Chapter 5 - The Child Hidden From the World
The door handle moved.
Slowly.
Marcus and I both stared at it.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Because whoever was standing outside my office wasn't trying to hide anymore.
They wanted us to know they were there.
My hand went toward my weapon.
Marcus grabbed my arm.
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"You don't tell me what to do."
His eyes remained fixed on the door.
"Not this time."
The handle stopped turning.
A second later, my phone vibrated.
Another message.
Unknown number.
You have always protected the wrong people, Adrian.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Marcus.
"Who is this?"
He didn't answer.
That was becoming a habit.
And I was running out of patience.
I walked toward the door.
Marcus stepped in front of me.
"Listen to me."
"No."
"Adrian."
I stopped.
Not because he used my name.
Because of the fear in his voice.
Marcus Hale was not a man who scared easily.
He had walked into enemy territory beside Luca.
He had survived things that killed stronger men.
But now...
He looked terrified.
"The person outside this door knows about Emma."
My expression changed.
"What?"
Marcus lowered his voice.
"And they know about the other child."
The words from earlier came back.
Your brother didn't have only one child.
I felt something heavy settle in my chest.
Luca had a daughter.
Now I was being told there was another child.
Another secret.
Another person who had been hidden from me.
"Where is the second child?"
Marcus looked away.
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I know where they were taken."
"Where?"
He hesitated.
Then:
"Your family's old estate."
The Voss estate.
The place where everything began.
The place where my father built his empire.
The place where Luca and I grew up.
The place I had avoided for ten years.
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because the truth had become too impossible.
"My brother hid one child with Elena."
I looked at Marcus.
"And the other?"
His face became serious.
"The other was hidden from everyone."
"Why?"
"Because that child was the reason Luca disappeared."
Before I could answer, the lights in my office went out.
Everything went black.
The security alarms should have activated.
They didn't.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Someone had disabled them.
Someone who knew my building.
Someone who knew my systems.
Someone close.
I heard footsteps.
Not outside.
Inside.
Marcus whispered:
"We need to leave."
I pulled my phone flashlight on.
"Nobody leaves until I know the truth."
A figure moved through the darkness near the window.
I raised my weapon.
"Show yourself."
Silence.
Then a voice.
A woman's voice.
"Adrian."
My body froze.
Because I knew that voice too.
Not from memory.
From reality.
She stepped into the light.
And everything inside me stopped.
Clara.
My assistant.
The woman who had worked beside me for six years.
The woman who knew my schedule.
My security codes.
My habits.
My weaknesses.
She stood there holding a small envelope.
Her face was different.
No professional calm.
No controlled expression.
Only guilt.
"You."
My voice was cold.
Clara looked down.
"I didn't want you to find out like this."
Marcus immediately moved.
"You were working for them."
Clara looked at him.
"No."
A bitter smile appeared.
"I was trying to stop them."
I lowered my weapon slightly.
Not because I trusted her.
Because I needed answers.
"Start talking."
Clara looked at the envelope in her hand.
"Before Luca disappeared, he contacted me."
My eyes narrowed.
"You knew Luca?"
She nodded.
"I was young. I was only nineteen."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Luca told me not to."
I stared at her.
"Everyone keeps using his name."
Her eyes filled with emotion.
"Because everyone who knew Luca knew he was trying to protect you."
I didn't respond.
She walked closer and placed the envelope on my desk.
"He knew your father was not acting alone."
I looked at Marcus.
Then back at her.
"Who was helping him?"
Clara swallowed.
"Someone inside your company."
My fingers tightened.
"Who?"
She looked at the security camera above the door.
Then whispered:
"The person who has been controlling Voss International since before you became CEO."
A cold feeling moved through me.
Because there was only one person who fit that description.
Someone who had been there from the beginning.
Someone my father trusted.
Someone I trusted.
"Say the name."
Clara didn't.
She opened the envelope instead.
Inside was a document.
A birth certificate.
My eyes immediately went to the name.
I stopped breathing.
Because the father's name was:
Luca Voss.
And the mother's name was:
Unknown.
The child's name was:
Noah Voss.
Born twelve years ago.
I stared at the paper.
Twelve years old.
Alive.
My brother's son.
Another child.
Another piece of Luca's life stolen from me.
"Where is he?"
Clara looked at me.
"Adrian..."
"Where is my nephew?"
She looked terrified.
"He's been living under another name."
"Where?"
Before she could answer, every screen in my office turned on.
The monitors showed the same image.
A young boy.
Standing outside the old Voss estate.
My blood turned cold.
Because I recognized the place.
And I recognized the boy.
Even though I had never met him.
He had Luca's eyes.
My phone vibrated again.
A video file appeared.
No message.
No explanation.
Just a name.
NOAH.
I opened it.
The boy looked directly into the camera.
Behind him, someone was standing in the shadows.
A familiar voice spoke.
"Adrian..."
The boy turned around.
And the person behind him stepped forward.
The face appeared on the screen.
A face I thought I would never see again.
My father's closest friend.
The man who raised me after my father died.
The man I called family.
Then he said:
"Your brother left you two children because he knew you would choose the wrong one."
The video cut.
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At that exact moment, the elevator outside my office opened.
And someone whispered my name.
