CHAPTER 10 — The Door Locked… But the Enemy Was Already Inside
The steel vault echoed with the sound of the locking bolts.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Elena instinctively reached for Sofia, wrapping both arms around her daughter.
"Stay behind me."
Alexander remained perfectly still.
The distorted voice laughed through the hidden speakers.
"You've always been predictable."
Alexander spoke into the darkness.
"You wanted me here."
"Correct."
"So this vault isn't a prison."
"It's a stage."
The voice chuckled.
"You haven't lost your instincts."
Suddenly, emergency lights flickered to life, bathing the room in a dim red glow.
A hidden wall slowly slid open.
Inside was another chamber.
Three chairs.
One projector.
One man.
He was older than Alexander, dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, with silver hair neatly combed back.
His expression was calm.
Almost welcoming.
"Hello, Alex."
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
"Daniel Mercer."
Elena looked between the two men.
"You know him?"
Alexander answered without taking his eyes off Mercer.
"We built an empire together."
Mercer smiled.
"And then you destroyed it."
Sofia frowned.
"My father never told me about you."
"He couldn't," Mercer replied. "Because telling the truth would have revealed that everything your family owns today was built from secrets."
Alexander stepped forward.
"Leave them out of this."
Mercer shook his head.
"I tried."
"But your daughter inherited the only property containing records I failed to recover."
He pointed toward the flash drive recovered from the condominium.
"That drive doesn't expose me."
"It exposes everyone."
Government officials.
Judges.
Corporate executives.
Powerful names that had spent decades laundering fortunes through fraudulent real estate transactions.
Mercer folded his hands.
"I offered Carmen a fortune to obtain your daughter's signature."
"When she failed..."
"I expected you to come."
Alexander finally understood.
"The assault was bait."
May you like
Mercer smiled.
"It always was."
