Chapter 9
1428 Words
*Title: Chapter 9 – The Voice*
*Kain Corp. 1:14 AM.*
I stared at my phone for 10 minutes after the call ended.
Victor Kain. Dead for 3 years.
Or so we thought.
“Who was it?” Damian asked. He’d been waiting outside Mom’s apartment when I came out. He saw my face and knew something was wrong.
“Victor,” I said. “He called me.”
Damian’s expression went blank. Then hard.
“That’s impossible.”
“That’s what I said,” I replied. “He said he’s alive. And that Rafael’s been working for him this whole time.”
Damian grabbed my phone. “Let me see the number.”
I handed it over.
Unknown. No trace. Burner.
“s**t,” Damian muttered. “This isn’t Selina. She’s not this good.”
“Do you think it’s really him?” I asked.
Damian looked at me. “Victor Kain faked his own death once before. 18 years ago. Insurance fraud. He spent 6 months in Switzerland before coming back.”
I felt sick. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”
“Because it never came up,” Damian said. “And because I didn’t want you thinking the worst of your grandfather before you met him.”
I pulled away. “I don’t even know who to trust anymore.”
Damian stepped closer. “Trust me. That’s it. Just me.”
I wanted to. God, I wanted to.
But after today, trust felt dangerous.
---
*8:00 AM. Kain Corp. Security Office.*
Damian pulled every favor he had.
We spent 4 hours running the call through every system we had.
No luck. The call was routed through 6 countries. Masked. Clean.
“Whoever this is, they’re professional,” said Marco, head of security.
“Professional enough to fake Victor’s voice?” I asked.
Marco hesitated. “Yes. Voice cloning tech exists. Project Omega could do it in 20 seconds.”
That made my stomach drop.
“Can Selina access Project Omega?”
Damian shook his head. “Not anymore. I locked her out last night.”
“Then who?” I asked.
Damian looked at me. “Someone inside.”
---
*12:30 PM. Rafael’s Hotel. Makati.*
Rafael opened the door before I knocked.
He looked like he hadn’t slept.
“Luna,” he said. “I was expecting you.”
“Did you work for Victor?” I asked. No preamble.
Rafael’s face fell. “Yes.”
I felt like I’d been punched.
“But not how you think,” he said quickly. “Victor made me an offer 20 years ago. I take the money, leave the country, and send him updates on you and your mom once a year. That’s it. I never spied on you. I never hurt you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t know if you’d believe me,” Rafael said. “And because I was afraid you’d hate me.”
I looked at him. Really looked.
He looked tired. Guilty. But not like a liar.
“Did you talk to him recently?” I asked.
Rafael shook his head. “Not since 2021. I thought he was dead.”
“So someone’s using his name,” I said.
Rafael nodded. “And they’re using me to get to you.”
Damian, who’d been silent this whole time, stepped forward.
“If Victor is alive, he’s coming for control of Kain Corp,” he said. “We need to move first.”
“What do you suggest?” Rafael asked.
Damian smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“We set a trap. Using Project Omega.”
---
*4:00 PM. Kain Corp. Data Center. 30th Floor.*
Project Omega’s core was a glass room the size of a basketball court.
Inside, thousands of servers hummed. Outside, Damian, Rafael, and I watched through reinforced glass.
“We’ll release a fake update,” Damian explained. “It’ll look like Project Omega’s security is down for 30 minutes. If Victor’s team is watching, they’ll take the bait.”
“And then?” I asked.
“Then we trace them,” Damian said. “And we end this.”
I nodded. “Do it.”
Rafael hesitated. “Luna, if Victor is alive… he won’t stop until he has you.”
“Then he’ll have to go through me,” I said.
Damian gave me a look. Proud. Scared. Both.
“Ready?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “Ready.”
---
*8:47 PM. The Trap.*
The fake update went live.
For 30 minutes, Project Omega’s firewall dropped to 5%.
At 9:02 PM, we got a hit.
IP address in Bahrain.
Same location Rafael said he’d been living in.
“Connection established,” Marco said. “They’re in.”
“Let them think they’re downloading the source code,” Damian said.
“Instead, they’re downloading a virus,” I finished.
On the screen, we watched as the unknown user started pulling files.
Then the virus hit.
Screens filled with red text: *TRACE INITIATED.*
“Got you,” Damian whispered.
The IP traced to a private server in Manama.
And the user ID…
*VK_1987.*
Victor Kain’s initials. And the year he faked his death.
“It’s him,” Rafael said quietly. “He’s alive.”
Damian cursed. “He’s been planning this for years.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number. Again.
I answered.
“Luna,” Victor’s voice said. Older. Colder. Real.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said.
“Shouldn’t have done what?” I replied. “Caught you?”
“You’ll regret this,” Victor said. “You think you won? You have no idea what I’ve built in Bahrain.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your brother,” Victor said. “Nico Morales. He’s been working for me since January.”
The world stopped.
“What did you say?” I whispered.
“Nico’s been feeding me information on Project Omega,” Victor said. “He wants money. And I’m good at paying.”
“No,” I said. “He wouldn’t—”
“Check his bank account, Luna,” Victor said. “Account ending in 8842. BPI. 2 million pesos deposited last month.”
The line went dead.
---
*9:15 PM. Damian’s Office.*
I sat in silence, staring at my phone.
Damian was on the phone with Nico’s bank.
Rafael stood by the window, quiet.
“He’s right,” Damian said finally, hanging up. “The deposit’s there.”
“No,” I said. “Nico wouldn’t betray me.”
“Luna,” Damian said gently. “People do desperate things for money.”
I stood up. “I’m going to see him.”
“Luna, wait—”
“No,” I said. “If Nico’s in this, I need to hear it from him.”
I left before Damian could stop me.
---
*11:02 PM. Nico’s Apartment. Makati.*
Nico opened the door. He looked guilty the second he saw me.
“Luna,” he said. “I can explain.”
“Explain this,” I said, holding up my phone with the bank record.
Nico looked down.
“It’s true,” he said quietly.
I felt like I’d been slapped.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Mom’s sick,” Nico said. “Stage 3. She needs surgery. 2 million pesos. I didn’t know where else to get it.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. “You could’ve told me.”
“I couldn’t,” Nico said. “Victor said if I told you, he’d make sure you never got the company. He said he’d ruin everything.”
I sat down on his couch, shaking.
“So you betrayed me to save Mom?”
Nico nodded, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Luna. I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Damian walked in behind me.
“We need to get Mom to a hospital,” he said. “Now. Kain Corp will cover it.”
Nico looked up, shocked. “Why would you do that?”
“Because Luna’s family is my family now,” Damian said simply.
I looked at Damian.
And for the first time all day, I felt like I wasn’t alone.
---
*12:00 AM. Unknown Location. Bahrain.*
Victor Kain watched the security feed.
Luna crying in Nico’s apartment. Damian holding her hand.
He smiled.
“Good,” he said to himself. “You’re exactly where I want you.”
---
*End of Chapter 9*
- Writer
