Chapter 24 THE INNOCENT MAN

​Silence engulfed Storage Facility 17 as Alex stood frozen, the cassette recorder trembling slightly in his hands.

​Kendall's final words echoed relentlessly in his mind: "Richard Hale was protecting me."

​Inspector David Cole slowly turned to him, his expression clouded with disbelief, and asked, "So Richard Hale wasn't the traitor?"

​Alex shook his head and replied, "No, my father admitted it himself."

​Frowning as he struggled to piece everything together, David asked, "Then why did Kendall spend twenty-six years believing Richard betrayed him?"

​Lowering his eyes to the recorder, Alex answered, "That's the real question."

​Before anyone could say another word, an officer called out from the back of the warehouse, "Inspector!"

​As everyone rushed over, the officer pointed at the dusty concrete floor and said, "There are fresh tire marks."

​David knelt to examine them carefully and noted, "They're less than an hour old."

​Scanning the warehouse with narrowed eyes, Alex realized, "So this wasn't just a storage place."

​David nodded grimly and added, "They expected us to come here, and they left us another clue."

​Just then, Alex's phone vibrated with a single text message from an unknown number: The answers you're looking for are inside the third crate.

​Lifting his gaze toward a stack of numbered wooden crates against the wall, Alex walked directly to the third one, which was tightly nailed shut.

​An officer forced the crate open with a crowbar, making the old wood creak loudly as everyone held their breath.

​Instead of cash or weapons, Alex carefully lifted out a dusty file box labeled with faded letters that read: CONFIDENTIAL.

​Inside the box were old photographs, handwritten letters, financial reports, dozens of classified documents, and a single VHS tape resting at the bottom.

​David picked up the tape and said, "We'll need something to play this," to which an officer smiled and mentioned seeing an old television and VHS player in the office.

​A few minutes later, the tape played through flickering static to reveal a conference room from twenty-six years earlier, where Kendall Swan and Richard Hale sat alongside several senior executives.

​The ordinary meeting was suddenly interrupted when a pale, panicked young man burst through the door, breathing heavily as he gasped, "Mr. Swan!"

​When Kendall demanded to know what happened, the young man shouted, "They've broken into Laboratory Seven and they're stealing the Swan Project files!"

​Richard Hale shot to his feet in shock before he and Kendall rushed out of the room together.

​As the room emptied, one executive remained seated, carefully checking that no one was watching before placing several confidential files into a briefcase and quietly walking out.

​Inspector David paused the video on the executive's hidden face, pointing out a single distinct detail: a silver ring engraved with a black phoenix.

​David's expression darkened as he realized, "The Phoenix Circle had someone on the board," and Alex slowly agreed, "They've been inside Swan Group from the very beginning."

​Meanwhile, across the city in an abandoned factory, Kendall sat tied to a chair while the masked leader approached him holding the worn leather journal.

​When Kendall glared and warned, "You won't find what you're looking for," the masked leader smiled and replied, "Oh... I already have."

​Flipping to the final pages, the leader calmly remarked, "You spent years blaming Richard, yet you never once questioned yourself," causing Kendall to lower his eyes in regret and admit, "I was wrong."

​The masked leader leaned closer and whispered, "Not completely," prompting Kendall to look up and ask, "What do you mean?"

​"You weren't betrayed by one man," the leader paused dramatically, "you were betrayed by several."

​The leader placed an unburned copy of the old photograph on the table, revealing every face clearly—including a man standing at the far end whom Alex had previously overlooked due to damage.

​Recognizing the man, Kendall's eyes widened and his voice trembled as he gasped, "No... You..." while the leader smiled behind his mask and said, "Now you remember."

​At the hospital, Javier was finally discharged, receiving a prescription from a smiling doctor who advised her to get plenty of rest and avoid stress.

​As Nina reassured the doctor that they would take care of her, Javier's phone rang on their way to the parking lot.

​Inspector David was on the line, urgently warning her, "Mrs. Swan, I need you to leave the hospital immediately, and do not go back to Nina's apartment."

​When Javier stopped walking and asked what happened, David took a slow breath and explained, "We searched the apartment after the attack and found hidden cameras installed throughout the living room, the hallway, and in the nursery Nina was preparing for your baby."

​Javier covered her mouth in horror, her voice shaking as she whispered, "They've been watching us for days," leaving everyone with a chilling sense of dread.

​Back at Storage Facility 17, a forensic officer enhanced the surveillance footage, zooming in on a faint reflection in the conference room window.

​As the blurred image sharpened to reveal the face of the executive who stole the files, Inspector David stared at the screen in disbelief.

​Alex stepped closer, his heart nearly stopping as he recognized the reflection and gasped, "I know him."

​When David urgently asked who it was, Alex swallowed hard and revealed the terrifying truth: "He still works for Swan Group, and he's been sitting on our board of directors for the last twenty-six years... hidden in plain sight."