CHAPTER 6 – THE MEMORY CARD REVEALED A TRUTH NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO SEE
The lighthouse stood alone on the edge of the cliffs.
Cold waves crashed against the rocks as Isabella tightened her grip on the tiny memory card.
The maid's final words echoed inside her head.
"Trust no one... not even Ethan."
She looked at him.
For the first time since they met...
She wondered if every smile had been a lie.
Ethan noticed the doubt in her eyes.
"I'm not your enemy."
"You don't get to decide that anymore," Isabella replied.
She inserted the memory card into her laptop.
The screen flickered.
A hidden video began to play.
It was dated...
Twenty-six years earlier.
A younger Elizabeth Hartwell appeared on the screen, holding a newborn baby.
Her face was bruised.
She looked terrified.
"If you're watching this, then Martha kept her promise."
"My daughter..."
"I've lied to you your entire life."
Tears rolled down Isabella's face.
Elizabeth continued.
"Richard didn't betray me alone."
"There were five people."
"They called themselves..."
The Circle.
"They controlled judges, police, politicians... even billion-dollar corporations."
"They wanted my father's research because whoever controlled it..."
"...could control the future of medicine."
Elizabeth looked directly into the camera.
"If The Circle finds this recording..."
"They'll kill everyone you love."
The video suddenly glitched.
Another face appeared.
A man wearing a black suit.
He wasn't supposed to be in the recording.
He smiled into the camera.
"As always, Elizabeth..."
"You were one step too slow."
The video ended.
Ethan stared at the frozen image.
His face turned white.
"I know him..."
Isabella turned sharply.
"Who is he?"
Ethan swallowed hard.
"My father."
Silence.
The wind outside howled against the lighthouse windows.
"My father wasn't just a member of The Circle..."
Ethan whispered.
"He founded it."
Before Isabella could process the words...
Every phone inside the lighthouse vibrated at the same time.
Unknown Number.
One message.
LOOK OUTSIDE.
They ran to the balcony.
Parked below the lighthouse were more than thirty black SUVs.
Men in tactical gear surrounded the entire cliff.
A black helicopter hovered overhead.
Then an elderly man stepped out of the lead vehicle.
Expensive suit.
Silver hair.
Perfect posture.
He slowly removed his sunglasses.
Ethan stopped breathing.
"Dad..."
The old man smiled.
"My son."
"I've waited twenty-six years for you to bring me Elizabeth's daughter."
He looked directly at Isabella.
"You've been searching for your mother."
"I'll take you to her."
Then his smile disappeared.
"But first..."
"You have to choose."
He snapped his fingers.
Two vehicles drove forward.
One carried Ethan, bound and beaten by armed guards.
The other carried a frightened woman with gray hair.
She looked exactly like the woman in the photograph from Switzerland.
Elizabeth Hartwell.
Alive.
"You can only save one of them," the old man said coldly.
"Your fiancé..."
"...or your mother."
"You have sixty seconds."
As Isabella stood frozen in horror...
A voice whispered behind her.
"Don't choose either."
She spun around.
Standing in the shadows of the lighthouse...
Was the elderly maid.
May you like
Alive.
And she was holding a gun.
