CHAPTER 6: The Greatest Betrayal Was Never Outside the Family
The room fell completely silent.
David slowly turned toward the shadow standing near the back wall.
A woman stepped into the dim light.
Emma gasped.
"...Sophia?"
David couldn't believe his eyes.
His younger sister, whom he hadn't seen in nearly eight years, stood before him wearing a black coat, her expression calm and unreadable.
"You..." David whispered. "How did you find this place?"
Sophia looked at the projector.
"I've known about this room since I was sixteen."
The lawyer's face turned pale.
"You weren't supposed to come here."
Sophia ignored him.
Instead, she looked directly at David.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"I'm here because they're coming."
Above them, heavy footsteps echoed through the ceiling.
The attackers had finally discovered the hidden entrance.
CRACK!
Stone began breaking apart overhead.
They wouldn't have much time.
David clenched his fists.
"My father said someone in our family was giving Victor orders."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"No."
"You misunderstood."
She reached into her pocket and removed another faded photograph.
It showed their father standing beside two children.
David...
And another little girl.
But the girl wasn't Sophia.
David stared in confusion.
"Who is she?"
Sophia's voice trembled.
"Our sister."
David stepped backward.
"I never had another sister."
"You did."
"Our father hid her after Mom died."
"The fewer people who knew she existed... the safer she would be."
Emma looked stunned.
"Safe from who?"
Sophia answered with tears in her eyes.
"From the people who wanted Father's land."
She handed David one final document.
It wasn't a birth certificate.
It was an adoption record.
The little girl's new name had been changed decades ago.
David's eyes froze on the last line.
Current Legal Name: Emma Carter.
His hands began shaking uncontrollably.
He slowly turned toward his wife.
Emma's face had gone completely white.
"What...?"
"I've never seen that before."
Sophia nodded.
"I believe you."
"You were adopted as a baby."
"You never knew who your real parents were."
David could barely breathe.
The woman he had married...
The mother of his son...
Was actually his father's hidden daughter.
Not by blood to David...
But the rightful heir to the entire fortune.
Before anyone could process the revelation—
A booming voice echoed through hidden speakers.
"Congratulations."
"You finally know the truth."
Every monitor inside the underground room suddenly switched on.
Victor appeared on every screen.
Smiling.
Slowly clapping.
"I've waited twenty-five years for this reunion."
Then his smile disappeared.
"Now send Emma upstairs..."
"...or I'll burn this entire house to the ground."
The countdown timer appeared on every screen.
09:59...
09:58...
09:57...
May you like
The race against time had begun.
To Be Continued...
