Chapter 5 - THE BLUE ROOM
When the lights returned, the man was gone.
I ran toward the corridor.
“Dad!”
Nothing.
Gabriel caught my arm.
“Stop.”
“Let me go.”
“You don't know who that was.”
“I know his voice.”
“You think you do.”
I turned toward him.
“Why are you protecting me from the truth?”
“Because the truth can get you killed.”
The detective came down the corridor.
“We need to leave.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Sofia.”
“This is my father's apartment.”
“And someone is using it as a trap.”
I pointed toward the corridor.
“He knew I was coming.”
The detective looked around.
“We need to secure the building.”
Then we heard a door slam.
Someone was running.
The detective and two officers chased the sound.
Gabriel stayed with me.
We found the blue room five minutes later.
It was hidden behind a wall panel.
The door was painted dark blue.
Exactly as my father's note described.
I touched the handle.
Locked.
Gabriel looked at me.
“Your father used a biometric lock.”
“How do we open it?”
“He told me only you could.”
I placed my hand against the scanner.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the bracelet.
I pressed the small stone.
A green light appeared.
The door unlocked.
Inside was a room unlike anything I had ever seen.
No furniture.
No decorations.
Only screens.
Files.
Photographs.
And one large monitor.
It turned on automatically.
My father's face appeared.
I froze.
“Sofia.”
I stepped closer.
“If you're seeing this, then Carmen has already made her move.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“I know you believe I'm dead.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“I am not.”
My father continued.
“I disappeared because I discovered the people closest to me were working together.”
The screen changed.
Carmen.
Daniel.
Elise.
Victor.
My father's voice continued.
“I could not protect you from inside the family.”
He paused.
“So I built a second life.”
I stared.
“Your inheritance was never about money.”
The screen displayed the apartment.
Then the company.
Then the trust.
“The assets are a shield.”
“Behind them is evidence.”
“Evidence that can destroy everyone involved.”
The screen changed again.
A list of names appeared.
Dozens.
Executives.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Lawyers.
Then one name appeared at the top.
CARMEN CARTER.
My stomach tightened.
My father continued.
“Carmen was recruited years ago.”
“She was not the mastermind.”
“She's only a gatekeeper.”
I whispered:
“Then who?”
The screen went black.
Then another message appeared.
THE PERSON YOU CALL YOUR HUSBAND KNOWS.
I felt numb.
Daniel.
My father had suspected Daniel.
But then why had he allowed me to marry him?
The video continued.
“Daniel was placed near you.”
My hands trembled.
“He was supposed to report your movements.”
I couldn't breathe.
“But something changed.”
My father paused.
“He fell in love with you.”
I closed my eyes.
Was any of it real?
Then the next sentence appeared.
“He betrayed them.”
My mother looked at me.
I didn't know what to believe anymore.
The video continued.
“That's why they are trying to control him.”
“That's why he stood outside the room.”
“He was afraid.”
I remembered his voice.
Don't leave marks people can recognize.
It sounded cruel.
But perhaps he had been warning Carmen not to hurt me.
My father continued:
“Daniel failed to protect you.”
“But he may still be useful.”
I looked at the screen.
“How?”
The answer came.
“He knows where the original ledger is.”
The video ended.
The room became silent.
Then a printer activated.
A document emerged.
It was a photograph of Daniel.
Beside him stood a man.
I recognized the face.
The man from the corridor.
My father.
But the photograph was dated yesterday.
My mother began crying.
“He's alive.”
I touched the photograph.
Then I saw the location.
An old private airfield outside the city.
Gabriel read it.
“We go there.”
The detective shook his head.
“No.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because this is exactly what they want.”
I stared at the photograph.
“They've already taken enough from me.”
The detective looked at me.
“What are you planning?”
“To find my father.”
“And if it's a trap?”
“Then we walk into it prepared.”
Gabriel smiled faintly.
“That's my niece.”
We left before sunrise.
But none of us noticed the small camera hidden inside the blue room.
Someone was watching us.
Someone had been watching us since the moment we entered.
And when the screen went dark, another person appeared.
Carmen.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Did she find the ledger?”
A man's voice answered.
“Yes.”
“Does she know where it is?”
“No.”
Carmen smiled.
“Good.”
Then she asked:
“And Daniel?”
The voice replied:
“He changed sides.”
May you like
Carmen's smile disappeared.
“Then we have to deal with him first.”
