Chapter 20:The Fifth Name
497 Words
Silence filled the old church.
Smoke still drifted through the broken windows.
Isabella stared at the message on her phone.
"You know four. The fifth has been standing beside you all along."
A chill ran down her spine.
She slowly looked around.
Edward.
Damien.
The bodyguards.
The police officers.
Who could the message be talking about?
Edward gently took the paper from her hand.
Four names were written clearly.
The fifth name had been burned away.
"This wasn't an accident," Edward said.
"Someone wanted us to know only part of the truth."
Damien frowned.
"Or someone wanted us to suspect the wrong person."
Just then...
One of Edward's security officers rushed into the church.
"Chairman!"
"We found this behind the altar."
He handed Edward a small voice recorder.
Edward pressed the play button.
A woman's frightened voice echoed through the church.
It was Victoria.
"If you're listening to this..."
"I may already be dead."
"The fifth council member..."
"...is the only one whose face I've never seen."
"Everyone calls him..."
'The Chairman.'
The recording suddenly ended with a loud crash.
Isabella frowned.
"The Chairman?"
Edward looked confused.
"There are hundreds of chairmen in this city."
Damien crossed his arms.
"Maybe it's a code name."
Before anyone could respond, Isabella noticed something lying near the altar.
It was Victoria's bracelet.
She picked it up.
Attached to it was a tiny folded note.
She carefully opened it.
Her eyes widened.
"Grandpa..."
"You need to see this."
Edward took the note.
Written in red ink were the words:
'Look inside Amelia's diary.
The answer has been there all along.'
Edward immediately looked at Isabella.
"We're going home."
An hour later...
Back at Lancaster Mansion...
Edward unlocked the wooden box that had belonged to Amelia.
Inside was her diary.
The pages were old and yellow.
Isabella carefully turned each page.
Most of them described Amelia's happy memories with her husband and baby Isabella.
Then...
She reached the final pages.
A sentence had been underlined three times.
'Never trust the man who always wears the silver serpent ring.'
Edward froze.
"The silver serpent ring..."
Damien suddenly remembered something.
"Victor Hale wore one."
Edward nodded.
"But so did someone else."
Before he could finish...
The mansion lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Emergency alarms began ringing.
A guard shouted from outside.
"Chairman!"
"We've lost all power!"
Another guard yelled,
"The security cameras have been hacked!"
Then...
A calm voice echoed through the mansion speakers.
"Good evening... Lancaster family."
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
"You've been searching for me for a long time."
"But now..."
"I've decided to visit you instead."
Footsteps echoed through the dark hallway.
Slow...
Steady...
Getting closer.
Then the study door slowly creaked open.
A tall man wearing a black suit stepped into the room.
His face remained hidden in the darkness.
Only one thing caught the faint moonlight.
A silver serpent ring on his right hand.
He smiled.
"Allow me to introduce myself..."
"I am the Chairman."
- Writer
