The Billionaire

The Man Who Never Died

THE BILLIONAIRE

Episode 9: The Man Who Never Died

The explosion shook Blackwood Tower like an earthquake.

Daniel stumbled against the wall as another blast echoed through the building.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

The lights flickered violently before disappearing completely.

"Keep moving!" Sarah shouted.

She grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him through the hidden passage.

Richard was already several steps ahead of them.

Thomas's voice suddenly came through Sarah's phone.

"Sarah! Can you hear me?"

Sarah answered immediately.

"Yes."

"Where are you?"

"Floor forty-nine. We're using a hidden passage."

There was a pause.

"Daniel's mother is with me. We're getting out through the parking garage."

Sarah looked at Daniel.

"Stay there. We're coming."

"No," Richard interrupted.

Sarah turned toward him.

"What?"

Richard pointed deeper into the passage.

"If they are attacking the tower, the parking garage will be the first place they secure."

Thomas heard him through the phone.

"Who is that?"

Daniel answered.

"My uncle."

Silence.

Then Thomas shouted.

"Daniel, don't trust him!"

Richard stopped walking.

His expression became cold.

"Your brother is right."

Daniel looked at him.

"What?"

"You shouldn't trust me."

Sarah raised her gun.

"Then give me one reason not to arrest you."

Richard smiled bitterly.

"Because if you waste another minute, everyone in this building will die."

Another explosion shook the passage.

The floor beneath them moved.

Richard pointed toward a steel door.

"Through there."

Sarah opened it.

They entered a narrow staircase.

Richard closed the door behind them.

"Where does this lead?" Daniel asked.

"Below the tower."

"How far below?"

"Seven floors."

Daniel stared at him.

"There's no basement seven."

Richard smiled.

"That's what your father wanted everyone to believe."

---

They descended the staircase.

For several minutes, nobody spoke.

Daniel's mind raced.

His uncle Richard had supposedly died fifteen years ago.

His father had been murdered.

Victor Hale had stolen from the Blackwood empire.

Marcus Kane was alive.

And now someone had attacked Blackwood Tower.

None of it made sense.

At the bottom of the stairs, Richard stopped.

He entered a code on a small electronic panel.

The steel door opened.

Beyond it was a massive underground facility.

Daniel stared in disbelief.

Computer servers lined the walls.

Hundreds of locked cabinets stood in rows.

There were monitors displaying financial transactions from around the world.

Sarah slowly lowered her weapon.

"What is this place?"

Richard answered quietly.

"Your father's real business."

Daniel walked toward the nearest monitor.

He saw companies he recognized.

Banks.

Shipping companies.

Technology firms.

Oil corporations.

Investment groups.

All connected by a complicated network.

"My father owned all this?"

Richard shook his head.

"No."

Daniel looked at him.

"Then what did he own?"

Richard turned toward him.

"Information."

Daniel frowned.

"What kind of information?"

"Information powerful enough to destroy governments, corporations, billionaires and criminal organizations."

Sarah looked around.

"And Victor wanted it."

"Victor wanted control of it."

Richard walked toward a large metal cabinet.

"He killed your father because your father refused to give him access."

Daniel felt anger rise inside him.

"You were there?"

Richard stopped.

"I was there when your father died."

Daniel stepped closer.

"Then tell me what happened."

Richard's face changed.

For the first time, the confidence disappeared from his eyes.

"Your father discovered Victor had formed an organization called Black Crown."

Daniel remembered the file.

"Who else was involved?"

Richard opened the cabinet.

Inside were dozens of photographs.

"Politicians. CEOs. bankers. Lawyers. Police officers."

He handed Daniel a photograph.

"Some of them are still alive."

Daniel studied the faces.

Then his eyes stopped.

One of the photographs showed Detective Sarah Morgan.

Daniel looked at Sarah.

She immediately stepped forward.

"That's not me."

Richard shook his head.

"It isn't."

Daniel looked again.

The woman looked almost exactly like Sarah.

Same eyes.

Same hair.

Same face shape.

Sarah stared at the photograph.

"Who is she?"

Richard answered.

"Your mother."

Sarah froze.

"What?"

Daniel looked between them.

Richard continued.

"Your mother wasn't killed in an accident, Sarah."

Sarah's face became pale.

"My mother died when I was eight."

"That's what you were told."

Sarah's hand tightened around her gun.

"Who told me?"

Richard looked at her.

"The same people who erased your mother's existence."

Before Sarah could respond, a loud alarm began ringing.

Red lights flashed across the underground facility.

Richard looked toward the security monitors.

"They found us."

Daniel stared at the screens.

Men in black tactical clothing were entering the tower.

Dozens of them.

At the center of the group stood Victor Hale.

He held the golden key in his hand.

Daniel's anger exploded.

"How did he find this place?"

Richard looked at the security system.

"Because someone told him."

Daniel immediately thought about the people who knew they had escaped.

Thomas.

Their mother.

Sarah.

Richard.

His expression changed.

"Someone betrayed us."

Sarah looked at him.

"You think it's me?"

"No."

"Then who?"

Daniel didn't answer.

His phone began ringing.

It was Thomas.

Daniel answered.

"Thomas?"

There was heavy breathing on the other end.

"Daniel..."

"What happened?"

"They took Mom."

Daniel froze.

"What?"

"I tried to stop them."

Thomas sounded desperate.

"There were too many."

"Where are you?"

"I escaped through the parking garage."

Daniel clenched his fists.

"Where did they take her?"

"I don't know."

Then the phone went silent.

"Thomas?"

Nothing.

"Thomas!"

The call ended.

Daniel stared at the phone.

Richard immediately moved toward the control room.

"They want you to come out."

Daniel followed.

"Why?"

Richard looked at him.

"Because your mother is the only person who knows where your father hid the final key."

Daniel remembered the golden key.

"There's another one?"

Richard nodded.

"The golden key opens this facility."

He pointed toward the key Victor was holding on the monitor.

"But the second key opens something much more dangerous."

Daniel's stomach tightened.

"What?"

Richard looked directly at him.

"The Black Crown vault."

---

Victor Hale stood inside the destroyed lobby of Blackwood Tower.

Fire burned behind him.

His men surrounded him.

One of them approached.

"Sir, we found the woman's vehicle."

Victor nodded.

"Good."

"She refuses to tell us where Daniel is."

Victor smiled.

"She doesn't need to."

The man looked confused.

Victor held up the golden key.

"Daniel will come to us."

He turned toward the elevator.

"Because he always protects his family."

---

Deep underground, Daniel looked at the security screens.

Victor was moving toward the hidden entrance.

"We can't stay here."

Sarah nodded.

"Then we need another way out."

Richard pointed toward a tunnel.

"There is an old emergency exit beneath the facility."

Daniel looked at him.

"Where does it lead?"

"Three kilometers from here."

"Can it get us back to the city?"

Richard shook his head.

"No."

"Then where?"

Richard looked at him.

"Your father's mansion."

Daniel went silent.

He had not been there since he was a teenager.

The mansion had been abandoned after his father's death.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

Richard opened another hidden door.

Before they left, Daniel stopped.

"Wait."

He walked toward one of the computers.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked.

"I want to know who betrayed us."

Daniel opened the security logs.

The system displayed every person who had accessed the hidden facility.

Richard.

His father.

David Carter.

And one more name.

Daniel stared at the screen.

His face went pale.

Sarah stepped closer.

"Who is it?"

Daniel pointed at the name.

THOMAS BLACKWOOD.

Sarah's eyes widened.

"But Thomas was with your mother."

Daniel shook his head.

"Maybe he wasn't."

Suddenly, Richard grabbed Daniel's shoulder.

"Don't jump to conclusions."

Daniel turned angrily.

"My brother's name is on the system!"

"That doesn't mean he betrayed you."

"Then explain it!"

Richard stared at the screen.

"He accessed the facility eighteen years ago."

Daniel's expression changed.

"Eighteen years?"

Richard nodded.

"The day your father died."

Daniel couldn't breathe.

His entire childhood suddenly seemed like a lie.

Thomas had always been the brother he trusted most.

The brother who protected him.

The brother who had helped him build Blackwood Industries.

But if his name was connected to the secret facility on the night their father died...

Then what had Thomas been doing there?

Sarah's phone suddenly rang.

Unknown number.

She answered.

A distorted voice spoke.

"Detective Morgan."

"Who is this?"

The voice laughed softly.

"You've been searching for the truth about your mother for years."

Sarah froze.

"Who are you?"

"Ask Daniel about Thomas."

The call ended.

Sarah looked at Daniel.

Daniel had heard everything.

Neither of them spoke.

Richard walked toward the tunnel.

"We have to go."

Daniel didn't move.

"My brother may have betrayed my father."

Richard nodded.

"And he may have betrayed you."

Daniel looked at the security screen one final time.

Then he followed Richard and Sarah into the tunnel.

Behind them, the underground facility remained silent.

But hidden deep inside one of the computers, a recording began playing automatically.

It showed Daniel's father sitting behind a desk.

The recording was dated eighteen years earlier.

His father looked directly into the camera.

"If you're watching this, Daniel, then I'm already dead."

Daniel stopped walking.

His father's voice continued through the tunnel speakers.

"There is something you must know."

The recording paused for a second.

Then his father said:

"Thomas is not your brother."

Daniel's heart stopped.

Sarah stared at him.

Richard lowered his head.

The recording continued.

"His real name is..."

The screen suddenly went black.

A gunshot echoed through the tunnel.

Richard collapsed.

Sarah screamed.

Daniel dropped beside him.

"Uncle!"

Richard looked up weakly.

Blood spread across his shirt.

He grabbed Daniel's arm.

"Run..."

Daniel looked toward the darkness behind them.

A shadow appeared at the far end of the tunnel.

Someone was walking toward them.

Slowly.

Calmly.

Then a familiar voice echoed through the darkness.

"Hello, Daniel."

Daniel's blood ran cold.

It was Thomas.

And he was holding a gun.