take it.
"What is it?"
"Something your mother left behind."
The word stopped him.
His mother.
Everything always came back to her.
The woman he remembered as kind.
The woman everyone described as innocent.
The woman now appearing in hidden videos.
The woman who was apparently alive.
"What does she have to do with this?"
Margaret looked at him.
"Everything."
Adrian finally took the envelope.
His hands were steady.
But inside, something was breaking.
The envelope had his name written on it.
Not Adrian.
Not the name he used now.
His childhood name.
The one only his family knew.
He opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
A photograph he had never seen before.
His mother.
His father.
Elena.
And another child.
A baby.
Adrian stared.
"Who is that?"
Nobody answered.
He looked closer.
The baby was wearing a small necklace.
A silver pendant.
The same pendant Adrian had found years ago inside his father's hidden box.
The pendant he was told belonged to Elena.
But it wasn't Elena's.
Adrian slowly looked up.
"Who is this child?"
Margaret's expression changed.
Because she knew the answer.
"Your mother had another secret."
Adrian felt his chest tighten.
"No."
Margaret continued.
"Before Elena disappeared..."
She paused.
"Before your father faked his death..."
She looked directly at Adrian.
"There was another child."
Elena looked at the floor.
Adrian turned toward her.
"You knew?"
A tear fell from her eyes.
"I found out later."
"Who is it?"
Nobody spoke.
Then his father's voice came quietly.
"Your brother."
The room froze.
Adrian stared.
"My..."
The word didn't come out.
His father nodded.
"Your older brother."
Adrian laughed once.
A broken sound.
"Another secret."
He looked around.
"Another person everyone hid from me."
Margaret stepped closer.
"Because your brother was the reason everything happened."
Adrian looked at her.
"Where is he?"
Margaret didn't answer immediately.
And Adrian knew.
That pause meant the answer would hurt.
"He is alive."
The words hit harder than expected.
Another person returned from the dead.
Another impossible truth.
Adrian closed his eyes for a moment.
"Where?"
Margaret looked toward the security screens.
The screens suddenly turned on again.
A new video appeared.
A man sitting in darkness.
Older.
Scarred.
His face partially hidden.
But Adrian immediately noticed something.
The eyes.
The same eyes as his own.
The man looked into the camera.
"Adrian."
Nobody breathed.
The man smiled.
"I wondered how long it would take you."
Adrian stepped closer to the screen.
The man continued.
"I know you hate me."
A pause.
"I know you think I abandoned you."
The man's expression changed.
"But you never knew the truth."
Adrian stared.
The man leaned forward.
"I wasn't the one who disappeared."
The screen glitched.
Then another image appeared.
A hospital record.
A name.
A date.
A signature.
Adrian looked at the document.
His face changed.
Because the signature belonged to his mother.
Margaret whispered:
"Now you understand why she couldn't come back."
The video continued.
The man looked terrified.
"Adrian, if you're watching this, it means they found you."
The lights suddenly went out.
Total darkness.
Someone screamed.
A gunshot echoed.
When emergency lights turned on, everyone looked around.
Margaret was gone.
The elevator doors were open.
Adrian ran toward them.
But the elevator was empty.
Only one thing remained on the floor.
A small black memory card.
The same type of memory card that started everything.
Adrian picked it up.
His phone vibrated.
A new message.
From an unknown number.
He opened it.
One sentence.
"You finally found the first child."
Then another message appeared.
A video file.
The title was:
"THE NIGHT ADRIAN VALE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE."
Adrian pressed play.
The screen loaded.
A woman's voice whispered from the darkness.
"Adrian..."
His mother.
May you like
Alive.
And the video showed a door opening behind her...
