Chapter 6 - The Betrayer Inside The Empire
"Victor."
Cassian said the name like it carried a thousand memories.
The man standing at the end of the hallway didn't move.
He didn't look surprised.
He didn't look afraid.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Everyone else in the room looked like they were waiting for a disaster.
Victor looked like he had already seen it happen.
He was dressed exactly like Cassian's closest executives.
Perfect suit.
Calm expression.
Professional posture.
The kind of person nobody questioned because he had spent years earning their trust.
And that was what made him dangerous.
Because the person closest to you was always the person who knew exactly where to hurt you.
Cassian lowered his weapon slightly.
Not because he trusted him.
Because he was trying to understand.
"Why?"
Victor looked around the hallway.
At the guards.
At Elena.
At my mother.
Then his eyes stopped on me.
"Because she was never supposed to be found."
My stomach tightened.
Cassian's expression became cold.
"You were behind tonight?"
Victor didn't answer immediately.
That silence was enough.
The truth was already there.
Written on his face.
The man who had stood beside Cassian for years.
The man who had managed his security.
The man who knew every weakness in the Meridian Club.
Had been the person who opened the door for the attackers.
"You approved the new employees," Cassian said.
Victor smiled slightly.
"You finally noticed."
Nobody moved.
Cassian's father stepped forward.
"You betrayed him."
Victor looked at him.
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"I finished what you failed to finish."
The older man's expression changed.
Cassian looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Victor looked at the flash drive in my mother's hand.
"It means everyone in this room has been chasing the wrong enemy."
My mother tightened her grip around the drive.
"You still don't understand."
Victor looked at her.
"I understand perfectly."
"No."
Her voice became sharper.
"You never understood what he found."
Victor's smile disappeared.
For the first time, emotion appeared.
Anger.
"Your husband destroyed everything."
My body went still.
My father.
The man I never knew.
The man whose death had always been described as an unfortunate accident.
Victor knew him.
Everyone knew him.
Everyone except me.
Cassian stepped forward.
"Explain."
Victor looked at him.
"Ten years ago, your empire was built on a secret."
Cassian's face hardened.
"I built everything myself."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
The word echoed.
"You inherited something much darker."
The room became silent.
Cassian's father looked away.
And that told me everything.
There were still secrets.
Even now.
Victor continued.
"Your father created a network of power."
He looked at Cassian.
"Politicians. Corporations. Criminal organizations."
Cassian's jaw tightened.
"And you?"
"I maintained it."
The honesty was disturbing.
No excuses.
No denial.
Just a confession.
I looked at Cassian.
The man everyone feared suddenly looked like someone discovering the foundation beneath his entire life was cracking.
"My father wasn't killed because he betrayed me."
My mother spoke quietly.
"He was killed because he wanted to destroy it."
Victor looked at her.
"And that's why you ran."
My mother nodded.
"I had no choice."
"You always say that."
Her eyes became cold.
"Because it was true."
The room shook again.
Another explosion.
Closer.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The guards moved instantly.
Victor didn't react.
That scared me.
Because he wasn't surprised.
He knew.
Cassian noticed too.
"You planned this."
Victor looked at him.
"Not all of it."
Cassian raised his weapon.
"Who else?"
Victor looked at me.
And my blood went cold.
"Ask her."
Everyone turned.
My mother froze.
Cassian looked confused.
"What?"
Victor smiled.
"Ask Priya why they really wanted her."
I felt every eye in the hallway move toward me.
"I don't know."
Victor tilted his head.
"That's what they told you."
My heart started racing.
"What are you talking about?"
My mother stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
Victor laughed quietly.
"Still protecting her."
"She deserves a chance to choose."
"She deserves the truth."
The words hung between them.
I looked at my mother.
"Is there something else?"
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
My voice became softer.
"Mom."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I wanted to tell you."
"When?"
She looked away.
"Before they found us."
The answer hurt.
Because it meant she knew this day was coming.
She knew.
She prepared.
She hid.
And she left me alone with questions for ten years.
I stepped back.
Cassian noticed.
He moved closer.
"Priya."
I looked at him.
"Did you know too?"
His silence lasted only a second.
But it was enough.
My chest tightened.
"You did."
"I suspected."
"That's not better."
"I was trying to protect you."
I shook my head.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
My voice cracked.
"But nobody asks what I wanted."
Nobody spoke.
Because I was right.
They had all made choices for me.
My mother.
Cassian.
Elena.
Everyone.
They had protected me from the truth.
But they had also taken away my choice.
Victor watched quietly.
Then he said:
"Now you understand."
Cassian turned toward him.
"Understand what?"
Victor looked at me.
"Why your father hid the final piece."
My mother suddenly looked terrified.
"What did you say?"
Victor smiled.
"The flash drive isn't the evidence."
Nobody moved.
"The flash drive is the key."
Cassian's eyes narrowed.
"Key to what?"
Victor looked toward me.
"To the account your father created."
I felt confused.
"What account?"
Victor answered:
"The one that contains everything."
My mother's face went pale.
"No."
Victor continued.
"The one only Anika's daughter can access."
The hallway became completely silent.
Cassian slowly turned toward me.
My hands felt cold.
"I don't understand."
My mother whispered:
"Priya..."
Her voice sounded broken.
"I never wanted you to know."
"Know what?"
She looked at me.
"The reason your father died."
I waited.
Nobody breathed.
Then she said:
"Because he was trying to hide you."
A noise came from the guards' radios.
Static.
Then a voice.
A voice that shouldn't have been possible.
One of the guards picked up.
"Who is this?"
Nobody answered.
Then the voice spoke.
Calm.
Clear.
Familiar.
My mother's face lost all color.
Cassian immediately recognized it.
Because he had heard that voice before.
Ten years ago.
Before everything fell apart.
The radio crackled again.
And the voice said my name.
"Priya."
My mother whispered:
"No..."
The guard looked at Cassian.
"Mr. Voss..."
Cassian stared at the radio.
Because the person speaking through it was supposed to be dead.
Then the voice delivered the message that changed everything.
"Your father didn't die protecting you."
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A pause.
"He died trying to stop you from finding out who you really are."
