the truth behind enemies
896 Words
Chapter 10: The Truth Between Enemies
Nobody spoke.
Victor Hayes' words hung in the corridor like smoke.
"He wanted to save the world."
Elena stared at him.
For years she had imagined meeting the man responsible for her father's death.
In every version of that encounter, Victor Hayes was a monster.
Cruel.
Arrogant.
Evil.
Instead, he stood calmly beneath the emergency lights, looking more disappointed than dangerous.
That somehow frightened her more.
Because monsters were easy to hate.
Ordinary people weren't.
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked.
Victor's eyes softened.
"The same thing Adrian hasn't told you."
Adrian's expression hardened instantly.
"Don't."
Victor laughed quietly.
"Still hiding the truth?"
The tension between them was unbearable.
Years of hatred.
Years of betrayal.
Years of secrets.
All compressed into a single hallway.
Elena looked from one man to the other.
For the first time, she realized something important.
Neither of them trusted the other.
Not even slightly.
Yet both seemed convinced they were protecting her.
The contradiction made her head hurt.
"Enough."
Her voice echoed through the corridor.
Everyone looked at her.
"I am tired of being treated like a child."
Nobody interrupted.
Good.
Because she wasn't finished.
"My father disappears."
She pointed toward Victor.
"You spend seven years searching for me."
Then Adrian.
"And you spend seven years hiding things from me."
Her breathing quickened.
"So somebody tell me the truth."
Silence followed.
Then Victor surprised everyone.
He reached into his jacket.
Immediately, security guards aimed their weapons.
"Don't move!"
Victor ignored them.
Slowly, he pulled out a folded photograph.
Nothing else.
No weapon.
No threat.
Just a photograph.
"I think this belongs to her."
Adrian's face darkened.
"Victor."
But Victor had already tossed it across the floor.
The photograph slid to Elena's feet.
Nobody moved.
Not even Adrian.
Slowly, Elena bent down and picked it up.
The moment she looked at it, her heart stopped.
It was another picture of her father.
Older than the others.
Taken shortly before his disappearance.
But that wasn't what shocked her.
What shocked her was who stood beside him.
Victor.
Adrian.
Richard Kane.
And Jonathan Carter.
All smiling together.
Like friends.
Like family.
The photograph nearly slipped from her fingers.
"What is this?"
Victor answered immediately.
"The truth."
Elena looked again.
The picture couldn't be fake.
The faces.
The expressions.
The body language.
These people had known each other.
Closely.
Her father hadn't simply worked for Kane Biotech.
They had been partners.
The realization shattered another piece of everything she thought she knew.
"You lied to me."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Richard looked away.
Adrian remained silent.
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
At least he was honest about it.
"Why?"
The question escaped before she could stop it.
Victor's expression darkened.
"Because your father begged us to."
The hallway became silent.
Elena felt her pulse pounding.
"What?"
"He knew what would happen if people learned the truth."
Adrian stepped forward.
"That's enough."
"No."
Victor's voice remained calm.
"You've hidden things long enough."
For several seconds, the two men stared at each other.
Enemies.
Former allies.
Maybe former friends.
Elena wasn't sure anymore.
Finally Victor looked at her.
"Do you know why Adrian is dying?"
The question caught her off guard.
"No."
"Because his disease isn't natural."
The words landed like a bomb.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Elena slowly turned toward Adrian.
His silence said everything.
Victor continued.
"Your father discovered that years ago."
"What does that mean?"
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"It means someone created it."
A chill swept through the corridor.
Created?
Diseases weren't supposed to be created.
They happened.
They existed.
They weren't manufactured.
Yet Victor sounded completely certain.
"The illness affecting Adrian wasn't an accident."
The emergency lights flickered overhead.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Elena looked at Adrian.
"Is he lying?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
The silence stretched.
Long enough to become an answer.
"No."
The word came quietly.
Almost reluctantly.
Victor smiled.
Not because he was happy.
Because he knew he was right.
Elena felt dizzy.
Every answer created another impossible question.
If the disease was created...
Who created it?
Why?
And how was she connected to it?
Before she could ask, a loud explosion shook the building.
The floor trembled beneath their feet.
Glass shattered somewhere nearby.
People screamed.
Hospital alarms immediately changed tone.
The sound was urgent now.
Terrifying.
One of the security guards pressed a hand to his earpiece.
His face instantly drained of color.
"What happened?" Adrian demanded.
The guard looked up.
His voice shook.
"The research wing."
Everyone froze.
"What about it?"
The guard swallowed.
"It's gone."
The corridor became silent.
"The entire floor just exploded."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone understood the same thing.
Someone wasn't trying to steal Jonathan Carter's research anymore.
Someone was trying to destroy it.
Forever.
Then Victor Hayes said something that made Elena's blood run cold.
"They're too late."
Every eye turned toward him.
Victor smiled faintly.
The smile of a man who knew something nobody else knew.
And then he looked directly at Elena.
"The real research was never in the laboratory."
Elena's heartbeat thundered.
"Then where is it?"
Victor's smile widened slightly.
Not enough to feel friendly.
Just enough to feel dangerous.
"Jonathan hid it somewhere no one would ever think to look."
The hallway fell silent.
Then Victor pointed directly at her.
And whispered:
"He hid it inside you."
- Writer
