The Betrayal
2361 Words
Episode 11: The Betrayal
Alexander stared at the archive door.
Two shadows stood beneath it.
One belonged to Sophia.
The other was much taller.
Emma stood beside him, holding her breath.
Rebecca whispered, “Don't open it.”
Three knocks sounded again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
“Alexander,” Sophia called from the other side. “Please open the door.”
Alexander didn't move.
Sophia's voice sounded exactly like the woman he had trusted for years.
But something was wrong.
He had just watched her standing beside Grant on the security monitor.
Emma leaned toward him.
“Maybe there are two people.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Sophia was the only person who knew I came here.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Then how did they find us?”
Alexander looked at the computer.
The screen was still black.
“They're watching the building.”
The voice outside became louder.
“Alexander, I know you're inside.”
He remained silent.
Then another voice spoke.
A man's voice.
“Open the door, Alexander.”
Alexander recognized it.
His heart sank.
“Mr. Grant.”
Rebecca stepped backward.
Emma looked at her.
“Mom?”
Rebecca whispered, “We have to leave.”
“There is no other exit,” Alexander said.
“There is always another exit.”
Rebecca walked toward the back wall.
She began searching between the shelves.
Alexander watched her.
“What are you looking for?”
“Your father's emergency passage.”
“You know about it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was hoping we'd never need it.”
Rebecca pushed against a section of the wall.
Nothing happened.
She pushed again.
A hidden panel opened.
Emma stared.
“There.”
A narrow passage appeared.
Alexander looked at the archive door.
Then at the passage.
“Go.”
Emma entered first.
Rebecca followed.
Alexander remained behind for a moment.
“Alexander!”
He looked at Emma.
“Come!”
He entered the passage just as the archive door began to open.
The three of them moved quickly through the darkness.
Behind them, the door opened.
Grant's voice echoed through the room.
“They've escaped.”
Sophia answered.
“Then follow them.”
Alexander heard footsteps.
“They know about the passage,” he whispered.
Rebecca nodded.
“Your father built several.”
“Where does this one lead?”
“To the underground parking garage.”
“That means they can reach us.”
“Yes.”
They continued running.
Emma stumbled.
Alexander caught her.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Keep moving.”
They finally reached another door.
Rebecca opened it.
They stepped into the parking garage.
It was empty.
Alexander looked around.
“Where are our cars?”
“Gone,” Rebecca said.
“What?”
“Grant must have moved them.”
Emma looked frightened.
“What are we going to do?”
Alexander pulled out his phone.
“No signal.”
Rebecca looked toward the exit.
“There's a service road behind the building.”
They began walking.
Then the lights went out.
Emma grabbed Alexander's arm.
“Again?”
A car engine started.
Headlights suddenly appeared.
A black SUV came toward them.
Alexander pushed Emma behind a concrete pillar.
The SUV stopped.
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Alexander recognized him.
“Daniel.”
Daniel raised his hands.
“Don't shoot.”
Alexander's anger exploded.
“You.”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“Everyone get inside.”
“No,” Alexander said.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Grant is coming.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because if I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have come alone.”
Rebecca interrupted.
“Daniel, where is Clara?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“She was captured.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
“By Grant?”
Daniel nodded.
Alexander stared at him.
“Why are you helping us?”
Daniel looked at him for several seconds.
“Because I owe your father.”
“You've spent all these years lying to me.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated me.”
“Yes.”
“You made me believe you were the enemy.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I needed Grant to believe that too.”
Alexander frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel opened the SUV's rear door.
“Get inside.”
They entered.
Daniel drove away from the building.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Finally, Alexander asked:
“Start talking.”
Daniel kept his eyes on the road.
“Eight years ago, your father discovered Grant's operation.”
“We know.”
“No. You don't.”
Daniel glanced at him.
“Grant wasn't stealing money from Hayes Global.”
Alexander frowned.
“Rebecca said he was.”
“She was wrong.”
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
“I saw the accounts.”
“You saw what Grant wanted you to see.”
Silence filled the SUV.
Daniel continued.
“The money was being transferred into a secret investment network.”
“For what?”
“To buy control of several companies.”
Alexander's expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because whoever controlled those companies could influence banks, politicians, media organizations, and major corporations.”
Emma stared at him.
“So Grant wanted power.”
“Not just Grant.”
“Who else?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Alexander leaned forward.
“Who?”
Daniel finally said:
“Your uncle.”
Rebecca looked away.
Alexander froze.
“You said my uncle was dead.”
Daniel nodded.
“That's what everyone was supposed to believe.”
“Where is he?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Closer than you think.”
Alexander's face became pale.
“Who is he?”
Daniel didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I say his name, you're going to do exactly what he wants.”
Alexander grabbed Daniel's shoulder.
“You've lied to me for years.”
Daniel pulled away.
“And I'm trying to make up for it.”
Emma interrupted.
“Where is Clara?”
Daniel's voice softened.
“She was taken to an old hotel.”
“Which one?”
“The Royal Meridian.”
Alexander recognized it.
“That's abandoned.”
“Exactly.”
“How long do we have?”
Daniel looked at the clock.
“Less than thirty minutes.”
Alexander looked at Emma.
“We're going.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
Alexander turned.
“Mom,” Emma said, “we can't leave Clara there.”
Rebecca looked at her daughter.
“I know.”
Daniel drove faster.
The Royal Meridian stood at the edge of the city.
The hotel had been closed for years.
Its windows were broken.
Its entrance was covered with dust.
Daniel parked behind the building.
“We go through the basement.”
They entered.
The basement smelled of damp concrete.
Daniel led them through a corridor.
“Clara is on the fifth floor.”
“How do you know?”
“I have someone inside.”
Alexander stopped.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Sophia.”
Alexander's face hardened.
“You're saying Sophia is helping us?”
“Yes.”
“But I saw her with Grant.”
“She is pretending to work for him.”
Alexander shook his head.
“How can I trust her?”
“You can't.”
“Then why—”
“Because sometimes the only way to defeat a liar is to become a better liar.”
They continued.
At the fifth floor, they found an empty room.
Clara was nowhere to be seen.
Alexander turned toward Daniel.
“You said she was here.”
“She was.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Sophia appeared.
Alexander immediately moved toward her.
“Stop.”
Sophia raised her hands.
“Alexander, listen.”
“You betrayed me.”
“I didn't.”
“I saw you with Grant.”
“I was undercover.”
“You should have told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because your office is compromised.”
Emma stepped between them.
“Where is Clara?”
Sophia looked at her.
“She's gone.”
“What?”
“Grant moved her.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Sophia looked toward Rebecca.
“Your mother knows.”
Rebecca's face became pale.
“What?”
Sophia stepped closer.
“Grant showed me the files.”
“What files?”
“The files from eight years ago.”
Alexander looked at Rebecca.
“What did you hide?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I didn't hide anything.”
Sophia pulled out a folder.
“This says otherwise.”
She handed it to Alexander.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
And a birth certificate.
Alexander looked at it.
His face changed.
Emma saw his reaction.
“What is it?”
Alexander couldn't answer.
Emma took the document.
Her eyes widened.
It was her birth certificate.
But something was different.
Under the section for father, another name had been written.
Not the name she knew.
She looked at Rebecca.
“Mom?”
Rebecca started crying.
Emma's voice trembled.
“Who is my real father?”
Rebecca couldn't speak.
Alexander looked at her.
“Tell her.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Emma...”
“Tell me!”
Rebecca finally whispered:
“Your father is not the man you grew up believing he was.”
Emma felt as if the floor had disappeared beneath her.
“What?”
“Your biological father was connected to Hayes Global.”
“Who?”
Rebecca looked at Alexander.
Then at Daniel.
Then finally at Emma.
“Your father was Alexander's uncle.”
Nobody spoke.
Alexander stared at Rebecca.
“My uncle?”
Rebecca nodded.
Emma stepped backward.
“No.”
Daniel looked down.
“That's why you're the key.”
Emma shook her head.
“This doesn't make sense.”
Rebecca moved toward her.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“When you were old enough to understand.”
“I am old enough now!”
“I know.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“Because your biological father was dangerous.”
“Is he alive?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
Emma looked at Alexander.
“Is he?”
Alexander looked at Daniel.
Daniel's face was grim.
“Yes.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“My father is alive?”
Rebecca nodded.
“He has been alive this entire time.”
“Where?”
Rebecca whispered:
“Inside Hayes Global.”
Alexander's eyes widened.
“That can't be possible.”
Daniel looked at him.
“It is.”
“Who?”
Before Daniel could answer, the hotel's lights suddenly came on.
A man's voice echoed through the building.
“You've finally brought her to me.”
Emma froze.
The voice continued.
“Thank you, Alexander.”
Daniel pulled out his weapon.
Sophia stepped backward.
Rebecca grabbed Emma.
“Run.”
But the doors slammed shut.
A man walked into the hallway.
He was older, dressed in a dark suit.
Alexander stared at him.
He knew the face.
He had seen it in photographs all his life.
His supposed dead uncle.
“Uncle Victor.”
Victor smiled.
“Hello, Alexander.”
Alexander couldn't move.
“You're alive.”
“I've always been.”
“You killed my parents.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“No.”
He looked at Emma.
“Her father did.”
Emma stared at him.
“What?”
Victor smiled again.
“Your father and I made a deal eight years ago.”
Rebecca shouted:
“Don't listen to him!”
Victor continued.
“He promised to give me control of Hayes Global.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“And my parents?”
“They discovered the plan.”
“So you killed them.”
Victor shook his head.
“Your father did.”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“My father wouldn't.”
Victor laughed.
“You don't know your father.”
He looked at Rebecca.
“But she does.”
Rebecca stood frozen.
Victor continued.
“Your mother has spent years protecting a lie.”
Emma turned to Rebecca.
“Mom?”
Rebecca couldn't speak.
Victor looked at Alexander.
“And your father has been watching you from the beginning.”
Alexander's face went pale.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“Your biological father isn't the only person who survived that night.”
A door opened behind them.
A man stepped into the hallway.
Emma turned.
She saw him.
Her heart stopped.
She recognized his face from an old photograph.
Her father's face.
The man she had believed was dead.
He looked at her.
“Emma.”
She couldn't breathe.
“Dad?”
The man smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Alexander stared at the man.
Victor stepped aside.
“Now that everyone is here, we can finally finish what we started eight years ago.”
The man looked at Alexander.
“You were never supposed to find the truth.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“Why?”
His uncle answered instead.
“Because the truth would destroy all of us.”
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed through the hotel.
Emma screamed.
Someone fell.
Then another gunshot.
When the emergency lights came on, Alexander was on the floor.
Emma rushed toward him.
“Alexander!”
Blood was visible on his shirt.
Rebecca screamed.
“No!”
Emma dropped beside him.
“Alexander, stay with me!”
His eyes slowly opened.
He looked at her.
“Don't trust...”
His voice faded.
“Who?” Emma cried.
Alexander struggled to speak.
“Your father.”
Then his eyes closed.
Emma looked up.
Her biological father was standing across the hallway.
He was holding the gun.
And he was smiling.
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