Chapter 25 — The One She Was Told Not to Trust

Chapter 25 — The One She Was Told Not to Trust

The words seemed to glow in the darkness.

If Miyaka ever discovers the truth about the three families, she must never trust the person who brings her back to the tree.

Miyaka read them twice.

Then a third time.

She didn't look at Moises immediately.

She couldn't.

Her mind was moving too quickly.

Every moment since he had returned began replaying itself.

The first meeting.

His cold expression.

The way he pretended not to know her.

The way he had somehow known when she was in danger.

The way he had brought her back to the mango tree.

The way he had kept her childhood belongings.

The way he had said he never stopped remembering her.

And now this.

Jason broke the silence.

“Maybe we shouldn't assume it means Moises.”

Miyaka finally looked up.

Daniel's expression remained unreadable.

Moises stared at the notebook.

“You knew about this?”

Daniel shook his head.

“I've never seen this page.”

“Then how do you know it's real?”

“Because that's your father's handwriting.”

Moises took the notebook.

He studied the page carefully.

“This was written recently.”

Miyaka frowned.

“How recently?”

“The ink.”

He rubbed his thumb lightly near the edge without touching the words.

“It's darker than the older entries.”

Jason leaned closer.

“So someone added it.”

“Possibly.”

Miyaka looked at Daniel.

“You said my father wrote it.”

“I said it's his handwriting.”

“That isn't the same thing.”

Daniel didn't argue.

Miyaka appreciated that.

At least one person in this mess seemed willing to admit when something wasn't certain.

Moises closed the notebook.

“I didn't bring you to the tree to hurt you.”

Miyaka looked at him.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

She hesitated.

“I don't know what I know anymore.”

Something passed across his face.

Pain.

Real pain.

He nodded slowly.

“That makes sense.”

Miyaka expected him to defend himself.

He didn't.

Instead, he stepped back.

“I won't ask you to trust me just because I say you should.”

Her throat tightened.

“That isn't what I meant.”

“I know.”

He gave her a tired smile.

“But I understand.”

The tunnel suddenly felt too small.

Miyaka hated that the warning had been written at all.

Not because it accused Moises.

Because part of her had believed him without question.

And now she realized how dangerous that was.

She had spent fourteen years wanting him to come back.

She had imagined what she would say.

What she would ask.

What she would feel.

She had never imagined having to wonder whether the person she'd waited for could be part of the reason everything had happened.

Daniel moved farther into the tunnel.

“We need to keep going.”

Jason nodded.

“How long is this tunnel?”

“Not far.”

They continued.

The passage was narrow enough that they had to walk in a line.

Miyaka went first.

Moises followed several steps behind.

She noticed.

He was deliberately giving her space.

That somehow hurt more than if he had stayed close.

After a few minutes, the tunnel widened.

There was a small underground room.

An old wooden table stood in the center.

On the wall were three symbols.

Miyaka stopped.

The first was the Reyes symbol.

The second was the Laurent symbol.

The third was one she had never seen before.

Three circles connected by a line.

The same symbol from the pendant.

Jason stared.

“The three families.”

Daniel nodded.

“This was where the original agreement was kept.”

Miyaka looked around.

“So this is where they met?”

“Once.”

“Only once?”

Daniel hesitated.

“As far as I know.”

Moises stepped closer to the wall.

“Why was this hidden under the Reyes property?”

Daniel looked at him.

“Because your families eventually stopped trusting each other.”

“Then why keep the records here?”

“Because your father trusted Miyaka's mother.”

Miyaka turned.

“My mother?”

Daniel nodded.

“She was the last person they all agreed could keep the information safe.”

Miyaka's eyes moved across the room.

“Then why did she disappear?”

Daniel looked away.

“I told you. She discovered something.”

“What?”

He didn't answer.

Miyaka stepped closer.

“You keep doing that.”

“I know.”

“Stop.”

Daniel looked at her.

“If you want me to help you, you have to start telling me the truth.”

He studied her for a moment.

Then sighed.

“Your mother discovered that someone inside the three families had been selling information.”

Jason's expression changed.

“Someone inside?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“We never found out.”

Miyaka frowned.

“But Valmont was involved.”

“Valmont knew about it.”

“Was he the one selling information?”

Daniel shook his head.

“No.”

That answer made Moises look at him.

“Then what was he doing?”

“Trying to expose it.”

Miyaka's heart skipped.

“You said he was dangerous.”

“He was.”

“But he wasn't the one behind it.”

“No.”

She stared at Daniel.

“Then why did everyone blame him?”

“Because someone made sure they did.”

Jason slowly sat on the old wooden bench.

“So all this time, we may have been chasing the wrong person.”

Daniel nodded.

“Possibly.”

Miyaka looked at the three symbols.

“Who would do that?”

Daniel's expression became grim.

“Someone who benefited from your families turning against each other.”

Moises's voice was quiet.

“Who benefited?”

Daniel looked at him.

“That's what your father was trying to find out.”

Miyaka turned.

“My father?”

Daniel nodded.

“He realized too late that the conflict between the Laurent and Reyes families wasn't natural.”

“What do you mean?”

“They were manipulated.”

The word hung in the room.

Miyaka remembered the newspaper article.

Missing funds.

Confidential information.

The collapse of the partnership.

Her father's warning:

Don't trust the Laurents.

She suddenly understood why it had felt wrong.

Someone had wanted her father to distrust Moises's family.

Someone had wanted Moises's father to distrust hers.

And while they were busy fighting—

someone else had been free to move.

Jason looked toward the wall.

“Then what was the agreement actually protecting?”

Daniel walked toward the three-circle symbol.

“Not a company.”

He touched the wall beneath it.

“Not money.”

His eyes moved toward Miyaka.

“Evidence.”

Miyaka stepped closer.

“Evidence of what?”

Daniel looked at her.

“Everything.”

Before she could ask what he meant, a faint metallic sound echoed through the tunnel.

Everyone froze.

Jason stood.

“What was that?”

Daniel turned toward the entrance.

“Someone opened the gate.”

Moises moved toward Miyaka.

“Stay behind me.”

This time she didn't protest.

The sound came again.

Metal against stone.

Then footsteps.

Someone was entering the tunnel.

Daniel quickly opened a hidden compartment beneath the table.

Inside was a small box.

He grabbed it.

“What is that?”

“The last thing your mother left here.”

Miyaka stared.

“You had it all this time?”

“I didn't know where it was until tonight.”

He handed it to her.

It was small.

Wooden.

Old.

And on the lid was the same three-circle symbol.

Miyaka touched it.

The moment her fingers reached the lock, something clicked.

The box opened by itself.

Inside was a single photograph.

Miyaka picked it up.

Her breath stopped.

It was a photograph of three children.

Her.

Moises.

Jason.

They were standing beneath the mango tree.

But the photograph was different from the childhood pictures she knew.

It had been taken from farther away.

As if someone had been watching them.

On the back was a date.

The day before Moises disappeared.

And beneath it, in her mother's handwriting:

They chose the children because they believed children couldn't understand what they were protecting.

Miyaka stared.

Jason moved closer.

“Why would she write that?”

Moises looked at the photograph.

“I don't know.”

Miyaka turned it over again.

There was more writing beneath the first sentence.

She hadn't noticed it before.

A second line.

Smaller.

Almost hidden beneath the edge of the photograph.

But they were wrong.

Her heart pounded.

Then Daniel whispered,

“Put the photograph away.”

“Why?”

His eyes were fixed on the tunnel entrance.

“Because I know those footsteps.”

Miyaka looked toward the darkness.

Someone was coming.

Daniel's face had gone pale.

And then a man's voice echoed through the tunnel.

Calm.

Almost amused.

“You've made this much harder than it needed to be.”

Moises stepped in front of Miyaka.

Jason moved beside him.

Daniel closed his hand around the box.

The voice came again.

“I told you, Daniel.”

A pause.

“You should have left the girl alone.”

Miyaka's blood ran cold.

Because Daniel wasn't looking at the entrance anymore.

He was looking at her.

And for the first time since they had met again, Miyaka saw genuine fear in his eyes.

Not fear for himself.

Fear for her.