Chapter 4: The Stranger Inside My Walls
The message remained on my screen.
*I told you not to come home.*
For a few seconds, I couldn’t move.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I was trying to understand how someone had taken a picture of me from inside my own house.
My first instinct was security.
Someone had broken in.
Someone was watching us.
But then another thought appeared.
A worse one.
Someone had never needed to break in.
Someone already had access.
“Adrian?””
My mother’s voice sounded distant.
I locked my phone and looked around the dark living room.
Every corner felt different now.
The shadows behind the curtains.
The hallway leading to the bedrooms.
The staircase where I had run down as a child when I heard my father come home.
All of it felt like a trap.
“Mom,” I whispered.
“Stay here.””
Her face tightened.
“No.””
“I need you to trust me.””
“I trusted people before.””
The pain in her voice stopped me.
She looked toward the hallway.
“And look where that got us.””
A second later, the emergency lights flickered on.
The dim red glow made the mansion look unfamiliar.
I immediately called security.
No answer.
I tried again.
Nothing.
My expression changed.
“Something’s wrong.””
My mother stood beside me.
“What?””
“The security team isn’t responding.””
She grabbed my arm.
“Adrian.””
I looked at her.
“Did you tell anyone I was coming home?””
She shook her head quickly.
“No.””
“Did anyone know you were meeting Selena today?””
Another pause.
That pause was enough.
“Mom.””
Her eyes filled with guilt.
“I told Marcus I was going to speak with her.””
My jaw tightened.
“Why?””
“Because he told me he could help.””
I stared at her.
“Help?””
She looked down.
“I thought he was finally going to admit what he had done.””
The anger returned.
“After twelve years, you thought Marcus would suddenly confess?””
“I wanted to believe there was still a piece of your father’s family left.””
Her voice cracked.
“I was wrong.””
A sound came from upstairs.
A door closing.
Soft.
Careful.
But impossible to ignore.
My mother froze.
“Someone is here.””
I nodded.
I grabbed the fireplace poker from beside the wall.
It wasn’t exactly a weapon I was used to holding.
I built companies.
I signed contracts.
I didn’t fight intruders in my own home.
But tonight, everything I believed about my life had changed.
I moved toward the staircase.
My mother followed.
“Adrian, don’t.””
“Stay behind me.””
We reached the first step.
Another sound.
A drawer opening upstairs.
Someone was searching.
Not hiding.
Searching.
That detail bothered me.
Whoever was here wasn’t afraid.
They knew this house.
They knew where things were.
We slowly climbed.
Every step felt louder than it should.
At the top of the stairs, I saw the hallway.
Empty.
The guest rooms.
The office.
My father’s old study.
The study door was slightly open.
My heart stopped.
That room had been locked since the day he disappeared.
My mother noticed.
“No.””
Her voice was barely audible.
I looked at her.
“What?””
“Don’t open that door.””
“Why?””
She stared at it.
“Because that was where your father kept everything.””
I tightened my grip.
“Everything?””
“His files.””
I pushed the door open.
The smell hit me first.
Old paper.
Wood.
Dust.
A room frozen in time.
My father’s desk sat near the window.
His bookshelves were untouched.
His old leather chair was exactly where I remembered it.
But something was different.
The drawers were open.
Someone had already searched the room.
I walked inside.
On the desk was a photograph.
I picked it up.
It was a picture of my father.
But he wasn’t alone.
Standing beside him was Marcus.
And another man.
A man I had never seen before.
“Who is that?””
My mother stepped closer.
The moment she saw the photo, her face changed.
She looked like she had seen a ghost.
“Mom?””
She didn’t answer.
“Who is he?””
Her hand covered her mouth.
“That’s impossible.””
“Who?””
She whispered:
“Daniel.””
I frowned.
“Who is Daniel?””
My mother backed away from the picture.
“Your father’s closest friend.””
“Why have I never heard of him?””
“Because he disappeared.””
“When?””
She looked at me.
“The same night your father did.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
Two men disappeared.
One became a dead billionaire.
The other became a forgotten name.
And somehow, both were connected.
I turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
A date.
The night my father vanished.
And a message.
*If anything happens to us, the truth is hidden where it all began.*
I stared at the words.
“Where it all began?””
My mother shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
“You do.””
“No.””
“Mom.””
She looked frustrated.
“I spent twelve years trying to forget that night.””
A noise interrupted us.
The sound of glass breaking downstairs.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Someone is still here.””
We rushed out of the study.
This time, we didn’t hear footsteps.
Because whoever was downstairs wanted us to know they were moving.
A shadow crossed the hallway below.
I froze.
“Show yourself.””
No answer.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
A familiar voice.
“You always were stubborn, Adrian.””
My blood ran cold.
Marcus stepped into view.
I stared at him.
“You.””
He looked up at us.
His expensive suit was slightly torn.
His face was no longer calm.
He looked desperate.
“You need to listen to me.””
I laughed.
“After everything?””
“I know what you think.””
“You threatened my father.””
“No.””
“You worked with Selena.””
His expression changed.
“I never worked with Selena.””
“Then why was she trying to steal my company?””
“Because she was trying to get access to something else.””
I walked down the stairs.
“What?””
Marcus looked toward my mother.
“The same thing your father died protecting.””
My hand tightened.
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“You knew my father was alive.””
Marcus said nothing.
That was enough.
“You knew.””
He looked away.
“I suspected.””
“You suspected?””
I stepped closer.
“My father’s alive, and you did nothing?””
Marcus’s voice became angry.
“You have no idea what I did.””
“No, I don’t.””
“Exactly.””
For the first time, I saw something strange in Marcus.
Not guilt.
Pain.
“I spent twelve years trying to keep you alive.””
I stared at him.
“By lying to me?””
“By keeping the people who wanted your father’s secrets away from you.””
“Like Selena?””
His face hardened.
“Selena was never after your company.””
I frowned.
“She wasn’t?””
“No.””
“Then what did she want?””
Marcus looked at my mother.
Then back at me.
“She wanted the account.””
“What account?””
“The one your father created before he disappeared.””
I waited.
Marcus stepped closer.
“The account containing every name, every payment, every person involved in the plan to destroy your family.””
My heartbeat increased.
“What plan?””
Marcus looked toward the front door.
As if expecting someone.
Then he lowered his voice.
“The plan that started twelve years ago.””
A loud crash came from outside.
All of us turned.
The front windows shattered.
My mother screamed.
I pulled her down.
A second later, something hit the wall behind us.
Not a bullet.
A small black device.
It landed on the floor.
Marcus’s face went pale.
“No.””
“What is it?””
He didn’t answer.
Smoke began filling the room.
An alarm started screaming.
Someone outside shouted.
“Adrian!””
I couldn’t see clearly.
I grabbed my mother’s hand.
“Move!””
We ran toward the back exit.
Marcus followed.
The smoke became thicker.
Then, through the haze, I saw someone standing near the doorway.
Watching us.
A woman.
A woman I thought had already run away.
Selena.
She wasn’t scared.
She wasn’t surprised.
She was waiting.
And when our eyes met, she smiled.
But she wasn’t looking at me.
She was looking at Marcus.
“You finally told him,” she said.
Marcus stopped.
The fear on his face told me everything.
“Selena…”
She tilted her head.
“Now he knows the truth.””
I stepped forward.
“What truth?””
Selena looked at me.
And said the one thing I never expected.
“The reason your father disappeared…”
May you like
She smiled.
“…was because he found out your mother was the one who betrayed him.””
