The Warning
1202 Words
The two men stopped outside the glass doors.
Evelyn's heart pounded.
Kael didn't move.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
“I can handle myself.”
“This isn't the time to prove it.”
One of the men entered the building.
He was dressed in a dark coat, his expression calm as he approached the reception desk.
“Mr. Vale,” he called.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
“You have five seconds to leave.”
The man smiled.
“I'm not here for you.”
His eyes shifted toward Evelyn.
“I'm here for her.”
Evelyn instinctively stepped backward.
Kael moved in front of her.
“You're making a mistake.”
“No, Mr. Vale.” The man's smile disappeared. “Your father made the mistake seven years ago.”
Kael went completely still.
Evelyn noticed.
“You know him?”
The man ignored her.
He reached into his coat and placed a small envelope on the reception desk.
“Give this to Evelyn.”
Kael stared at the envelope.
“What is it?”
“A message from someone who has been waiting a very long time.”
The man turned and walked toward the door.
Kael's men suddenly appeared from the corridor.
“Should we stop him?”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
The man paused at the entrance.
Without looking back, he said,
“Tell your father the Hart girl knows the truth now.”
Then he disappeared.
Evelyn stared at Kael.
“Your father is alive?”
Kael didn't answer.
“Kael.”
He finally looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her stomach dropped.
“You said your father was behind everything.”
“I said he was involved.”
“And he's still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Kael picked up the envelope.
“You don't have to believe anything I say.”
He handed it to her.
“But you should read this.”
Evelyn opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Her father.
Daniel Hart.
Standing beside a younger Victor Vale.
And between them was a woman Evelyn had never seen before.
She turned the photograph over.
Three words were written on the back.
ASK ABOUT ELISE.
“Who is Elise?”
Kael looked at the photograph.
His expression changed.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
He stared at the woman.
“I've never seen her before.”
Kael was silent for several seconds.
Then he said,
“Neither have I.”
Evelyn frowned.
“You're lying again.”
“I'm not.”
He took the photograph.
“This woman disappeared the same year your mother did.”
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“What?”
“Her name was Elise Morgan.”
“Who was she?”
Kael looked at her.
“My father's personal assistant.”
A cold feeling settled in Evelyn's chest.
“So she knew my parents.”
“Yes.”
“And now she's missing too.”
Kael nodded.
Evelyn looked at the photograph again.
Three people.
Her father.
Kael's father.
Elise.
Whatever had happened seven years ago, all three were connected.
“Where can I find information about her?”
“There's a private archive.”
“Where?”
“My father's old office.”
Evelyn immediately reached for her bag.
“Let's go.”
Kael stared at her.
“You're not going anywhere.”
“I need answers.”
“And walking into my father's office isn't going to give you answers.”
“Then what will?”
Kael didn't respond.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“You told me my mother didn't abandon me.”
“Yes.”
“Then help me find out what happened to her.”
For the first time, Kael's expression softened.
Only slightly.
“I will.”
Evelyn wasn't expecting that answer.
“But you follow my instructions.”
She frowned.
“I don't take orders.”
“You might have to if you want to stay alive.”
Before Evelyn could reply, Kael's phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His face changed.
“Are you sure?”
A pause.
“Lock the building down.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Evelyn asked.
Kael looked at her.
“Someone broke into my father's private archive.”
“Did they steal anything?”
“No.”
“Then what did they do?”
Kael's eyes darkened.
“They left something.”
“What?”
“A photograph.”
Evelyn's heart began racing.
“Of who?”
Kael looked directly at her.
“You.”
---
TEN MINUTES LATER
Kael's private elevator descended beneath the building.
Evelyn stood beside him in silence.
She had a hundred questions.
But Kael's expression warned her not to ask them yet.
The elevator doors opened.
They stepped into a dim underground corridor.
Two guards stood outside a steel door.
One of them nodded at Kael.
“It's inside.”
Kael opened the door.
Evelyn followed.
The room was filled with old files.
Documents covered the tables.
Boxes lined the walls.
And in the center of the room sat a single photograph.
Kael picked it up.
Evelyn stepped beside him.
Her breath caught.
It was a photograph of her mother.
Elena Hart.
She was standing outside a hospital.
Holding a baby.
Evelyn stared.
“That's me.”
Kael nodded.
But something else caught her attention.
A man stood behind Elena.
His face had been scratched out.
Evelyn touched the photograph carefully.
“Who is that?”
Kael turned it over.
There was a date written on the back.
August 14 — Seven years ago.
Beneath it were five words.
HE KNOWS SHE IS ALIVE.
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“Who is alive?”
Kael didn't answer.
She looked at him.
“Kael.”
He slowly raised his eyes to hers.
“Your mother.”
The room seemed to disappear around her.
“My mother is alive?”
“I don't know.”
“But the photograph says—”
“I know what it says.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
Kael looked toward the photograph.
“Because if Elena Hart is alive after seven years…”
He paused.
“…someone has been hiding her.”
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“Who?”
Before Kael could answer, the lights went out.
A loud metallic bang came from somewhere in the corridor.
Then another.
Kael immediately pulled Evelyn away from the door.
“Stay here.”
“What's happening?”
He listened.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Kael Vale.”
Kael's expression hardened.
The voice continued.
“You should have left the Hart family alone.”
Evelyn held her breath.
Then the voice said the words that changed everything.
“Because your father isn't the one who killed Daniel Hart.”
Silence.
“He didn't.”
A pause.
“He ordered it.”
The lights suddenly came back on.
The corridor was empty.
But on the steel door, someone had written a single sentence in black ink:
ASK KAEL WHAT HE DID SEVEN YEARS AGO.
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