Chapter 7 - The Woman Behind the Door
We followed Clara's trail through the hotel.
Security footage showed her entering a restricted hallway.
Then nothing.
The camera went black.
Victor ordered every exit sealed.
Dmitri divided the security team.
I stayed beside Victor.
We reached an old service corridor.
A door stood at the end.
Victor touched the handle.
Locked.
He looked at me.
“Stay behind me.”
He opened it.
Inside was a private office.
Clara stood near the window.
Leon was there too.
He looked furious.
Clara looked calm.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Victor stared at her.
“You should have run.”
She smiled.
“I considered it.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you'd eventually find the truth.”
I stepped forward.
“You used me.”
Clara looked at me.
“You were useful.”
Victor moved between us.
“What did my father have to do with this?”
Clara's smile disappeared.
“Your father discovered everything.”
Victor went still.
“He knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he trusted the wrong person.”
Victor looked toward Leon.
Leon lowered his eyes.
I remembered my father's notebook.
Victor doesn't know who betrayed him.
Victor said quietly:
“Leon.”
Leon didn't answer.
Clara laughed.
“Of course it was Leon.”
Leon suddenly looked at her.
“You said you wouldn't.”
“You're finished anyway.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“Start talking.”
Leon swallowed.
“Twelve years ago, your father discovered that someone was stealing company funds.”
“Who?”
“Clara.”
Clara shook her head.
“He's lying.”
Leon continued.
“Your father planned to expose her.”
Victor stared at Clara.
“So you killed him?”
“No.”
Clara's voice became cold.
“I didn't kill him.”
Silence.
She looked at me.
“But your father died because of something he discovered about Lena.”
I felt dizzy.
“What?”
Clara stepped closer.
“Your father discovered that someone had been using your family to move information.”
“I don't understand.”
“He believed you were innocent.”
Victor asked:
“What information?”
Clara looked at him.
“Documents.”
“What documents?”
She smiled.
“The original company ownership agreement.”
Victor's expression changed.
“You said it was destroyed.”
“It wasn't.”
Leon suddenly lunged toward Clara.
Dmitri stopped him.
Clara screamed.
“You have no idea what your father hid!”
Victor stared at her.
“Where is it?”
Clara looked at me.
“Ask Lena.”
My heart stopped.
“Why me?”
“Because your father gave it to you.”
“I was sixteen.”
“You don't remember?”
I shook my head.
Clara whispered:
“He hid it inside something you carried every day.”
Victor looked at me.
I tried to remember.
School.
Hospital.
My father's funeral.
My backpack.
A necklace.
A photograph.
Then I remembered.
The small silver locket my father had given me.
I touched my neck.
It was still there.
Victor saw it.
“Lena.”
I pulled the locket from beneath my shirt.
Clara smiled.
“There it is.”
Victor reached for it.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed somewhere in the hallway.
No one moved.
May you like
When the emergency lights returned, Clara was gone.
And the locket was no longer in my hand.
