Chapter 11: The Woman Who Controlled the Game
Chapter 11: The Woman Who Controlled the Game
The rain continued falling over the abandoned airport.
Inside the old hangar, Dominic stood surrounded by people who had once worked for him.
Men who had once called him boss.
Men who had once promised loyalty.
Now they stood behind Nathan.
Waiting for orders.
Dominic looked at them carefully.
He wasn't surprised anymore.
That was the dangerous part.
Betrayal only hurts the first time.
After that...
It becomes information.
Nathan returned from the phone call.
But Dominic noticed something immediately.
His confidence was different.
Smaller.
A crack had appeared.
"Who was that?"
Dominic asked.
Nathan stopped.
"Nobody."
Dominic almost smiled.
"That was the first lie you've told tonight that sounded nervous."
Nathan stared at him.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
Then Nathan laughed.
"You always were observant."
"That's why I needed to control your emotions."
Dominic stepped closer.
"You don't control me."
Nathan looked around the room.
"Don't I?"
"You came here."
"You walked into my trap."
"You left your people behind."
Dominic remained calm.
"Because I knew you wanted me alone."
Nathan smiled.
"And you still came."
"Why?"
Dominic looked toward the photograph of Victoria on the wall.
"Because you made one mistake."
"What?"
"You thought love made me weak."
Nathan's expression changed slightly.
"But it didn't."
"It gave me something to fight for."
A loud alarm suddenly exploded throughout the hangar.
Everyone turned.
The computer screens began flashing.
One by one.
The Raven files disappeared.
Nathan immediately walked toward the monitors.
"What is happening?"
One of his men typed rapidly.
"Someone is accessing the system."
Nathan's face hardened.
"Block it."
"We're trying."
The screen froze.
Then a message appeared.
HELLO, NATHAN.
Nobody spoke.
Dominic watched Nathan.
The fear was back.
A second message appeared.
DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU WERE THE MASTER?
Nathan stepped closer.
"Who is this?"
The message changed.
YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO I AM.
Then a video started playing.
A woman appeared.
Not Victoria.
Not Claire.
Someone else.
A woman in her late fifties.
Elegant.
Calm.
Powerful.
Dominic had never seen her before.
Nathan had.
Because his face changed instantly.
"Impossible."
The woman smiled.
"Hello, Nathan."
Nathan whispered:
"Helena."
Dominic looked at him.
"You know her."
Nathan didn't answer.
The woman continued speaking through the screen.
"You have always been ambitious."
"You have always been patient."
"But patience without intelligence becomes arrogance."
Nathan stepped closer to the monitor.
"You're dead."
Helena laughed softly.
"So many people have said that."
Dominic looked between them.
"Who is she?"
Nathan finally answered.
"My former employer."
The room went silent.
Former employer.
Those words mattered.
Because Nathan had spent years pretending he built everything himself.
But now Dominic understood.
Nathan wasn't the beginning.
He was the middle.
Helena continued.
"You were supposed to take Dominic's empire quietly."
"You were supposed to remove Victoria."
"You were supposed to become invisible."
Nathan clenched his fists.
"You disappeared."
"No."
"I watched."
The woman smiled.
"Every move."
"Every mistake."
"Every weakness."
Dominic stared at the screen.
"You've been behind everything?"
Helena looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled.
"Not everything."
"Just the important parts."
At that moment...
Back at the Vale estate...
Mia woke up suddenly.
Something felt wrong.
Harper was sleeping beside her.
Safe.
But Mia's eyes moved toward the window.
A shadow crossed the curtain.
She froze.
Someone was outside.
Slowly...
She reached for the emergency button Dominic had left beside the bed.
Before she could press it...
The bedroom door opened.
Mia grabbed a small lamp.
"Who are you?"
A man stepped inside.
Not a guard.
Not someone she recognized.
He raised his hands.
"Relax."
"I'm not here to hurt you."
Mia didn't lower the lamp.
"Then why are you here?"
The man looked at Harper.
Then back at Mia.
"Because Dominic is in danger."
Mia narrowed her eyes.
"Who sent you?"
The man hesitated.
That hesitation told her everything.
"I work for Victoria."
Mia froze.
"Victoria is alive."
The man nodded.
"Yes."
"And she needs your help."
Mia looked at Harper.
"Why me?"
The man answered quietly.
"Because you know the truth about what happened twelve years ago."
Back at the airport...
Dominic continued staring at Helena's image.
"You know Victoria."
Helena smiled.
"Everyone knows Victoria."
"She was the one person who ruined our plans."
Nathan looked angry.
"You said she was gone."
"I said she was removed."
"Those are different things."
Dominic stepped forward.
"What was the plan?"
Helena looked amused.
"You still think this is about money."
"It's not."
"It's about control."
She leaned closer to the camera.
"People like you build kingdoms, Dominic."
"But kingdoms are fragile."
"All it takes is one person close enough to open the gates."
Her eyes moved toward Nathan.
"That person was Nathan."
Dominic looked at Nathan.
Nathan looked away.
Helena continued.
"But Nathan made the same mistake every traitor makes."
"He started believing he was the owner."
A pause.
"He forgot he was only the servant."
Nathan suddenly grabbed a gun from one of his men.
He pointed it at the screen.
"You think you can control me?"
Helena smiled.
"I already did."
The lights in the hangar suddenly turned red.
A security door opened.
Dominic looked toward it.
A person stepped inside.
Everyone froze.
Because the newcomer wasn't a stranger.
It was someone Dominic knew.
Someone he trusted.
Someone who should have been dead.
The person removed their hood.
Dominic's eyes widened.
"Victor?"
The man smiled.
"Hello, Dominic."
"The dead have a habit of returning."
And behind him...
A dozen armed people entered the hangar.
Nathan slowly lowered his weapon.
Because he finally understood.
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He wasn't the one who had been controlling the game.
He had been trapped too.
