CHAPTER 3 — The Dead Man Who Spoke in the Dark
The gunshot echoed through the mansion.
For one endless second...
No one moved.
The room was swallowed by darkness, broken only by the sound of shattered glass and terrified breathing.
Then someone screamed.
"It's Victor!"
A heavy body crashed onto the marble floor.
The emergency lights flickered on.
Everything turned blood-red.
Victor Navarro was lying beside the fireplace, clutching his shoulder as blood soaked through his expensive suit.
The bullet hadn't killed him.
But whoever fired it had been aiming for his heart.
The masked attacker had vanished.
"Lock every exit!" Victor shouted through gritted teeth.
No one answered.
The estate's security monitors were black.
The phone lines were dead.
Even the backup generator had been disabled.
"This wasn't random," the doctor whispered.
"They planned this."
Isabella slowly stood.
Her eyes searched the room.
Emilio was safe.
The nurse was trembling.
Rafael looked ready to collapse.
But Lucía...
Lucía wasn't frightened.
She was looking toward the hallway.
Almost as if...
...she expected someone to arrive.
"Grandpa," Isabella whispered.
"What did you mean when you shouted 'Mateo'?"
Emilio stared toward the broken window.
"I saw him."
Victor laughed bitterly despite the pain.
"Father, enough."
"You imagined him because you've wanted him alive for seventeen years."
Emilio slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I saw my son."
"He was standing outside."
"He looked exactly the same."
Silence filled the room.
Impossible.
Mateo Navarro had died seventeen years earlier.
His funeral had been attended by hundreds.
His death certificate had been signed.
His ashes had been buried beside his wife.
There was no way...
Unless...
The body had never been his.
A loud knock echoed from the front entrance.
Three sharp knocks.
Then silence.
Everyone froze.
The housekeeper slowly approached the security camera monitor.
It was still dead.
She opened the front door just enough to look outside.
No one was there.
Only a small wooden box sat on the front steps.
Wrapped with black ribbon.
No sender.
No address.
Just one sentence written across the lid.
FOR ISABELLA.
Victor shouted.
"Don't touch it!"
But Isabella was already walking toward it.
The doctor tried stopping her.
"It could be dangerous."
She smiled sadly.
"My family has been trying to kill me since I was eleven."
"I stopped expecting safe gifts a long time ago."
She lifted the lid.
Inside...
There was no bomb.
No weapon.
Only three things.
A silver pocket watch.
A worn leather wallet.
And an old cassette tape.
Emilio gasped.
The pocket watch slipped from Isabella's hands.
She recognized it immediately.
It belonged to her father.
He never took it off.
Not even while sleeping.
She opened the wallet.
Inside was Mateo's driver's license.
His wedding photo.
And a tiny folded note.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
It belonged to her mother.
The note read:
"If you're reading this, Mateo survived."
Lucía's face lost all color.
Victor stopped breathing.
Rafael whispered,
"No..."
"This can't be happening."
Isabella unfolded the rest of the letter.
Your father escaped the explosion.
Someone inside this family warned him only minutes before the car exploded.
He couldn't save me.
He couldn't save himself.
The people hunting us controlled the police, the hospitals, and even the morgue.
The only way to protect you...
...was to let the world believe we were dead.
If Mateo ever returns...
Never trust anyone carrying the Navarro name.
Not even blood.
The room fell silent.
Emilio covered his face.
"My son..."
"He was alive..."
"For seventeen years..."
Then Isabella picked up the cassette tape.
There was an old recorder in Emilio's study.
She inserted the tape.
Static filled the room.
A man's tired voice slowly emerged.
"Isabella..."
Every hair on her body stood up.
She hadn't heard that voice since she was eleven.
"Dad..."
Tears rolled down her face before she realized she was crying.
The recording continued.
"If you're hearing this..."
"Then I either failed to come back..."
"...or they found me first."
"I don't have much time."
"The Navarro company was never the real enemy."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"The money your grandfather earned..."
"...was used for something much bigger."
"Someone above us ordered every crime."
"They called themselves..."
The Covenant.
The room became deathly still.
"The Covenant controls judges..."
"Police..."
"Banks..."
"Hospitals..."
"They don't steal companies."
"They steal entire families."
"They erase identities."
"They replace heirs."
"They manufacture accidents."
"And seventeen years ago..."
"They decided the Navarro family had become too powerful."
The recording suddenly crackled.
Heavy breathing.
Running footsteps.
A car door slamming.
Then Mateo spoke again.
"If I disappear..."
"Never look for me."
"Look for the woman with the white orchid."
"She knows who betrayed us."
A loud explosion interrupted the recording.
Then...
Silence.
Nobody spoke for nearly a minute.
Finally Rafael whispered,
"The Covenant..."
"I've heard that name."
Every head turned toward him.
Victor stared at his younger brother.
"You told me it was just a rumor."
Rafael slowly looked up.
"It wasn't."
"It was the organization that financed our first construction projects."
Lucía grabbed his arm.
"Stop talking."
"You've already said too much."
Rafael ripped his arm away.
"No."
"I'm done protecting monsters."
Victor's expression turned icy.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
"Oh, I do."
Rafael reached into his own jacket.
He removed a thick envelope.
"I've been collecting evidence against all of you for five years."
Victor lunged toward him.
Too late.
Rafael handed the envelope to Isabella.
Inside were dozens of confidential contracts.
Swiss bank transfers.
Photographs of secret meetings.
And one picture that froze Isabella's heart.
It showed Victor...
Standing beside a man wearing black gloves.
The man's face had been crossed out with red ink.
But one detail remained visible.
A white orchid pinned to his jacket.
The same white orchid mentioned in Mateo's recording.
Before anyone could react...
A voice echoed through the mansion's loudspeaker.
Calm.
Cold.
Male.
"Good evening, Navarro family."
Everyone looked toward the ceiling.
"You've spent seventeen years searching for ghosts."
A pause.
"But tonight..."
"The ghosts came searching for you."
Every television inside the mansion suddenly turned on.
Security footage began playing.
The timestamp read...
TODAY.
The cameras showed every room in the estate.
Except one.
The underground wine cellar.
There...
A man was sitting calmly in a wooden chair.
His hands tied.
His face bruised.
His beard much longer.
His hair completely gray.
But Isabella recognized him instantly.
The pocket watch.
The same scar above his eyebrow.
The same eyes.
She dropped to her knees.
"Dad..."
Mateo Navarro slowly lifted his head toward the camera.
His lips moved.
Without sound.
Then the screen zoomed closer.
Enough for everyone to read what he mouthed.
DON'T TRUST EMILIO.
The room exploded into chaos.
Isabella looked at her grandfather in disbelief.
Emilio's eyes filled with tears.
He shook his head violently.
"I swear..."
"I don't know why he said that..."
But before anyone could ask another question...
Every screen went black.
May you like
One final sentence appeared in white letters.
WELCOME TO THE REAL GAME.
