Chapter 4
Chapter 4 The Man Who Never Died
The hallway fell silent.
Elena stared at the man standing at the end of it.
She knew that face.
Not from recent years, but from an old photograph buried inside her memories.
He had been standing beside her father.
The man smiled.
"Surprised to see me?"
Adrian stepped in front of Elena.
"You should be dead."
The man laughed.
"That's what I wanted everyone to believe."
Adrian tightened his grip on his weapon.
"Victor?"
The man slowly removed the rest of his mask.
"Hello, Adrian."
Elena's eyes widened.
"Victor Carter?"
Adrian's greatest business rival was standing inside his secret mansion.
But this wasn't the Victor Carter she had seen earlier.
This man looked older, colder, and far more dangerous.
Adrian's voice became quiet.
"You've been behind all of this."
Victor smiled.
"Not all of it."
He lifted the photograph in his hand.
"But your father and Elena's father were certainly part of it."
Elena stepped forward.
"What happened to my father?"
Victor looked at her.
"Your father was a very intelligent man."
"Where is he?"
Victor's smile disappeared.
"Dead."
Elena froze.
Adrian looked at Victor.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
Elena's hands began to shake.
"No."
Victor continued.
"He died fifteen years ago."
Adrian moved closer.
"Who killed him?"
Victor looked directly at him.
"You already know."
Adrian's expression changed.
"No."
Victor laughed.
"You spent fifteen years pretending you didn't."
Elena looked between them.
"What is he talking about?"
Adrian remained silent.
Victor answered for him.
"Your father's death was not caused by an outside enemy."
He pointed at Adrian.
"It started with his family."
Elena stared at Adrian.
"Your family?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Don't listen to him."
Victor stepped closer.
"Why don't you tell her the truth?"
Adrian raised his weapon.
"One more word."
Victor smiled.
"You still hide behind that perfect CEO image."
He looked at Elena.
"Do you know who Adrian Blackwood really is?"
Elena looked at Adrian.
"I've been asking him that all night."
Victor laughed.
"Then let me answer."
Adrian moved forward.
Victor suddenly pulled a remote from his pocket.
The security doors slammed shut.
A red light flashed.
Victor pressed a button.
A hidden screen appeared on the wall.
Old security footage began playing.
Elena watched in shock.
The footage showed her father entering a building.
Adrian's father was there.
Two other men stood nearby.
Then the video changed.
A younger Adrian appeared.
He was seventeen years old.
Elena looked at him in disbelief.
"You were there?"
Adrian stared at the screen.
"I was."
The footage continued.
Young Adrian was arguing with his father.
Then Elena's father entered the room.
He handed Adrian a small black box.
The video ended.
Elena turned toward him.
"What was in the box?"
Adrian looked away.
"I don't know."
Victor laughed.
"You know exactly what was in it."
Adrian's eyes hardened.
Victor continued.
"The box contained evidence."
"Evidence of what?" Elena demanded.
Victor looked at her.
"Your father's discovery."
"What did he discover?"
Victor paused.
"The identity of the person controlling everything."
Elena's heart raced.
"Who?"
Victor smiled.
"That's the secret Adrian has been protecting."
Adrian suddenly fired a shot.
The bullet struck the wall beside Victor.
"Enough."
Victor didn't move.
Instead, he smiled.
"You still don't understand, Adrian."
He pressed another button.
A second video appeared.
This time it showed Elena's father running through a dark warehouse.
Someone was following him.
He turned.
The video stopped before his face could be seen.
Elena covered her mouth.
"My father..."
Victor looked at her.
"He tried to escape."
"From whom?"
Victor looked at Adrian.
"From the people your friend works for."
Elena's eyes moved toward Adrian.
"My friend?"
Victor nodded.
"Daniel."
Adrian immediately turned.
"Where is Daniel?"
Nobody answered.
Victor smiled.
"Exactly."
Adrian's face changed.
"Where is he?"
Victor stepped backward.
"You're asking the wrong question."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"What question should I ask?"
Victor looked at Elena.
"Ask her why her father trusted her with the truth."
Elena shook her head.
"I don't understand."
Victor threw the old photograph toward her.
She caught it.
On the back was a handwritten message.
THE KEY IS NOT THE GIRL.
Elena turned it over.
There was another sentence beneath it.
THE KEY IS WHAT SHE REMEMBERS.
Her heart stopped.
"I don't remember anything."
Victor smiled.
"That's what they wanted."
Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the mansion.
The floor trembled.
Elena fell.
Adrian caught her.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
Victor disappeared into the smoke.
Adrian immediately looked toward the corridor.
"Daniel!"
No answer.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"Sir..."
Daniel appeared, wounded and holding his side.
Adrian rushed toward him.
"What happened?"
Daniel struggled to speak.
"Security... compromised."
"Who did this?"
Daniel looked at Elena.
Then at Adrian.
"There was another person."
"Who?"
Daniel whispered a name.
Adrian's face went completely pale.
Elena noticed.
"Who is it?"
Adrian slowly stood.
His eyes were filled with something Elena had never seen before.
Fear.
"Your father's killer."
The mansion lights suddenly came back on.
Victor was gone.
The security doors opened.
But on the main screen appeared a final message:
MIDNIGHT. THE OLD BLACKWOOD MANSION. COME ALONE.
Below it was another sentence.
BRING ELENA.
Adrian stared at the message.
Elena stepped beside him.
"What are we going to do?"
Adrian looked at her.
"We're going to find the truth."
"And if it's a trap?"
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Then we'll make sure they regret setting it."
Far away, inside an abandoned building, Victor watched them through a hidden camera.
A second man stood behind him.
"Will he come?"
Victor smiled.
"He always does."
The man looked at Elena's photograph.
"And the girl?"
Victor slowly turned.
"She's the reason Adrian will walk straight into the trap."
He paused.
"And this time..."
His smile became darker.
"...there will be no escape."