TRUTH AND LIES
1177 Words
CHAPTER 5
It started with blinking screens.
Then the system crashed.
Emails disappeared. Files wiped.
Steve barged into the server room, only to find Jayden—his once-loyal intern—with a hard drive plugged in.
“Jayden!” he shouted.
Jayden smirked. “It’s too late.”
Vanessa was on a video call with Clarissa. “He’s going to lose everything. Just like we planned.”
Clarissa replied coldly, “Make sure Maria goes down with him.”
Steve disconnected the server manually. Sparks flew.
Maria rushed in. “What’s happening?”
“They’re hacking us. From the inside.”
Jayden escaped out the back, leaving only one sentence scrawled on the wall:
“THE BLUEPRINT LIVES.”
Maria received an invitation.
A private hotel lounge. Name on the envelope: Clarissa Benson.
Against her better judgment, she went.
Clarissa was already waiting, a glass of wine in hand.
“Let me guess,” Maria said. “You want me to walk away.”
“Not walk—run,” Clarissa replied. “Steve is dangerous. You have no idea what you’ve stepped into.”
“Neither do you,” Maria said calmly.
Clarissa leaned closer. “I’ll pay you double. Leave now. Or you’ll regret staying.”
Maria stood up. “You’re scared of him. That’s why you’re here.”
Clarissa’s eyes darkened. “No, Maria. I’m scared of what he’ll turn you into.”
As Maria stepped out of the hotel, two men grabbed her.
A black bag went over her head.
She woke up tied to a chair. A single light bulb swung above.
Her wrists were sore. Her head throbbed.
Footsteps echoed.
Jayden entered, holding a phone and a smirk.
“You should’ve taken the offer,” he said.
Maria glared at him. “What do you want?”
“We want Benson ruined. And you… out of the way.”
“You’re working for Clarissa.”
Jayden leaned in. “We’re working for the truth. The truth your dear CEO buried.”
The door burst open.
Steve and two men stormed in.
Jayden tried to run. He didn’t get far.
Steve rushed to Maria, untying her.
“You okay?” he asked, voice shaking.
Maria looked up.
“I’m starting to think no one is who they say they are.”
Back in her apartment, Maria found something strange tucked into her pillow.
A letter. Old, yellowed. Sealed with wax.
She opened it slowly.
It was handwritten… by General Benson, Steve’s late father.
“If you’re reading this, it means my son is in danger. There’s a blueprint. Hide it well. Trust no one. Not even family.”
Maria’s eyes widened.
At the bottom was a strange symbol.
She had seen it before—tattooed on Clarissa’s wrist.
She grabbed her phone to call Steve.
But her signal was blocked.
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Maria opened the door slowly.
It was Steve.
“We need to move,” he said. “Clarissa’s leaving town—with the blueprint.”
They jumped into his car.
Through the streets of New York, the chase was on.
Steve’s eyes were fixed on the road. “My father trusted the wrong people. I won’t repeat his mistake.”
Clarissa’s car sped through red lights. Steve kept pace.
Finally, on 5th Avenue, her car crashed into a hydrant.
Steve pulled over.
But when they reached the vehicle… she was gone.
Only a briefcase sat open in the back seat.
Empty.
And on the car seat, written in lipstick:
“YOU’RE ALWAYS TOO LATE, STEVE”.
Steve stood in front of the boardroom, staring at the faces he thought he could trust. Men and women in suits, seated like statues, none making eye contact.
“Who leaked the financial blueprint?” he asked, voice calm but dangerous.
No one spoke.
“Someone in this room is a traitor.”
Maria stood at the back, watching carefully. Her eyes scanned every subtle twitch, every exchanged glance.
Then she saw it.
Harold—the finance director—tapped his foot. Rapidly. Unevenly.
Later, in the hallway, Maria cornered him. “You were in the room the day Jayden was fired.”
Harold’s face turned pale.
“You knew where the servers were hidden,” she added.
“I needed the money,” he whispered. “Clarissa offered ten million.”
He didn’t see the security guard approaching behind him.
Steve had been listening all along.
Harold was arrested, but the blueprint was still missing.
Meanwhile, Clarissa had vanished—no trace. No credit card usage. No phone signals.
“I don’t like this,” Steve muttered. “She’s too quiet.”
Maria agreed. “Quiet means planning.”
That evening, Steve received an envelope.
Inside was a photo.
It was a picture of Maria—inside her room, brushing her hair—taken through her window.
Steve’s phone buzzed.
A message: “You can’t protect her forever.”
He ran to Maria’s apartment.
She wasn’t there.
The windows were open. Her shoes are gone.
On her table: a single red rose.
Maria woke up on a boat. Her wrists were free, but her mind was foggy.
Waves crashed.
A man stood at the helm. Tall, lean. His name was Marcus—a hired man Clarissa used before disappearing.
“You’re a pawn, Maria,” he said. “But pawns can change the game if they cross the board.”
The boat pulled up to a private island.
A glass mansion stood in the middle.
Inside, Clarissa waited.
“Welcome,” she said sweetly. “It’s time you learned the truth about Steve.”
Clarissa poured wine for both of them.
“Your Steve,” she began, “wasn’t always a saint.”
She slid a file toward Maria. It contained photos of Steve in courtrooms, bribing officials, and signing secret oil contracts in war zones.
“He hid this from you,” Clarissa said. “He hid it from everyone.”
Maria’s hands trembled.
“But why show me?”
“Because I see your power,” Clarissa whispered. “Join me. I’ll make you richer than your dreams.”
Maria looked at the papers.
Then she looked at Clarissa.
“You’re more dangerous than Steve ever was.”
Clarissa smiled. “You’re smarter than I thought.”
Suddenly, the glass shattered.
A voice boomed: “Step away from her!”
Steve.
Gun in hand.
The room was chaos.
Marcus lunged at Steve.
Steve fired. Missed. Maria ducked.
Clarissa screamed and reached for something under the table.
Maria saw a flash of metal—a hidden pistol.
She dove across the table and grabbed Clarissa’s hand.
The two women struggled.
Then—BANG!
The gun dropped. Blood trickled down Clarissa’s arm.
Steve ran to Maria. “Are you hurt?”
Maria shook her head. Her eye
s locked with Clarissa’s.
“You’re going to prison,” Steve growled.
Clarissa smiled, even in pain. “You really think this ends with me?”
She passed out.
- Writer
