Chapter 7: The Enemy Inside the Walls
The message stayed on my screen.
Six words.
Nothing more.
But they carried the weight of a warning.
*You should have let the past stay buried.*
For a few seconds, neither Brooke nor I moved.
The café was dark.
The emergency lights flickered weakly above us.
The other customers were confused, checking their phones, asking the employee what happened.
To them, it was just a power outage.
A small inconvenience.
To me, it was another reminder.
Someone was always one step ahead.
Brooke slowly released my hand.
“Ethan.””
I looked at her.
“Don’t.””
Her face tightened.
“Don’t what?””
“Don’t say you’re sorry.””
She swallowed.
“I wasn’t going to.””
That surprised me.
“What were you going to say?””
“That we need to leave.””
I looked at the window.
The black car was gone.
But that didn’t make me feel safer.
“Whoever sent this knows where we are.””
“Yes.””
“How?””
Brooke didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I stared at her.
“How long?””
She looked away.
“How long what?””
“How long have they been tracking you?””
The silence returned.
Then she whispered:
“Since I started looking for Daniel.””
My eyes narrowed.
“You looked for him?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
She gave me a sad smile.
“Because unlike everyone else, I knew he wouldn’t leave you.””
That sentence hit harder than I expected.
Because she was right.
Daniel was the one person who never cared about my success.
He cared about me.
Not Ethan Vance, the billionaire.
Not the founder.
Not the name on the building.
Just me.
“What did you find?””
Brooke looked around the café.
“Not here.””
I almost laughed.
“Again?””
“Ethan.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“I’m done following people into shadows.””
Her expression softened.
“You should be.””
That answer caught me off guard.
She continued:
“Because every person who knew the truth ended up losing something.””
“Daniel lost his life.””
“Yes.””
“My company was taken.””
“Yes.””
“And I lost everything.””
Her eyes filled.
“I know.””
I looked at her.
“And what did you lose?””
For the first time, Brooke had no prepared answer.
She looked down.
Then quietly said:
“Myself.””
I hated that part of me believed her.
We left through the back entrance.
Not because Brooke suggested it.
Because I did.
The old Ethan Vance trusted people.
The new one checked exits.
I rolled my wheelchair down the narrow alley behind the café while Brooke walked beside me.
The rain had started.
Small drops falling against the pavement.
The city looked different at night.
Less like a place full of opportunities.
More like a place full of hiding spots.
“We need to go somewhere safe,” Brooke said.
“Where?””
“My father has a house outside the city.””
“No.””
She looked at me.
“Why?””
“Because I don’t trust your family.””
Her face tightened.
“That’s fair.””
I looked at her.
“You’re not defending him?””
“No.””
That surprised me.
“Why not?””
“Because my father is one of the reasons this happened.””
I stopped.
“What?””
Brooke looked at me.
“My father invested in Vance Technologies before the accident.””
“I know.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“You don’t.””
The rain grew heavier.
“What are you talking about?””
“He didn’t invest because he believed in you.””
My stomach tightened.
“Then why?””
“Because he wanted access.””
“To what?””
She hesitated.
Then:
“Your mother’s research.””
I froze.
“My mother?””
Brooke nodded.
“She wasn’t just a professor, Ethan.””
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?””
“She was working on something before she died.””
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
“My mother was a scientist.””
“Yes.””
“So?””
“So she discovered something.””
“What?””
Brooke looked at me.
“Something people were willing to kill for.””
The rain covered the silence.
I thought about my father.
Daniel.
The accident.
The documents.
Everything connected back to my mother.
A woman whose death I had accepted without question.
Because everyone told me to.
“What did she discover?””
Brooke looked away.
“I don’t know.””
“You’re lying.””
“I know pieces.””
“Then tell me the pieces.””
She took a breath.
“Your mother developed a method to detect financial manipulation inside corporations.””
I frowned.
“That sounds like software.””
“It was.””
“And?””
“And it was years ahead of anything available.””
I thought about Vance Technologies.
Our security systems.
Our financial models.
My mother’s work.
“Daniel found it?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
Brooke looked at me.
“In the company archives.””
My mind raced.
“Why would it be there?””
“Because your mother left it to your father.””
I felt sick.
My father.
The man who knew everything.
The man who had hidden everything.
“Richard knew.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t he tell me?””
“Because he thought hiding the truth would protect you.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone loves protecting me.””
Brooke didn’t respond.
Because she knew.
Protection had become another word for control.
We arrived at my apartment thirty minutes later.
I expected the building to feel safe.
It didn’t.
The moment we entered the lobby, I noticed something wrong.
The security guard wasn’t at his desk.
The cameras were pointed away from the entrance.
And the elevator was already waiting.
Open.
“Don’t go in.””
Brooke’s voice was quiet.
I looked at her.
“You noticed too.””
She nodded.
“Someone was here.””
I moved backward.
“What do we do?””
“We leave.””
Before we could turn around, the elevator doors began closing.
A hand stopped them.
A man stepped out.
I knew him.
My heart sank.
“Marcus.””
My former board member looked exhausted.
Not confident.
Not powerful.
Scared.
“Ethan.””
Brooke stepped closer to me.
“What are you doing here?””
Marcus looked at her.
Then at me.
“I need to talk to you.””
“No,” I said.
His face fell.
“Please.””
“You abandoned me.””
“I know.””
“You voted against me.””
“I know.””
“You helped them take my company.””
His expression changed.
Guilt.
Real guilt.
“I didn’t know what I was voting for.””
I stared at him.
“That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard.””
“I’m not making excuses.””
“Then explain.””
Marcus looked around.
Then lowered his voice.
“They lied to all of us.””
“Who?””
He looked directly at me.
“The board.””
“That’s not a person.””
“No.””
His hands shook slightly.
“It’s a group.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What group?””
Marcus swallowed.
“The people who have been controlling Vance Technologies since before you founded it.””
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.””
“No.””
He shook his head.
“It isn’t.””
Brooke stepped forward.
“Marcus, what do you know?””
He looked at her.
“More than I wanted to.””
“Then talk.””
Marcus reached into his jacket.
He removed a folder.
“I found this after the accident.””
I didn’t take it.
“What is it?””
“Documents.””
“About what?””
His face became pale.
“About Daniel.””
I felt my body go still.
“Where is he?””
Marcus looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
“Is he alive?””
Marcus hesitated.
That hesitation terrified me.
“Marcus.””
“I saw him.””
My heart stopped.
“When?””
“Three weeks ago.””
Brooke grabbed his arm.
“Where?””
Marcus looked at both of us.
Then whispered:
“He came to my house.””
The words hung there.
“Why?””
Marcus looked down.
“Because he knew I helped them.””
The hallway went silent.
“You’re saying Daniel confronted you?””
“Yes.””
“What did he say?””
Marcus looked at me.
His eyes filled with fear.
“He said the person who betrayed you wasn’t outside the company.””
A pause.
“He said the betrayal came from someone who had been beside you your entire life.””
I felt a chill.
“Who?””
Marcus opened his mouth.
But before he could answer, every light in the building went out.
Not flickered.
Not failed.
Gone.
A second later, the sound of glass breaking came from the lobby.
Brooke grabbed my chair.
“Down.””
I barely moved before something slammed into the wall behind us.
Marcus fell.
A sharp sound echoed through the darkness.
Then silence.
When the emergency lights finally came on, Marcus was lying on the floor.
Alive.
But bleeding.
And in his hand was the folder.
The last page had fallen open.
I picked it up.
A single name was written across the top.
The person who had authorized the operation against me.
The person who had ordered Daniel’s disappearance.
The person who had been controlling everything.
I read the name.
And my entire world stopped.
Because it wasn’t Brooke.
It wasn’t Chad.
May you like
It wasn’t even my father.
It was the one person I had spent six months believing was the only person who still loved me.
