Chapter 12 - The Last Person They Suspected
Chapter 12 - The Last Person They Suspected
The storage room became completely silent.
Daniel's words hung in the air.
"It was someone who was supposed to protect me."
The billionaire father stared at his son.
His mind raced through every possibility.
A stranger.
An enemy.
A criminal.
But Daniel was not looking at Victor.
He was not looking at Michael.
He was looking somewhere else.
Somewhere that made the father afraid to follow his eyes.
The father slowly turned.
Everyone waited.
Claire looked terrified.
The girlfriend looked guilty.
Thomas looked confused.
But one person remained perfectly calm.
The father noticed.
And that calmness felt dangerous.
"Who?"
His voice was almost a whisper.
Daniel looked down.
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
The father knelt beside him.
"You are not hurting anyone by telling the truth."
Daniel looked at his father.
"I saw her."
The father froze.
"Who?"
The boy's eyes moved toward Claire.
The room changed instantly.
The father stopped breathing.
Claire stepped backward.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
Daniel began crying.
"Mom was trying to help me."
The father looked confused.
"What are you saying?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Not her."
He looked toward another person.
The father followed his gaze.
And his heart stopped.
The person Daniel was looking at was not Claire.
It was someone standing behind her.
Thomas.
Everyone froze.
Thomas looked shocked.
"Me?"
Daniel nodded.
The father stared.
"Thomas?"
The investigator who claimed to help them.
The man who brought evidence.
The man who exposed secrets.
The man who seemed to be their only ally.
Thomas slowly shook his head.
"No."
Daniel stepped back.
"You were there."
Thomas's expression changed.
The father noticed.
A small crack in the man's confidence.
Daniel continued.
"You came to the room."
"You talked to Mom."
"You told her everything would be okay."
Thomas looked at Claire.
Claire looked away.
The father felt betrayed again.
"Explain."
Thomas remained silent.
The father stepped closer.
"Explain!"
Thomas finally sighed.
"I was trying to fix it."
Nobody believed him.
The father laughed.
"Fix it?"
"You were part of this."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
"I was part of the reason it failed."
The answer confused everyone.
Thomas opened his briefcase.
Inside were dozens of documents.
"I was hired to investigate the company."
The father stared.
"By who?"
Thomas looked at Michael.
"By him."
Michael looked away.
Thomas continued.
"But when I discovered Daniel was alive, everything changed."
The father narrowed his eyes.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
Thomas looked at Daniel.
"Because I wasn't sure who I could trust."
The father became angry.
"So you let my son stay hidden?"
Thomas lowered his head.
"I was trying to keep him alive."
A sudden sound interrupted them.
A phone ringing.
Everyone looked around.
The sound came from Victor.
He answered.
Nobody could hear the person on the other side.
But Victor's expression changed.
Then he smiled.
"It's time."
The father stepped forward.
"Time for what?"
Victor looked at him.
"Time for everyone to see the final recording."
Daniel's face changed.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
The boy was terrified.
"What recording?"
Daniel held the camcorder tightly.
"The one they wanted me to forget."
Victor walked toward the center of the room.
"You survived because you remembered."
The father looked at Victor.
"What happened that night?"
Victor smiled.
"You want the truth?"
He pointed toward the camcorder.
"Then watch."
Daniel slowly turned on the device.
A hidden file appeared.
No date.
No name.
Only one word.
"FINAL."
The father felt a wave of fear.
Daniel pressed play.
The screen showed the mansion seven years earlier.
A younger Daniel.
A younger Claire.
And several people standing in the same room.
The father watched silently.
Then he saw himself.
Standing there.
Alive.
Confused.
The father stepped backward.
"Why am I in this video?"
Nobody answered.
The recording continued.
Young Daniel looked terrified.
A voice said:
"The plan changes tonight."
The father recognized it.
His own voice.
But he never said those words.
The video shook.
Someone behind the camera whispered:
"He doesn't remember."
The father's face went pale.
"What does that mean?"
The recording continued.
A final image appeared.
A medical report.
A signature.
And a diagnosis.
The father stared.
Because the document was about him.
Not Daniel.
Not Claire.
Him.
The last line appeared on the screen.
"Memory alteration treatment successful."
Nobody spoke.
The father looked around.
"What did they do to me?"
Victor smiled.
"You finally asked the right question."
The lights suddenly turned off.
Darkness filled the room.
Then a voice came from the hallway.
A voice everyone recognized.
"You were never investigating the truth."
A pause.
"You were running from it."
The lights returned.
And standing at the doorway was the one person nobody expected.
The person who knew every secret.
The person who controlled every lie.
The father stared.
May you like
Because the person standing there was...
himself.
