Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew the Secret
The doorbell echoed through the mansion.
Nobody moved.
Adrian stood in the archive room, staring at the security monitor.
The woman outside waited patiently.
Too patiently.
Most people who came to the Voss mansion were nervous.
They looked around.
They hesitated.
They feared the men guarding the entrance.
But this woman stood like she belonged there.
Like she had walked through those doors thousands of times before.
Leon stepped away from the screen.
"She cannot be here."
Adrian turned toward him.
"Who is she?"
Leon looked at the floor.
For the first time since returning, he looked afraid.
"Her name is Victoria."
Adrian froze.
The name meant nothing to him.
But Leon's reaction meant everything.
"Explain."
Leon took a breath.
"She was Marcus's partner."
Adrian frowned.
"Partner?"
"Not business."
Leon looked at him.
"Family."
The room became silent.
Adrian looked back at the screen.
The woman outside lifted her face slightly toward the camera.
Almost as if she knew they were watching.
"Let her in."
Everyone looked at Adrian.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Are you sure?"
"No."
Adrian's voice was calm.
"But I want answers."
The security team opened the front gate.
The woman walked inside.
Slowly.
Confidently.
When she entered the mansion, Adrian immediately noticed something.
The guards did not intimidate her.
The expensive furniture did not impress her.
The power surrounding Adrian's world meant nothing to her.
She walked straight into the living room.
And stopped.
Looking at Adrian.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she smiled.
"You're older."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"You know me?"
Victoria looked at him.
"I knew you before you became Adrian Voss."
That sentence changed the room.
Leon closed his eyes.
Because he knew what was coming.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
Victoria looked at Leon.
Then back at him.
"I was there the night your brother disappeared."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Tell me what happened."
Victoria did not answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at the broken glass on the table.
The poison.
The evidence.
The beginning of the truth.
"You finally found out."
Adrian noticed something.
She was not surprised.
She expected this.
"You knew about the poison."
Victoria nodded.
"Yes."
Clara stepped forward.
"Then why didn't you stop it?"
Victoria looked at her.
"Because I was trying to stop something bigger."
Adrian's patience disappeared.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
His voice became colder.
"Everyone knew something. Everyone had a reason. Everyone kept me in the dark."
He pointed toward the room.
"My brother disappeared."
"My eyesight was destroyed."
"My closest friend betrayed me."
"And every person standing here knew more than I did."
Silence.
Nobody argued.
Because he was right.
Victoria looked at him.
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"Then you need to know what Marcus really wanted."
Adrian waited.
Victoria walked toward the table.
She picked up the old photograph from Leon's box.
"Marcus never wanted your empire."
Adrian frowned.
"What?"
"He wanted control."
"That is the same thing."
"No."
Victoria shook her head.
"He wanted something your empire could never give him."
Adrian stared.
"What?"
Victoria looked directly at him.
"Your identity."
The room went quiet.
Daniel looked confused.
Leon looked away.
Adrian noticed.
"You know something."
Leon did not answer.
Adrian turned toward him.
"Leon."
His brother finally spoke.
"Marcus hated that you were chosen."
"Chosen for what?"
Leon looked at him.
"The Voss legacy."
Adrian frowned.
"That makes no sense."
"It does if you know the truth."
Leon walked toward the old documents.
"Our father did not choose you because you were stronger."
He picked up a file.
"He chose you because you were the only one who refused to become like him."
Adrian said nothing.
The memory of his father was complicated.
A powerful man.
A feared man.
A man who built an empire through violence.
Adrian spent his entire life trying to become better than him.
"And Marcus?"
Victoria answered.
"Marcus believed he deserved everything your father gave you."
Adrian looked at her.
"He was jealous."
"More than that."
Victoria's expression became serious.
"He believed your father stole his future."
The words sounded impossible.
But Adrian had learned something.
Impossible things happened when people hid the truth long enough.
"Why did Leon disappear?"
Victoria looked at Leon.
"Because he discovered Marcus planned to remove Adrian."
Adrian looked at his brother.
"Remove?"
Leon nodded.
"Marcus didn't want to kill you immediately."
"Why?"
"Because a dead man becomes a legend."
The answer was cold.
"Marcus wanted you alive."
Adrian felt a chill.
"Why?"
"Because he wanted everyone to watch you fall."
Nobody spoke.
The poison.
The blindness.
The weakness.
It was never about murder.
It was humiliation.
Marcus wanted Adrian to lose everything while still breathing.
Victoria placed another document on the table.
"This is the final piece."
Adrian opened it.
His face changed.
It was a medical report.
His medical report.
But something was wrong.
The signature.
The doctor who approved it.
The date.
Everything had been changed.
"The original report."
Victoria nodded.
"Marcus replaced it."
Adrian read the final line.
Patient shows no signs of natural vision deterioration.
His hands tightened.
All these months.
All those doctors.
All those explanations.
A lie.
A carefully created lie.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
Everyone turned.
Daniel looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What is it?"
Adrian asked.
Daniel did not answer.
He slowly handed the phone to Adrian.
Even though Adrian could barely see, he recognized the name.
Marcus Hale.
A message waited.
You finally found Leon.
Another message appeared.
Now you will learn why I let him live.
Adrian stared at the phone.
Then a third message appeared.
Because he wasn't the only one who survived that night.
The room became completely silent.
Leon stepped closer.
"That's impossible."
Adrian looked at him.
"Who else was there?"
Leon did not answer.
Victoria's face became pale.
Because she already knew.
Adrian turned toward her.
"You know."
Victoria looked at the phone.
Then at the archive door.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Adrian..."
"What?"
She pointed toward the hallway.
"The person Marcus protected all these years..."
A slow sound came from outside.
Footsteps.
Approaching.
Everyone reached for their weapons.
The footsteps stopped.
May you like
Right outside the archive room.
Then the door handle moved.
