CHAPTER 8 — The Betrayal Behind Every Smile
Alexander couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Marcus.
The man who had protected him for years.
The man he trusted with every secret.
Had just shot his father.
Emily screamed and dropped to her knees beside Richard.
"Stay with us!"
Richard coughed, blood staining his shirt.
He grabbed Alexander's wrist with surprising strength.
"Listen carefully..."
"It wasn't Marcus."
Alexander looked up.
Marcus still held the pistol.
Confusion filled his face.
"What?"
Richard struggled to breathe.
"The bullet..."
"...came from behind."
Alexander turned.
Everything happened in seconds.
The pistol in Marcus's hand had been planted there.
The real shooter stood twenty feet away.
Victoria.
She lowered a silenced handgun and smiled.
"You always trusted the wrong people."
Marcus lunged toward her.
Victoria fired again.
The bullet struck Marcus in the shoulder.
He collapsed but managed to pull Alexander behind cover before a hail of automatic gunfire tore through the hallway.
"You have to believe me," Marcus gasped.
"I infiltrated them eight years ago."
"I've been feeding them false information ever since."
Alexander hesitated.
Then Richard nodded weakly.
"He's telling the truth."
Before anyone could react, the emergency lights switched off.
The corridor plunged into darkness.
A hidden blast door separated Victoria from Eleanor's soldiers.
For the first time, the organization had lost control of its own headquarters.
Richard smiled faintly.
"I built this vault."
"I also built a way to destroy it."
He pulled a small metal device from inside his jacket and placed it into Alexander's hand.
A biometric control key.
"If Eleanor escapes..."
"Thousands of innocent families will suffer."
"If you activate this..."
"The entire archive will be erased forever."
Alexander stared at the device.
One button.
That was all.
Pressing it would destroy decades of evidence.
Evidence that could expose every corrupt politician, billionaire, judge, and criminal tied to the organization.
But without that evidence...
Many guilty people would escape justice.
Emily whispered,
"What do we do?"
Richard closed his eyes.
"Choose..."
"The truth..."
"...or revenge."
Suddenly, Eleanor's voice echoed through hidden speakers across the vault.
"I knew Richard would find his children."
"I also knew he'd make the same mistake."
Every monitor flickered to life.
Alexander watched in horror as live security footage appeared.
Not from the vault.
From Blackwood Tower above them.
Explosives had been planted throughout the skyscraper.
Hundreds of employees were still inside.
A countdown flashed across every screen.
09:59
Eleanor spoke one final sentence.
"You can save your father's legacy..."
"...or save hundreds of innocent lives."
"You only have ten minutes."
Alexander tightened his grip on the biometric key.
For the first time in his life...
May you like
No matter what he chose...
He would lose something he could never get back.
