Chapter 4 - The Man Behind The Betrayal
The front doors of the Meridian Club opened slowly.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Every person inside the room watched the entrance like they were waiting for a storm to walk through.
And then he appeared.
An older man stepped inside.
Gray hair.
Perfect black suit.
Calm eyes.
He didn't look like someone coming to attack.
He looked like someone coming home.
Cassian Voss stood completely still.
For the first time since I met him, he looked smaller.
Not weaker.
Just different.
Like the person walking toward him wasn't an enemy.
He was a memory.
The older man looked around the room.
His eyes passed over the broken tables.
The unconscious attackers.
The security guards.
Then they stopped on Cassian.
"You've changed."
Cassian's expression hardened.
"You haven't."
The man's lips curved slightly.
"Still angry."
"Still alive."
The room became colder.
I stood near Elena, trying to understand what was happening.
This man was Cassian's father.
The man everyone believed was gone.
The man connected to everything happening tonight.
But something didn't make sense.
Why would Cassian's own father attack him?
Why would Elena return now?
Why was my family involved?
My head was filled with questions, but nobody seemed interested in answering them.
The older man walked closer.
"Where is she?"
Cassian didn't move.
"Who?"
The man's eyes shifted toward me.
My entire body reacted before my mind understood why.
He wasn't looking at Cassian.
He was looking at me.
"Her."
The single word made every guard raise their weapons.
Cassian immediately stepped between us.
"Don't look at her."
The older man smiled.
"There it is."
Cassian's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"The same mistake you made ten years ago."
Nobody spoke.
The older man looked at me again.
"You protected her mother."
My heart stopped.
My mother's name.
Again.
Always my mother.
Always a secret.
Always a piece of a story everyone else knew except me.
Cassian's voice became dangerous.
"Enough."
The man ignored him.
"Your mother was smarter than all of us."
I looked at Elena.
She looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
Because it confirmed something.
Everyone knew.
Everyone except me.
I stepped forward.
"Stop."
The room went silent.
All eyes turned toward me.
I looked directly at the older man.
"I don't know who any of you are supposed to be."
My voice shook slightly.
"But I know one thing."
I pointed at the photograph on the table.
"That picture has my family in it."
Nobody interrupted.
"And tonight, six men tried to kill him."
I looked at Cassian.
"Then I found out you knew my mother."
Then Elena.
"You knew me."
Finally, the older man.
"And now you are standing here acting like I am the answer to some question nobody wants to explain."
The older man's expression changed.
Not anger.
Respect.
"You have her courage."
I hated that sentence.
Because it sounded like everyone had been comparing me to someone I never knew.
"My mother is dead."
The man's eyes softened.
"No."
The room froze.
I stared at him.
"What did you say?"
Cassian's face changed instantly.
"Don't."
The older man looked at Cassian.
"You never told her?"
Cassian didn't answer.
My heart started beating faster.
"Tell me what?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Cassian finally said:
"Priya..."
I had never heard him say my name like that.
Like he was afraid of what came next.
"Your mother didn't die the way you were told."
The words hit harder than I expected.
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"What does that mean?"
Cassian looked down.
"She disappeared."
I laughed quietly.
Again.
Because my entire life suddenly felt like a story someone else had written.
"My whole life, I believed she was gone."
"I know."
"And you knew?"
"I knew pieces."
"Pieces?"
My anger rose.
"You knew enough to keep me away from the truth."
Cassian didn't defend himself.
That made it worse.
Because people only stayed silent when they knew they were guilty.
The older man walked toward the table.
"Your mother found something."
Elena looked at him.
"Don't."
He ignored her.
"Something that could destroy powerful people."
Cassian's eyes sharpened.
"What did she find?"
The older man smiled.
"The same thing your enemies are still searching for."
A phone suddenly vibrated.
Everyone looked around.
One of Cassian's guards checked his device.
His face changed.
"Mr. Voss."
Cassian looked over.
"What?"
The guard swallowed.
"We found the source of the attack."
The room became silent.
"Where?"
The guard looked uncomfortable.
"Inside the club."
Everyone froze.
Cassian's expression turned cold.
"Impossible."
"We checked every employee."
"Check again."
The guard hesitated.
"There is one problem."
Cassian stared at him.
"What problem?"
The guard looked toward me.
"The person who authorized the temporary staff list..."
He stopped.
Nobody breathed.
"Was you."
The accusation hit the room like an explosion.
Cassian slowly turned.
"What?"
The guard handed him a tablet.
"Your personal account approved the new employees hired this week."
Cassian looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
Because the information was impossible.
He hadn't approved anyone.
Someone had used his identity.
Someone close enough to access his private system.
Someone trusted.
The older man watched silently.
Then he said:
"You finally understand."
Cassian looked at him.
"You knew?"
"I warned you."
"When?"
"Ten years ago."
The silence returned.
I looked at Elena.
She looked terrified.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
And that was when I realized something.
She knew exactly what was happening.
"Elena."
She looked at me.
"What aren't you telling us?"
Her eyes filled with regret.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"From who?"
Before she could respond, every light in the Meridian Club turned off.
Again.
But this time, there was no emergency lighting.
No warning.
Nothing.
Complete darkness.
Then came a sound.
A single door unlocking.
Somewhere upstairs.
Cassian immediately moved.
"Everyone stay here."
But I followed.
"No."
He turned.
"Priya."
"I am done standing in rooms where everyone knows the truth except me."
For a second, he looked like he wanted to argue.
Then he stopped.
Because he knew I was right.
We moved through the dark hallway.
Cassian's guards followed.
The sound came again.
A door.
Slowly opening.
At the end of the private corridor.
Cassian raised his weapon.
Everyone prepared.
The door opened halfway.
A voice came from inside.
A woman's voice.
Weak.
Familiar.
A voice that made Elena cover her mouth.
A voice that made Cassian freeze.
"Priya..."
My heart stopped.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it every night in my dreams.
The voice I thought I would never hear again.
The voice of the woman I buried in my memory.
The woman who was supposed to be dead.
My mother whispered my name from behind the door.
And then the lights came back on.
Revealing someone standing inside.
Someone Cassian had spent ten years believing he lost.
May you like
Someone I had spent my entire life searching for.
My mother was alive.
