The Billionaire

The Betrayal

THE BILLIONAIRE

Episode 10: The Betrayal

Daniel stared into the darkness.

Thomas stood at the end of the tunnel, a gun in his hand.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Richard was lying on the ground, blood soaking through his shirt.

Sarah immediately raised her weapon.

"Drop the gun, Thomas!"

Thomas didn't move.

Instead, he looked at Daniel.

"Move away from Richard."

Daniel shook his head.

"You shot him."

Thomas's face remained expressionless.

"He was going to kill you."

"That's a lie!"

Thomas took a step forward.

"Daniel, listen to me."

"Don't come any closer."

Daniel stood between Thomas and Richard.

The brother he had trusted his entire life now looked like a stranger.

Thomas lowered his weapon slightly.

"You don't understand what's happening."

"Then explain it."

Thomas looked at Sarah.

"Not in front of her."

Sarah's eyes narrowed.

"You're not in a position to make demands."

Thomas ignored her.

"Daniel, our mother is alive."

Daniel's anger suddenly returned.

"You said they took her."

"They did."

"Where is she?"

Thomas hesitated.

"She's safe."

Daniel stepped forward.

"Where?"

Thomas looked away.

"Victor has her."

Daniel's face hardened.

"You betrayed us."

"No."

"You were inside the facility eighteen years ago."

Thomas stared at him.

"Yes."

"You were there the night Dad died."

"Yes."

Daniel felt his heart breaking.

"Why?"

Thomas finally lowered the gun.

"Because Dad asked me to be there."

Daniel froze.

"What?"

Thomas took another step.

"Your father knew he was going to die."

Richard groaned from the floor.

"Don't..."

Thomas looked at him.

"You're still alive?"

Richard tried to sit up.

"You should have stayed dead."

Thomas's expression changed.

"You were never supposed to survive."

Daniel looked between them.

"What is going on?"

Thomas sighed.

"I'll tell you everything."

He placed the gun on the ground.

"My real name isn't Thomas Blackwood."

Daniel's stomach tightened.

Thomas looked at him.

"My name is Thomas Hale."

Sarah immediately raised her weapon again.

"Hale?"

Thomas nodded.

"Victor Hale is my father."

Daniel stepped backward.

"No."

Thomas continued.

"I was placed inside the Blackwood family eighteen years ago."

Daniel's voice became quiet.

"You were spying on us."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because Victor wanted your father's secrets."

Daniel shook his head.

"Then why didn't you kill me?"

Thomas looked at him.

"Because I couldn't."

Daniel stared at him.

"You were my brother."

Thomas smiled sadly.

"That's the problem."

---

A distant explosion shook the tunnel.

Sarah looked toward the entrance.

"We need to move."

Thomas nodded.

"Victor's men are coming."

Daniel looked at Richard.

"We can't leave him."

Richard grabbed Daniel's arm.

"Leave me."

"No."

"Daniel..."

Richard coughed.

"You need to find your mother."

Daniel looked at Thomas.

"Where is she?"

Thomas answered.

"At the old Blackwood mansion."

Daniel's eyes widened.

"I thought Victor had her."

"He does."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because I want you to rescue her."

Daniel stared at him.

"Why would you help me?"

Thomas looked at the floor.

"Because I finally chose a side."

Sarah stepped closer.

"And which side is that?"

Thomas looked directly at her.

"Daniel's."

Suddenly, gunfire erupted from the far end of the tunnel.

Bullets struck the walls.

Sarah pulled Daniel behind a concrete barrier.

Thomas grabbed Richard and dragged him into cover.

"How many?" Daniel asked.

"At least ten," Sarah answered.

Thomas looked at Daniel.

"There is another exit."

"Where?"

"Behind the control room."

They began running.

Bullets followed them through the tunnel.

Sarah fired back twice.

They reached a steel door.

Thomas entered a code.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

Daniel looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

Thomas stared at the keypad.

"Victor changed the code."

Daniel remembered his father's message.

The Black Crown vault.

He reached into his pocket.

"Maybe this will work."

He pulled out a small metal object.

Richard had given it to him earlier.

It was shaped like half a key.

Daniel inserted it into the keypad.

The door opened.

Everyone stared.

Thomas whispered:

"Your father..."

Daniel looked at him.

"What?"

"He gave you the second key."

Daniel nodded.

"Apparently."

They entered the room.

The door locked behind them.

The gunfire stopped.

For the moment, they were safe.

---

The room was filled with old documents.

At the center stood a large wooden desk.

Daniel walked toward it.

A photograph sat on top.

It showed his father.

His mother.

And a young Thomas.

Daniel picked it up.

Thomas stood behind him.

"Your father took that photograph three months before he died."

Daniel looked at him.

"You were already part of the family."

Thomas nodded.

"Victor sent me to spy on him."

"But Dad knew?"

"Eventually."

Daniel stared at the photograph.

"What happened?"

"Your father discovered who I really was."

Daniel turned.

"Why didn't he expose you?"

Thomas looked away.

"Because he believed I could change."

Daniel's eyes narrowed.

"Did you?"

Thomas nodded.

"Yes."

He paused.

"Too late."

Sarah suddenly noticed something on the wall.

"Daniel."

She pointed.

There was a large map.

Red lines connected cities around the world.

At the center was a symbol.

A black crown.

Beneath it were three words:

CONTROL. WEALTH. POWER.

Sarah stepped closer.

"This isn't just a criminal organization."

Thomas shook his head.

"No."

"Then what is it?"

Thomas looked at Daniel.

"Black Crown controls the people who control everything else."

Daniel's face hardened.

"Victor wants to become its leader."

"No."

Thomas shook his head.

"Victor already is."

Silence filled the room.

Daniel looked at the map.

"Then what does he need from me?"

Thomas answered:

"Your father's inheritance."

Daniel frowned.

"I already inherited the company."

"Not the real inheritance."

Thomas opened a hidden drawer.

Inside was a black envelope.

Daniel pulled it out.

His name was written on it.

DANIEL BLACKWOOD.

His hands trembled as he opened it.

Inside was a letter from his father.

Daniel began reading.

My son,

If you are reading this, then the people I feared have finally come for you.

There is a truth I kept from you because I wanted you to have a normal life.

Your fortune is not your greatest inheritance.

Your greatest inheritance is the Black Crown.

Daniel stopped reading.

"What?"

Thomas looked shocked.

Daniel continued.

The organization began with your grandfather, but I tried to destroy it.

I failed.

Victor believes the Black Crown belongs to him.

He is wrong.

It belongs to the last living heir.

Daniel's hands shook.

Sarah whispered:

"That means you."

Daniel continued reading.

Daniel, if Victor discovers the vault beneath the mansion, he will kill everyone who stands between him and the crown.

There is only one person who knows where the final vault is.

Daniel looked at the bottom of the page.

The name was written there.

Your mother.

Daniel immediately folded the letter.

"We have to go."

Thomas nodded.

Sarah looked at Richard.

"We can't leave him here."

Thomas shook his head.

"I'll carry him."

Daniel helped Thomas lift Richard.

Together, they moved toward the emergency exit.

---

Thirty minutes later, they reached the old Blackwood mansion.

The enormous house stood silently beneath the night sky.

Daniel hadn't entered it in years.

Every childhood memory came rushing back.

His father's study.

His mother's bedroom.

The dining room where they used to eat together.

Everything looked exactly the same.

Too exactly.

Sarah entered first.

"Clear."

Thomas followed with Richard.

Daniel stepped into the hallway.

Then he heard something.

A woman's voice.

"Daniel."

He froze.

"Mom?"

They followed the sound into the dining room.

His mother was sitting at the table.

Her hands were tied.

Victor Hale stood behind her.

Six armed men surrounded the room.

Victor smiled.

"Welcome home, Daniel."

Daniel's fists tightened.

"Let her go."

Victor laughed.

"You still think you can give me orders?"

Thomas raised his gun.

Victor looked at him.

"Son."

Thomas's face became cold.

"Don't call me that."

Victor smiled.

"I raised you."

"You used me."

"And you failed me."

Victor pointed his weapon at Daniel.

"Put your gun down, Thomas."

Thomas didn't move.

Victor's expression hardened.

"Or your mother dies."

Daniel looked at his mother.

She was frightened, but she shook her head.

"Don't surrender."

Victor grabbed her hair.

Daniel stepped forward.

"Don't touch her!"

Victor smiled.

"Now you understand."

He pointed toward the floor.

"The final vault is beneath this house."

Daniel's heart sank.

Victor continued.

"And your mother is going to tell me how to open it."

Daniel looked at his mother.

She stared back at him.

Then she whispered:

"I can't."

Victor raised his gun.

A shot exploded.

Daniel screamed.

But the bullet didn't hit his mother.

It struck the table.

Victor smiled.

"You have ten seconds."

Daniel looked around the room.

There had to be a way out.

Then he noticed something beneath the table.

A small golden symbol.

The same symbol from the key.

Daniel suddenly understood.

The vault wasn't beneath the mansion.

It was beneath the dining room.

He looked at Thomas.

Thomas understood too.

Daniel whispered:

"Now."

Thomas fired.

Sarah fired simultaneously.

The room erupted into chaos.

Daniel rushed toward his mother.

Victor disappeared through a hidden door.

Daniel freed his mother.

"Mom, where's the vault?"

She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"It's beneath us."

Daniel looked down.

The floor suddenly opened.

A staircase descended into darkness.

And from somewhere below came the sound of a machine starting.

His mother grabbed his hand.

"Daniel..."

"What?"

Her voice trembled.

"Your father isn't dead."

Daniel stared at her.

"What did you say?"

She looked into his eyes.

"Your father has been alive all these years."

A deep voice suddenly echoed from the darkness below.

"Daniel."

Daniel's blood ran cold.

He knew that voice.

It was the voice he had heard in his childhood.

His father's voice.

"Come downstairs."

Daniel stared into the darkness.

Then the lights beneath the mansion came on.

At the bottom of the staircase stood a man in a black suit.

Daniel could barely breathe.

His father looked exactly as he remembered him.

Older.

But alive.

And beside him stood Victor Hale.

Victor smiled.

"Welcome to the real Black Crown."