The Traitor in the Room
3913 Words
Episode 13: The Traitor in the Room
The room became completely silent.
Victor's message remained on Daniel's phone.
THE TRAITOR IS ALREADY INSIDE THE ROOM.
Emma looked at the four people around her.
Rebecca.
Daniel.
Sophia.
Alexander.
Someone was lying.
Someone had been helping Victor.
Someone had been hiding the truth for years.
Emma slowly stepped away from the bed.
“Who sent the message?”
Daniel looked at the phone.
“Victor.”
“When?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Where is he?”
“We don't know.”
Emma looked at Sophia.
“You were working with Grant.”
Sophia's expression changed.
“I was undercover.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't expect you to trust me.”
“Then tell me why Grant was meeting you.”
Sophia took a deep breath.
“Because I was trying to discover where he kept the original evidence.”
Daniel interrupted.
“And did you find it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Grant discovered I was investigating him.”
Emma looked at Daniel.
“And you?”
Daniel frowned.
“What about me?”
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Clara was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Victor.”
“Yes.”
“And you still kept everything from me.”
Daniel looked down.
“I was protecting you.”
Emma shook her head.
“Everyone says that.”
Alexander reached for her hand.
“Emma.”
She turned toward him.
“What?”
“Don't let Victor make us turn against each other.”
“But someone in this room is working for him.”
Alexander looked around.
“We don't know that.”
Victor's message said the traitor was inside the room.
“Maybe he wants us to think that.”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
Emma looked at him.
“Then why send the message?”
“To make us suspicious.”
Rebecca suddenly spoke.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Rebecca was staring at the phone.
“Victor wouldn't send something like that unless he wanted us to look in a specific direction.”
“What direction?” Alexander asked.
Rebecca looked at Sophia.
Sophia's face became tense.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
Sophia stepped backward.
“Rebecca?”
“You were there.”
“Where?”
“Eight years ago.”
Sophia's eyes widened.
“What are you talking about?”
Rebecca's voice became shaky.
“The night of the accident.”
Emma stared at her.
“You knew Sophia?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She was there.”
Alexander looked at Sophia.
“Is that true?”
Sophia didn't answer.
“Answer me.”
Sophia finally whispered:
“Yes.”
Alexander's face hardened.
“What were you doing there?”
“I was young.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I was working for your father.”
Emma stared at her.
“You worked for my father?”
Sophia nodded.
“He hired me to help investigate the missing money.”
Daniel looked surprised.
“You never told me.”
“Because I was told not to.”
“By whom?”
Sophia looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
Emma felt her heart pounding.
“Mom?”
Rebecca didn't respond.
“Mom, what does she mean?”
Rebecca took a breath.
“I asked Sophia to help us.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You recruited her?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To watch Grant.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Then why was she at the accident?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Because Grant knew we were investigating him.”
Sophia interrupted.
“And because someone inside the investigation was giving him information.”
Everyone went quiet.
Emma whispered:
“Who?”
Sophia looked at Rebecca.
“I never found out.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“You knew more than you think.”
Sophia's expression became cold.
“What are you accusing me of?”
“Nothing.”
“Then stop looking at me like that.”
Emma stepped between them.
“Enough.”
She turned toward Daniel.
“We need to find Grant.”
Daniel nodded.
“Agreed.”
Alexander tried to stand.
Emma immediately stopped him.
“No.”
“I can walk.”
“You were shot.”
“I'll survive.”
“You don't know that.”
He looked at her.
“I know you care.”
“Then don't make me regret it.”
Alexander smiled.
“Fine.”
Daniel picked up his phone.
“We need to move.”
“Where?” Emma asked.
“The old Hayes estate.”
“Why?”
“That's where Grant's car was found.”
Emma remembered the key.
She took it from her pocket.
“My father gave Alexander this.”
Daniel stared at the silver key.
“Where did you get that?”
“Alexander gave it to me.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where was it?”
“Under his pillow.”
Daniel looked troubled.
“That key is important.”
“What does it open?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
Emma stared at him.
“You recognized it.”
Daniel remained silent.
Alexander looked at him.
“Daniel.”
Daniel sighed.
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
“Your father's office.”
“What did it open?”
“I never found out.”
Emma looked at the symbol.
The small star.
“It's the same symbol from the underground room.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then the key probably opens something connected to the original evidence.”
Rebecca suddenly spoke.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Don't use the key.”
“Why?” Emma asked.
“Because that's what Victor wants.”
Alexander frowned.
“How would Victor know about the key?”
Rebecca became silent.
Emma's eyes narrowed.
“Mom.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“How does Victor know about the key?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you so afraid of it?”
Rebecca looked away.
“I've seen that key before.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Where?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Your father gave it to me.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“You had it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
“I lost it.”
“Where?”
“At the accident.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You're saying that key was at the accident?”
“Yes.”
Alexander looked at Emma.
“Then your father must have recovered it.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Rebecca's eyes filled with fear.
“Victor.”
The room fell silent.
Emma held the key tightly.
“Then why would my father give it to Alexander?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Maybe he didn't.”
“What?”
“Maybe someone else gave it to him.”
Alexander frowned.
“I remember my father giving me something.”
“What?”
“A small box.”
“When?”
“The night before the accident.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“What was inside?”
“I don't remember.”
Emma looked at him.
“You have to remember.”
“I've been trying.”
He closed his eyes.
A memory came back.
His father.
A wooden box.
Clara standing nearby.
A little girl.
Emma.
His father saying:
“If anything happens, give this to her.”
Alexander opened his eyes.
He looked at Emma.
“I remember.”
“What?”
“My father didn't give me the key.”
“Who did?”
“Clara.”
Emma froze.
“Clara gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night of the accident.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
“She survived.”
Alexander nodded.
“She gave me the key and told me to hide it.”
Emma stared at him.
“What else did she say?”
Alexander tried to remember.
“She said...”
He stopped.
“What?”
“She said the key would only work when you remembered.”
Emma looked at the key.
“What am I supposed to remember?”
Alexander shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel suddenly turned toward the door.
“Someone's coming.”
Everyone became silent.
Footsteps approached.
The door opened.
A nurse entered.
“Mr. Hayes?”
“Yes?”
“There's someone waiting outside.”
“Who?”
“She says her name is Clara.”
Emma stood.
“Clara?”
The nurse nodded.
“She said she needs to speak with Alexander.”
Alexander tried to stand.
Emma pushed him back.
“You stay here.”
“I need to see her.”
“You're not walking anywhere.”
Clara appeared at the doorway.
She looked tired.
Her clothes were wet from the rain.
But she was alive.
Alexander stared at her.
“Clara.”
She smiled faintly.
“Hello.”
Emma stepped forward.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Alexander when we were children.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me everything.”
Clara looked at Rebecca.
“Your mother has already told you too much.”
Rebecca looked away.
Emma became angry.
“Everyone keeps doing this!”
Clara walked closer.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must be prepared to hate some of the people you love.”
Emma swallowed.
“I'm ready.”
Clara looked at Alexander.
“Are you?”
Alexander nodded.
Clara reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small envelope.
“I found this eight years ago.”
Alexander took it.
“What is it?”
“The final page of your father's letter.”
He opened it.
The missing page.
His hands trembled.
He read silently.
Then his face changed.
Emma took the page.
The writing said:
The person who betrayed us is not someone who joined the family later.
They were born into it.
They have been protecting their secret for years.
If I die, don't accuse Daniel.
Don't accuse Grant.
Don't accuse Rebecca.
The person you are looking for is—
The sentence ended.
The final name had been burned away.
Emma stared at the page.
“Someone removed the name.”
Clara nodded.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“But you found the page.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the old family chapel.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Then why didn't you show me before?”
“Because I wasn't sure who I could trust.”
Emma looked around.
“So you don't know either.”
“No.”
“Then how can we find the traitor?”
Clara looked at the silver key.
“Because the key will show you.”
Emma held it up.
“How?”
“Take it to the place where your father made the original promise.”
“The chapel?”
“No.”
Clara shook her head.
“Your father made the promise somewhere else.”
“Where?”
Clara looked at Emma.
“Your childhood home.”
Emma froze.
“My childhood home?”
“Yes.”
“But I barely remember it.”
“That is the point.”
Emma felt a strange pressure in her head.
A memory flashed.
A small house.
A red door.
Her mother crying.
Her father kneeling beside her.
A young Alexander standing outside.
Clara holding the silver key.
Then a loud crash.
Emma opened her eyes.
“I remember.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
“The house.”
Rebecca began crying.
“You shouldn't have remembered that.”
Emma looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because that was where everything started.”
Daniel asked:
“What happened there?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I can't tell you.”
Emma's voice became firm.
“Then I will find out myself.”
Alexander tried to stand again.
Emma looked at him.
“You're staying here.”
“No.”
“You're injured.”
“And you're walking into danger.”
“Then come with me.”
Alexander smiled.
“I was hoping you'd say that.”
Daniel shook his head.
“This is a terrible idea.”
Sophia looked at him.
“You have a better one?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Clara stepped forward.
“I'll go with them.”
Rebecca immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Clara looked at her.
“It's time.”
“Clara—”
“Rebecca, we can't keep running.”
Rebecca looked at her daughter.
Then she nodded.
“Fine.”
They left the clinic together.
Daniel drove.
Sophia sat beside him.
Emma sat in the back with Alexander and Clara.
Rebecca sat quietly beside them.
The journey to Emma's childhood home took nearly an hour.
The house was located in an old neighborhood.
Emma stared through the window.
She remembered the street.
The trees.
The old gate.
A feeling of sadness returned.
“This is it.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
They stopped.
The house looked abandoned.
The windows were broken.
The garden was overgrown.
Emma slowly stepped out.
She approached the red door.
Her hand trembled.
“I remember this.”
Alexander stood beside her.
“What?”
“My father used to stand here.”
She touched the door.
A memory appeared.
Her father smiling.
“Promise me you'll be brave.”
Young Emma nodded.
Then her father handed something to her.
A small wooden box.
Emma gasped.
“The box.”
Alexander looked at her.
“What box?”
“My father gave me a box.”
“When?”
“The night before everything happened.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“You weren't supposed to remember.”
Emma turned toward her.
“What was inside?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“Your father wouldn't tell me.”
Emma looked around.
“Maybe it's still here.”
They entered the house.
Dust covered everything.
Clara walked toward the hallway.
“I remember this.”
Emma followed.
“You've been here before?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night your father disappeared.”
Emma froze.
“You were here?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Clara looked at the floor.
“Your father was injured.”
“How?”
“He had been attacked.”
“By Victor?”
“I don't know.”
“Then who?”
Clara shook her head.
“He refused to tell me.”
They entered Emma's childhood bedroom.
The walls were still painted the same color.
A small wooden bed remained in the corner.
Emma walked toward the closet.
She remembered her father hiding something there.
She opened it.
Nothing.
Alexander looked around.
“Maybe there's another hiding place.”
Emma touched the wall.
A loose section moved.
She pulled it.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was the wooden box.
Emma's heart raced.
She took it out.
The box had a lock.
The silver key fit perfectly.
She turned it.
Click.
The box opened.
Inside was a photograph.
A USB drive.
And a handwritten note.
Emma picked up the photograph.
It showed her father, Clara, Rebecca, Alexander's father, and one other person.
Emma stared at the final person.
She recognized him.
Her face went pale.
“No.”
Alexander looked at the photograph.
He froze.
Daniel rushed toward them.
“What?”
Emma held up the photograph.
The fifth person was Sophia's father.
Daniel stared.
“That's impossible.”
Sophia stepped closer.
“What?”
She saw the photograph.
Her face became pale.
“My father?”
Clara nodded.
“He was there.”
Sophia shook her head.
“My father died before I joined Hayes Global.”
Clara looked at her.
“No.”
Sophia's eyes filled with fear.
“He died.”
“He disappeared.”
Sophia stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father asked me not to.”
Emma picked up the note.
She read it aloud.
“Emma, if you ever find this, remember one thing: the person who betrayed us is not the person you think.”
The note continued.
“Your mother knows why.”
Emma looked at Rebecca.
“Mom.”
Rebecca began crying.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From my father?”
“No.”
“From Victor?”
“No.”
“Then from who?”
Rebecca finally answered.
“From your father's secret.”
Emma stared at her.
“What secret?”
Rebecca looked at the photograph.
“Your father had another family.”
Emma's face went blank.
“What?”
“He had been hiding another identity.”
Alexander looked shocked.
“Who was he really?”
Rebecca whispered:
“His real name was Samuel Carter.”
Emma frowned.
“That's my father's name.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Not the name you knew.”
Clara stepped forward.
“He was working undercover.”
“For whom?” Emma asked.
“The people investigating the organization behind Hayes Global.”
Emma looked at the USB drive.
“What is on this?”
Clara shook her head.
“We need a secure computer.”
Daniel took it.
“I can decrypt it.”
“No,” Clara said.
“Why?”
“Because it contains a tracking program.”
Daniel stopped.
“If we open it, they'll know where we are.”
Emma looked at the drive.
“Then how do we find out what's inside?”
Clara pointed toward the floor.
“There is a computer downstairs.”
“Here?”
“Yes.”
They followed her to the basement.
Behind a wall was a hidden office.
Old monitors covered the desk.
Emma stared.
“My father worked here?”
“Yes.”
Daniel connected the drive.
The screen came alive.
A password appeared.
Emma looked at the photograph.
A small star was visible on the back.
She entered:
STAR.
The password failed.
Alexander looked at her.
“Try the promise.”
“What promise?”
“The one your father made.”
Emma thought.
She remembered his words.
“Promise me you'll be brave.”
She typed:
BRAVE.
The system unlocked.
A video appeared.
Samuel Carter sat in front of the camera.
Emma stared at her father.
“Emma.”
She covered her mouth.
His voice continued.
“If you're watching this, then I'm probably gone.”
Emma began crying.
“I wanted to tell you the truth.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“I was never dead.”
Emma whispered:
“I knew it.”
Her father continued.
“I disappeared because the organization discovered that I had a daughter.”
He paused.
“They wanted to use you against me.”
Emma wiped her tears.
“I made a deal with them.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“What deal?” Emma whispered.
Samuel continued.
“I gave them something they wanted.”
Alexander leaned closer.
“What?”
“The identity of the person who was helping them inside Hayes Global.”
The video paused.
Everyone froze.
Then Samuel said:
“And that person is...”
The screen suddenly went black.
Daniel checked the computer.
“Someone cut the connection.”
Clara looked terrified.
“No.”
“What?”
“They found us.”
A loud crash came from upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Then another.
Someone was entering the house.
Daniel reached for his weapon.
Sophia did the same.
Alexander moved in front of Emma.
Rebecca whispered:
“They're here.”
Footsteps came down the stairs.
Slowly.
One step at a time.
Emma held the wooden box.
A shadow appeared at the bottom of the staircase.
Then a voice spoke.
“Emma.”
She recognized it immediately.
Her heart stopped.
It was her father.
But he wasn't alone.
Victor stood beside him.
And behind them was Grant.
Victor smiled.
“You found the recording.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“You're not taking her.”
Victor laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed at Emma.
“She isn't the target.”
Emma stared at him.
“Then what do you want?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“The key.”
Emma looked at the silver key in her hand.
“Why?”
Victor stepped closer.
“Because it opens the last door.”
“What is behind it?”
Victor looked at Samuel.
Her father lowered his eyes.
“The truth.”
Emma tightened her grip on the key.
Victor suddenly raised his weapon.
“Give it to me.”
Alexander stepped in front of Emma.
“No.”
A gunshot echoed through the basement.
Everyone screamed.
But the bullet didn't hit Alexander.
It struck the computer.
The screen shattered.
The recording disappeared.
Victor smiled.
“You just lost your only proof.”
Emma looked at the broken screen.
Then she noticed something.
The USB drive was still in Daniel's hand.
She smiled.
Victor saw it.
“Give me that.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
Victor's expression became furious.
“Then I'll take it.”
He moved forward.
Suddenly Samuel stepped between them.
“Victor, stop.”
Victor looked at him.
“You've betrayed me before.”
Samuel shook his head.
“I never betrayed you.”
“You protected your daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And now you will watch her die.”
Samuel looked at Emma.
“Run.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
“RUN!”
Daniel grabbed Emma.
“Move!”
They rushed toward the hidden exit.
Alexander followed.
Clara and Rebecca came behind them.
Sophia fired toward the ceiling to slow Grant.
They escaped through the back passage.
Behind them, Victor shouted:
“YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!”
They reached the street.
Daniel's car was waiting.
Everyone jumped inside.
Daniel drove away.
Emma looked back at the house.
Her father remained inside.
She had finally found him.
And she had lost him again.
Alexander held her hand.
“We'll go back.”
Emma looked at him through her tears.
“We have to.”
Daniel looked at the USB drive.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The drive finished copying the recording before the computer was destroyed.”
Emma stared at him.
“You have the video?”
“Part of it.”
“Can we watch it?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because there's a second file.”
“What file?”
Daniel looked at the screen.
A name appeared.
**TRAITOR_IDENTITY.**
Everyone became silent.
Emma leaned closer.
“Open it.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he clicked.
A photograph appeared.
Emma stared at it.
She recognized the person immediately.
So did Alexander.
It was someone they had trusted.
Someone who had been beside them throughout the investigation.
Someone who had been helping them search for the traitor.
Emma slowly turned around.
Her eyes met the person's.
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