Chapter 4 - The Man Who Knew Too Much
The elevator stopped.
The sound was quiet.
Too quiet.
I stood in my office staring at the metal doors while the message on my computer screen remained open.
Adrian, if you want to know who killed Luca, come alone.
Below it was the name.
A name I had buried thirteen years ago.
A name that should have been impossible.
Marcus Hale.
My brother's best friend.
The man who watched Luca die.
The man who disappeared.
The man I spent years believing had betrayed us.
My hand moved slowly toward the gun inside my desk drawer.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I knew exactly what kind of person walked into a room after sending a message like that.
Someone who wanted control.
Someone who knew secrets.
Someone who had nothing left to lose.
The elevator doors opened.
But nobody stepped out.
I waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Nothing.
Then I heard a sound.
A slow tap.
A cane hitting the marble floor.
My eyes narrowed.
A man finally appeared.
Older.
Thinner.
His hair was almost completely gray.
But his eyes were the same.
Marcus Hale.
Alive.
He looked at me like he had been expecting this moment for thirteen years.
"Hello, Adrian."
I didn't move.
"You're supposed to be dead."
Marcus gave a small, bitter smile.
"So was your brother."
The words hit harder than I expected.
My jaw tightened.
"You have five seconds to explain why you're standing in my office."
He looked around.
The same office where Luca had once sat across from me.
The same room where we planned our future.
The same room where I had received the call that destroyed my life.
Marcus noticed the photograph on my desk.
Luca.
Emma.
Elena.
His expression changed.
"You found them."
I stepped forward.
"You knew."
Marcus looked at me.
"Yes."
The answer came too easily.
That made me angrier.
"You knew my brother was alive."
"Yes."
"You knew he had a daughter."
A pause.
"Yes."
I grabbed the front of his coat.
The security cameras above us immediately activated.
But nobody entered.
Nobody dared.
"Thirteen years."
My voice was low.
"You let me bury him."
Marcus didn't fight back.
"You think I wanted that?"
"I think you lied."
"I did."
The honesty surprised me.
I released him.
Not because I forgave him.
Because I wanted answers more than revenge.
"Start talking."
Marcus slowly walked toward the desk.
He looked at Luca's picture.
"When Luca discovered the truth, he knew he couldn't come back."
"What truth?"
Marcus looked at me.
"The truth about our family."
I felt my patience disappear.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because everyone who knew the truth died."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Who?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he reached into his pocket.
My hand moved toward my weapon.
He stopped.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Nobody who says that usually means it."
Marcus pulled out a small key.
Old.
Metal.
Worn.
He placed it on my desk.
"Luca gave me this two days before the explosion."
I looked at it.
"What does it open?"
"The place where he hid everything."
"Where?"
Marcus looked toward the window.
"The place nobody would think to search."
I waited.
He continued.
"The old Voss family estate."
My expression changed.
The estate had been abandoned after my father died.
Nobody had lived there for years.
It was the one place I never returned to.
Too many memories.
Too many ghosts.
"Why hide it there?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Because the person hunting Luca would never believe you would go back."
The room became silent.
I thought about the message.
The warning.
The photograph.
The video.
Everything pointed to one impossible truth.
Someone close to me had erased my brother.
Someone close to me had manipulated my entire life.
"Who ordered the explosion?"
Marcus looked away.
"Adrian..."
"Who?"
His silence answered before his words did.
"You already know."
My eyes narrowed.
"No."
"You just don't want to believe it."
I stepped closer.
"Say the name."
Marcus looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen in him.
Fear.
Not fear of me.
Fear of the person he was about to reveal.
"The person who wanted Luca gone..."
He stopped.
Then whispered:
"...was your father."
The room felt like it stopped breathing.
My father's face appeared in my mind.
A powerful man.
A ruthless man.
The man who built the foundation of everything I owned.
The man who taught me that weakness was something to destroy.
But he had been dead for ten years.
"Impossible."
Marcus shook his head.
"That's what Luca thought too."
I stared at him.
"My father died before Luca."
"Yes."
"Then explain."
Marcus looked at the door.
"The man who ordered Luca's death wasn't the man who pulled the trigger."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Someone used his name."
Marcus nodded.
"Someone who knew your father."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Because suddenly his eyes moved past me.
Toward the security monitor.
The camera feed had changed.
A figure was standing outside my private floor.
Watching.
I turned toward the screen.
The person was wearing a dark coat.
Face hidden.
But I recognized the way he stood.
The confidence.
The posture.
The complete lack of fear.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
One sentence.
Ask Marcus why he never told you about the second child.
My eyes moved slowly from the phone.
To Marcus.
His face had gone completely pale.
"Second child?"
Marcus didn't respond.
"Marcus."
He closed his eyes.
Like he had been waiting thirteen years for this moment.
"There is something else you need to know about Luca."
I stepped closer.
"What?"
Marcus looked at the door.
The person outside was no longer standing still.
The handle began to turn.
May you like
And Marcus whispered:
"Your brother didn't have only one child."
