Chapter 7 — The Trap

Adrian's entire body went rigid.

“Lena.”

She stood near the entrance of the warehouse, her hands raised slightly while a man held a gun against her temple.

Daniel was nowhere in sight.

Victor smiled.

“I told you she would come.”

Adrian's eyes remained fixed on Lena.

“Are you hurt?”

She shook her head.

“Not yet.”

The man behind her pressed the gun harder against her head.

“Don't move,” he warned.

Adrian slowly raised his hands.

“Let her go.”

Victor laughed.

“You still think you're in a position to give orders?”

“Take me instead.”

“I already have you.”

Victor nodded toward Lena.

“But she's the reason you finally came here.”

Lena's eyes met Adrian's.

There was fear in them, but also something else.

Determination.

She was trying to tell him something.

Adrian narrowed his eyes.

Then he noticed her right hand.

She was holding something.

A small metal object.

A key.

His gaze moved toward Victor.

Victor didn't notice.

“Do you know why I brought you both here?” Victor asked.

“To finish what you started twenty years ago?”

“No.”

Victor's expression darkened.

“To show you the truth.”

He walked toward an old wooden table and placed several documents on it.

Adrian didn't take his eyes off Lena.

“What's in the documents?”

“Proof.”

“Of what?”

“That your father ordered the disappearance of Lena's mother.”

Lena's eyes widened.

Adrian looked at the papers.

“Why would he?”

“Because your father believed your mother was carrying something that could destroy the Blackwood family.”

“What?”

Victor smiled.

“Evidence.”

“Evidence of what?”

“Fraud. Illegal transactions. Money laundering.”

Adrian stared at him.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

Victor pointed toward the documents.

“Daniel Carter discovered everything. Your father threatened him. When Daniel refused to cooperate, he was framed.”

Adrian's face tightened.

“My father died believing Daniel betrayed him.”

“He was wrong.”

Lena finally spoke.

“Then why did my father marry my mother?”

Victor looked at her.

“To protect her.”

Lena's eyes filled with confusion.

“But Adrian said she loved him.”

“She did.”

“Then why?”

Victor's voice softened.

“Because she was trying to keep you alive.”

Lena went still.

Adrian's eyes snapped toward Victor.

“What does Lena have to do with it?”

Victor stared at Lena.

“Everything.”

Before he could continue, a loud crash came from outside.

The man holding Lena turned toward the sound.

Adrian moved instantly.

He lunged forward and slammed into Victor.

The gun went off.

The shot echoed through the warehouse.

Lena screamed.

The man holding her grabbed her arm and pulled her backward.

“Run!”

Adrian tackled Victor to the ground.

“Lena!”

She looked toward him.

Then she saw blood.

Adrian's shoulder was bleeding.

“Adrian!”

“Go!”

She froze.

The armed man dragged her toward the back exit.

Lena fought against him.

“Let me go!”

He tightened his grip.

“You don't understand what you're involved in.”

“I don't care!”

“You should.”

He pushed open the back door.

Lena suddenly remembered the key in her hand.

She had taken it from the box in Adrian's office.

The key had been attached to a tiny metal tag.

B-17.

She had no idea what it meant.

But she knew one thing.

Victor had been hiding something.

She drove her elbow into the man's ribs.

He loosened his grip.

Lena ran.

She didn't get far.

The man grabbed her again.

Then—

A loud gunshot came from inside the warehouse.

Everyone froze.

The man holding Lena turned.

Adrian appeared in the doorway.

His shirt was stained with blood, but he was still standing.

His gun was pointed directly at them.

“Let her go.”

The man hesitated.

Adrian's voice became deadly.

“Now.”

He released Lena.

She ran straight toward Adrian.

He caught her with his good arm.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

He pulled her closer.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

His eyes searched her face.

Then he whispered, “You disobeyed me.”

Lena almost laughed despite everything.

“You're welcome.”

Adrian shook his head.

“You're impossible.”

“And you're bleeding.”

“It's nothing.”

“It doesn't look like nothing.”

For a moment, the chaos around them disappeared.

Then Victor's voice came from inside.

“Adrian!”

They turned.

Victor stood several feet away.

He was no longer holding a gun.

Instead, he was holding an old envelope.

“There is one thing you haven't seen.”

Adrian's expression hardened.

“What?”

Victor looked at Lena.

“This belongs to your mother.”

He threw the envelope onto the floor.

Lena picked it up.

Her name was written across the front.

For Lena, when she is old enough to know the truth.

Her hands trembled.

“She wrote this for me?”

Victor nodded.

“She wanted you to have it.”

Adrian stepped closer.

“Lena, don't open it.”

She looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because whatever is inside…”

His voice faltered.

“…could change everything.”

Lena stared at the envelope.

Then she slowly opened it.

Inside was a single photograph.

She pulled it out.

Her breath caught.

It wasn't a picture of her mother and Adrian.

It wasn't a picture of her father.

It was a picture of a newborn baby.

On the back, written in her mother's handwriting, were six words:

This is not Adrian's daughter.

Lena looked up in shock.

Adrian's face went pale.

And Victor smiled.

“The truth,” he whispered, “has finally begun.”