Chapter 6 The devil you know
750 Words
The first rays of dawn painted the island in shades of gold, but no one admired the sunrise.
The gala had ended in silence.
Every guest had become a suspect.
Every smile hid a secret.
Adrian hadn't slept.
The image of his mother locked away haunted him, while the words from the masked figure echoed relentlessly in his mind.
"The greatest betrayal has been beside you for years."
Who?
Vanessa?
Is there someone on his executive team?
Or someone even closer?
A knock sounded at his suite.
"Ethan."
Adrian opened the door immediately.
"What did you find?"
Ethan held up the black Ace of Hearts card recovered from the basement.
"Our forensic team discovered something."
He handed Adrian a small ultraviolet flashlight.
"Look."
As the ultraviolet light swept across the card, hidden writing slowly appeared.
ROOM 317.
8:00 A.M.
COME ALONE.
Sienna woke to a folded note slipped beneath her door.
Unlike Adrian's, hers contained only one sentence.
If you want to save him... trust no one.
No signature.
No explanation.
Only the familiar symbol of the Ace of Hearts.
Her pulse quickened.
Whoever was orchestrating this wasn't merely watching Adrian anymore.
They were watching her, too.
At exactly eight o'clock, Adrian entered Room 317.
It was empty.
Or so it seemed.
A projector flickered to life.
A video began playing.
The footage was old—nearly fifteen years old.
A younger Adrian appeared on screen, laughing beside his father at the opening ceremony of Knight Global's first headquarters.
Then, another figure stepped into the frame.
Vanessa.
She looked no older than she did now.
Adrian frowned.
"Impossible..."
The date stamped on the video proved it.
Vanessa had been connected to his family long before she claimed to have joined the company.
The screen went black.
A new message appeared.
ASK HER ABOUT THE FIRE.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed outside.
Adrian rushed into the hallway.
No one.
There is only another playing card waiting on the carpet.
Meanwhile, Sienna couldn't shake the feeling she was being followed.
As she crossed the resort gardens, she noticed a groundskeeper trimming hedges.
He never looked at her.
But as she passed, he quietly slipped something into her hand.
A silver key.
"For Villa Nine," he whispered.
Before she could question him, he disappeared among the palm trees.
Villa Nine had been abandoned for years.
Dust covered every surface.
Furniture lay draped in white sheets.
The air smelled of salt and age.
Sienna unlocked a small wooden desk using the silver key.
Inside was a leather journal.
Its pages were filled with handwritten notes.
The name on the first page made her breath catch.
Evelyn Knight.
Adrian's mother.
She opened to the final entry.
"If anything happens to me, it wasn't an accident."
"The people closest to Adrian are keeping dangerous secrets."
"Especially..."
The rest of the page had been ripped away.
A floorboard creaked behind her.
She spun around.
No one.
Then—
The front door slammed shut.
Locked.
Heavy footsteps echoed upstairs.
Someone else was inside the villa.
Across the island, Vanessa stood alone on the pier.
She wasn't smiling anymore.
A sleek black boat emerged through the morning mist.
A man stepped ashore wearing a tailored gray suit.
His face remained hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat.
"You've let this go on too long," he said.
Vanessa's composure cracked for the first time.
"You promised no one would get hurt."
"I promised Adrian would suffer."
He handed her a sealed envelope.
"Your final instructions."
She hesitated.
"What if I refuse?"
The man's voice turned icy.
"Then you'll join the list of people whodisappear."
He walked back toward the boat without another word.
Vanessa stared at the envelope in trembling hands.
For the first time...
She looked afraid.
That evening, Adrian gathered everyone in the grand ballroom.
Executives.
Investors.
Guests.
Resort staff.
Security.
No one knew why.
He stepped onto the stage, his expression unreadable.
"I've spent my life believing I could identify every enemy before they struck."
He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the room.
"I was wrong."
The room fell silent.
"Because one of you..."
"...has been lying to me for years."
Before anyone could react—
The ballroom doors burst open.
A masked figure walked inside, carrying a silver briefcase.
No guards stopped them.
No one moved.
The figure placed the briefcase in the center of the room.
Then, I removed the mask.
A collective gasp swept through the ballroom.
Adrian staggered backward.
His voice barely escaped his lips.
"...You?"
- Writer
