Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Controlled The Truth
The name on the screen stayed there.
ELENA VOSS.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
It was like the entire basement had forgotten how to breathe.
I looked at Adrian.
The man who always seemed impossible to surprise.
The man who always had control.
Was staring at the screen like someone had just opened a door to his worst memory.
"Elena Voss?"
My voice sounded small.
Adrian didn't answer.
My father did.
"She was supposed to be dead."
The words made my skin crawl.
Another person.
Another death.
Another lie.
I looked at the video.
The woman on the screen smiled calmly.
Like she knew exactly what was happening in the room.
Like she had planned every second.
"Maya."
Her voice came through the speakers.
"By now, you have probably learned that everyone around you has been protecting you."
The video paused for a second.
Then she continued.
"But the question you should be asking is..."
Her eyes looked directly into the camera.
"Who were they protecting you from?"
I felt a chill move through me.
The screen showed her sitting in a dark room.
Behind her was nothing.
No clues.
No location.
Just a woman who seemed completely certain she had already won.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Turn it off."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
His jaw tightened.
"Because you don't know what you're watching."
I almost laughed.
"That is exactly the problem, Adrian."
I pointed at the screen.
"Nobody ever lets me know anything."
The video continued.
Elena leaned forward.
"Your father believed he could hide the truth forever."
My father looked away.
"But he was wrong."
She smiled.
"Because the truth always finds its way home."
The video stopped.
The screen went black.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Adrian spoke.
"She is alive."
It wasn't a question.
It was a realization.
My father looked at him.
"You knew?"
Adrian's face hardened.
"I thought she was gone."
"Everyone thought that."
My father stepped closer.
"That was the point."
I looked between them.
"Who is Elena Voss?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then my mother spoke.
"Adrian's sister."
The room became colder.
"Sister?"
Adrian looked down.
"She disappeared twelve years ago."
"And everyone thought she died?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
I looked at the black screen.
"So the person behind everything is your sister?"
Adrian didn't answer.
But his silence was enough.
My mind raced.
A missing sister.
A fake death.
My father's disappearance.
My mother's disappearance.
A secret network.
It was too much.
"Why would she do this?"
My father looked at the floor.
"Because Elena was the first person who found out what your father discovered."
"What?"
He looked at me.
"The truth about Adrian's family."
Adrian's expression changed.
"Don't."
My father ignored him.
"He found evidence that someone inside the Voss family was selling information."
I looked at Adrian.
"Your family?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"And Elena?"
Nobody spoke.
That answer was worse than words.
My mother walked toward me.
"Maya."
I stepped back.
She stopped.
The hurt on her face was real.
But I couldn't forget.
"You knew."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I knew pieces."
"Pieces?"
"Your father made me promise."
"Promise what?"
"That I would keep you away from this world."
I looked around the basement.
"The world he was in?"
She nodded.
"The world Adrian was born into."
Adrian looked at me.
"I tried to keep my distance."
I stared at him.
"You hired me."
"I know."
"You watched me."
"To protect you."
"You made decisions about my life without asking me."
He had no answer.
Because there was no answer that would make that okay.
Then suddenly, the mansion alarm sounded.
Everyone turned.
Not the same alarm as before.
Different.
More urgent.
Adrian immediately moved toward the computer.
"What happened?"
He checked the security system.
His face changed.
"What?"
My father stepped closer.
"Adrian?"
"The front gate."
"What about it?"
Adrian looked at the screen.
"Someone opened it."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he switched cameras.
The mansion entrance appeared.
The front doors were open.
The hallway was empty.
Too empty.
Adrian grabbed his phone.
"No signal."
My father looked worried.
"She is here."
I turned.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
Then the elevator at the end of the hallway moved.
Slowly.
Coming down.
The basement was below the main floor.
Nobody should have been using that elevator.
The display showed:
GROUND FLOOR.
Then:
BASEMENT.
Everyone froze.
The elevator was coming directly to us.
Adrian stepped in front of me.
My father moved beside him.
For the first time, I saw something strange.
They weren't preparing to fight.
They were preparing for someone they feared.
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
Empty.
No one inside.
But on the floor was a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
MAYA.
I looked at Adrian.
"How did they know?"
He didn't answer.
I picked up the envelope.
The paper felt old.
Inside was one photograph.
I turned it over.
My hands started shaking.
It was a picture of my father.
But not the way I remembered him.
He was standing beside Elena Voss.
And beside them was another person.
Someone I recognized.
Someone who had been in this mansion.
Someone who had been helping us.
My breathing stopped.
Adrian saw the photograph.
His face went pale.
"No."
I looked at him.
"Who is it?"
He didn't answer.
Because the person in the picture was walking toward us.
The elevator doors began closing again.
And before they shut completely, a voice came from the empty hallway.
A voice Adrian knew.
A voice that had been hiding beside us the entire time.
"Maya..."
May you like
Adrian whispered the name.
And the person stepped out of the darkness.
