Chapter 10: The Enemy Who Knew My Every Move
Chapter 10: The Enemy Who Knew My Every Move
The red lights continued flashing inside the underground archive.
The sound of the alarm echoed through the hidden room beneath my father’s office.
But the thing that terrified me wasn’t the alarm.
It was the words that followed.
The access code used was Evelyn’s.
I looked at my father.
For the first time in my life, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for me.
“Lock down the entire system,” he ordered.
The security officer immediately responded.
“Yes, sir.”
My father turned to me.
“Are you sure you didn’t access the files?”
The question hurt.
Not because he suspected me.
But because I knew why he had to ask.
Someone had used my identity.
My name.
My authority.
“No.”
My voice was steady.
“I have never seen that code before.”
My father nodded.
“I believe you.”
Then he looked back at the screen.
“Find out how they got in.”
The officer hesitated.
“Sir…”
“What?”
“There’s something strange.”
My father stepped closer.
“What?”
The officer pulled up the security footage.
A figure appeared walking through the archive hallway.
My heart stopped.
Because the person on the screen was wearing a black coat.
Their face was hidden.
But the way they walked…
The confidence.
The familiarity.
Something about it felt wrong.
“Can you identify them?” my father asked.
The officer shook his head.
“No.”
Then another image appeared.
A close-up of the person’s hand.
A ring.
A silver ring with a small black stone.
I recognized it instantly.
Because I had seen it before.
On Victoria’s hand.
I looked at my father.
“It’s her.”
His expression hardened.
“Victoria.”
An hour later, every security team connected to Vale International was searching for answers.
But Victoria had disappeared.
No trace.
No communication.
No mistake.
That was what frightened my father.
Because people like Victoria didn’t disappear because they were scared.
They disappeared because they were preparing their next move.
“She wanted us to know she was inside,” my father said.
We were sitting in his office.
“She could have taken anything.”
“Financial records.”
“Company secrets.”
“Personal information.”
“But she didn’t.”
I looked at him.
“Because she wanted something else.”
He nodded.
“She wanted to prove she could reach us.”
I looked down at the letter from my mother.
Half-truths.
Manipulation.
Control.
Everything Victoria did followed the same pattern.
She didn’t destroy people immediately.
She made them doubt themselves first.
She made them question what was real.
And that was exactly what she had done to me.
With Nathan.
With my father.
With my family.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photo appeared.
My blood ran cold.
It was a picture of my mother.
Alive.
Not an old photograph.
A recent image.
She was sitting in a room.
Looking directly at the camera.
Below the image was one sentence.
You want answers? Come alone.
I couldn’t breathe.
My father saw my face.
“What happened?”
I turned the phone toward him.
The color disappeared from his face.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone sent it.”
He grabbed the phone.
His hands shook slightly.
That scared me more than anything.
Because Alexander Vale didn’t shake.
Ever.
“She’s alive.”
The words escaped my mouth.
My father looked at me.
For a moment, he looked like a man seeing a miracle.
Then reality returned.
“No.”
His voice changed.
“This is a trap.”
I understood.
But I couldn’t ignore the picture.
Not after twenty years.
Not after believing my mother was gone forever.
“What if it’s real?”
My father closed his eyes.
“Evelyn.”
“What if she needs help?”
Silence.
Because he knew.
He knew there was no way he could stop me.
Not when it involved my mother.
That night, I left without telling anyone.
At least, that was what I wanted Victoria to believe.
I followed the location hidden inside the message.
An abandoned warehouse near the old harbor.
The same area where my father’s first companies had started decades ago.
The place was empty.
Too empty.
I walked inside slowly.
“Hello?”
My voice echoed.
No answer.
Then the lights turned on.
One by one.
At the end of the warehouse stood a woman.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
My entire world stopped.
Because even after twenty years...
I knew her.
“Mom?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Evelyn.”
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t speak.
The woman I had spent my entire life wondering about was standing in front of me.
Alive.
But before I could reach her...
A slow clap came from the shadows.
I turned.
Victoria stepped forward.
Smiling.
“I knew you would come.”
My heart sank.
My mother looked at her.
And the fear in her eyes told me everything.
They weren’t working together.
My mother was a prisoner.
Victoria looked at me.
“You see, Evelyn…”
She smiled.
“I told you your family had secrets.”
She walked closer.
“But I never told you the biggest one.”
I stared at her.
“What did you do?”
Victoria’s smile faded.
“I didn’t disappear your mother.”
She paused.
“Your father did.”
My heart stopped.
My mother looked down.
And for the first time...
I wondered if the truth I had been searching for my entire life...
May you like
Was the truth I was never ready to hear.
To be continued...
