Chapter 6 - The Man Who Guarded the Enemy
The camera feed stayed frozen for three seconds.
Three seconds was all it took for my entire body to go cold.
Victor Hale.
My head of security.
My closest protector.
The man who had stood beside me through every threat, every negotiation, every war.
He was standing inside my children's bedroom.
Watching them sleep.
I stared at the screen.
Nobody spoke.
Not Lena.
Not Adrian.
Not even me.
Because there were moments when the truth was so impossible that your mind refused to accept it.
This was one of those moments.
"Roman..."
Lena's voice was quiet.
I looked at her.
"How long?"
She knew exactly what I meant.
Her eyes dropped.
"Too long."
That answer hurt more than any confession.
I turned back to the screen.
Victor was no longer looking at the children.
He was looking directly into the camera.
Like he knew we were watching.
Like he wanted me to see him.
The feed suddenly went black.
The room became silent again.
Then my phone vibrated.
One message.
From Victor.
I opened it.
"You finally understand."
Another message appeared.
"Come upstairs alone."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Lena stepped closer.
"Don't go."
I looked at her.
"You know what happens if I don't?"
She didn't answer.
Because she knew.
Victor had access to everything.
The cameras.
The security system.
The guards.
The house.
My children.
Everything.
"Where are my sons?" I asked.
Lena immediately answered.
"Still in their room."
"With Victor?"
She hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
I moved toward the door.
Adrian grabbed my arm.
"Roman, listen to me."
I looked down at his hand.
Then at his face.
"You've spent three years hiding the truth from me."
His hand slowly dropped.
"I know."
"So don't tell me to wait now."
I walked out.
The mansion felt different.
Not because anything had changed.
Because I finally saw it clearly.
Every hallway.
Every camera.
Every person.
A possible threat.
I reached the second floor.
My children's bedroom door was closed.
I stopped outside.
For a moment, I couldn't move.
Because behind that door were the two most important people in my life.
And someone who had betrayed me was standing with them.
I opened the door.
Slowly.
The room was empty.
My sons were gone.
My heart stopped.
I ran inside.
The beds were untouched.
The blankets were still warm.
A small toy was lying on the floor.
But no children.
I turned around.
The panic inside me became something else.
Something dangerous.
"Victor!"
My voice shook the walls.
No answer.
Then I saw it.
A note on the desk.
My son's handwriting.
I picked it up.
Four words.
Dad, don't trust him.
My breathing changed.
Because my son had written it.
Not Victor.
Not anyone else.
My son knew something.
I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned.
Lena stood in the doorway.
Her face changed when she saw the note.
"What happened?"
I held it up.
"Where are they?"
She looked around the room.
"I don't know."
That was the wrong answer.
Because I saw something else.
A small camera attached near the bookshelf.
A hidden camera.
Not one of mine.
Someone else's.
I walked toward it.
Then I noticed a tiny red light.
It was still recording.
I removed it.
On the back was a symbol.
The same circle.
The same letter.
S.
Sophia.
My wife had known.
She had been watching.
She had been preparing.
I looked at Lena.
"You were working with Sophia."
She didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Since before she died."
I felt anger rise.
"You knew everything."
"No."
Her voice broke.
"I knew enough to understand she was in danger."
"Then why didn't you save her?"
The question escaped before I could stop it.
Lena looked like I had hit her.
"I tried."
The room went quiet.
"I tried to get her out."
I stared at her.
"What happened?"
Lena looked away.
"She refused."
"Why?"
"Because she knew if she disappeared, they would come after you and the boys."
The words hit me.
Sophia hadn't been trying to escape.
She had been protecting us.
Even when she knew she might not survive.
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A picture.
My children.
Alive.
Sitting in a dark room.
Victor was standing behind them.
The message below said:
"Your wife chose the truth over her family."
A second message appeared.
"Now you choose."
I looked at the screen.
My hands shook.
Not from fear.
From rage.
"Where would he take them?" I asked.
Lena looked at the camera.
Then at me.
"There is one place."
"Where?"
"The old underground security facility beneath the west property."
I stared.
"I don't have a west property."
She looked at me.
"Yes, you do."
My expression changed.
"What?"
She stepped closer.
"Sophia found out Victor was using it."
My mind raced.
Another hidden place.
Another secret.
Another thing inside my own life that I didn't know existed.
Adrian appeared behind Lena.
"You can't go there alone."
I looked at him.
"You don't understand."
"I do."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You spent years protecting secrets."
I looked toward the hallway.
"My family spent years being hunted."
I grabbed my jacket.
"This ends tonight."
We moved quickly.
No calls.
No security team.
No one else.
Because I didn't know who was loyal anymore.
The underground facility was twenty minutes from the mansion.
A place listed as an abandoned property.
A place I apparently owned without knowing.
When we arrived, the building looked empty.
Broken windows.
Rusting doors.
No lights.
But the security panel was active.
Someone had been using it.
I entered the code.
The door opened.
Inside were monitors.
Hundreds of them.
Each one connected to my house.
My office.
My children's rooms.
My life.
Victor had been watching everything.
For years.
Then I saw another screen.
A file folder.
The title was:
SOPHIA DELUCA INCIDENT
I opened it.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Recordings.
And one video.
The date was the night my wife died.
I pressed play.
Sophia appeared on the screen.
But this time she wasn't alone.
Someone was standing behind her.
Someone whose face was hidden.
Then Sophia looked directly into the camera.
Her eyes filled with fear.
"Roman, if you are seeing this, there is one thing you need to know."
She paused.
The person behind her moved closer.
Then Sophia whispered:
"The person who ordered my death was..."
The video suddenly cut off.
May you like
The screen went black.
And behind us, the facility door locked.
