The Price of Betrayal

Amsterdam has never looked so gloomy.

Victoria “Vic” Dewi Maharani gazes at the imposing building of De Nederlandsche Bank through the windshield of her Audi RS e-tron GT parked at Oude Turfmarkt. November showers pound the city with low but persistent intensity, creating a curtain of water that refracts the streetlights into a spectrum of golden hues. The clock on the dashboard reads 23:47 - an unusual time to start a financial audit.

But since when was life normal?

Vic straightens his black Armani suit, making sure his special Forensic Finance name tag is perfectly in place. At 42 years old, he still looks stunning with his unique blend of Indonesian-Dutch features: piercing dark brown eyes, high cheekbones, and fair skin that contrasts with his shoulder-length black hair that is always neatly styled.

“Are you sure you want to do this now?” Stefan van der Wolff, her 35-year-old husband, took her hand. Their platinum rings glistened faintly. “It can wait until tomorrow morning.”

Vic smiles faintly. After five years of marriage, Stefan still often underestimated her determination - or perhaps worried about it too much. “You know I can't wait when I smell something fishy in the financial statements.”

“Is that what earned you the nickname 'Calculated Killer'? Your impatience to execute a target?” Stefan chuckled, but Vic could catch the anxiety in his voice.

“I prefer to call it... timeliness.” Vic released Stefan's grip and opened the car door. “Wait here. It won't take long.”

The steps of her Louboutin shoes echoed in the quiet bank lobby. There were only two security guards at the reception desk, who immediately stood at attention upon his arrival. They had been familiar with her presence for the past two weeks since she had been assigned to audit the oldest bank in the Netherlands.

“Good evening, Mrs. van der Wolff,” greeted one of the officers respectfully.

“Evening, Hans. Any update from the IT team about the anomaly in the system I found this afternoon?”

“Yes, they left a file for you in the audit room on the third floor.” Hans held out the special access card. “But there's been something strange with the security system since this afternoon. Some of the CCTV cameras have been acting up.”

Vic frowned. “What kind of interference?”

“The feed is interrupted, sometimes blanking out for a few seconds. The technical team is checking, but it seems to be a minor problem.”

Too much of a coincidence, Vic thought. Ever since discovering the inconsistencies in the bank's asset records, his instincts had been telling him there was something much bigger being covered up. A safe not recorded in the main system, with a different encryption code than the bank's standard.

The elevator took him to the third floor in silence. The long corridor to the audit room was dimly lit, with only emergency lighting. Vic checked her cell phone - there were no messages from Stefan. Her husband was always protective, sometimes to the point of making her uncomfortable. But perhaps that was only natural given his position as one of the most influential young executives at ABN AMRO Bank.

His private audit room is a silent witness to the many financial scandals he has uncovered. The bulletproof glass walls provide a view of the Amstel canal glistening in the moonlight. Vic sits down in his work chair, opens his specially encrypted laptop, and starts studying a file from the IT team.

After two hours immersed in a sea of numbers and code, he found it. A hidden pattern in the transactions that led to the mysterious safe. But there was more to the surprise - the safe was connected to a case 15 years ago. A case that changed her life forever.

The Alexandra Visser money laundering scandal.

Vic's heart was racing. Alexandra Visser, the daughter of the bank's CEO who mysteriously disappeared after a scandal that destroyed her father's reputation and saw him end his life in prison. The case that made Vic vow to expose all financial crimes to their roots.

With trembling hands, he opens an old file on the case. Alexandra's picture was on the screen - a beautiful blonde girl with a mysterious smile. She was just 20 years old when she disappeared, allegedly carrying evidence of her father's involvement in Europe's largest money laundering network.

Suddenly, the room lights flickered. Vic turned his head towards the door - the shadow of someone passing quickly in the corridor. His instincts told him something was wrong. He saves all the files to a portable hard drive and stuffs it into his bag.

The sound of footsteps approached.

Vic picked up his cell phone, intending to call Stefan, but there was no signal. Too many coincidences to be a coincidence, he thought. With a quick movement, he took a small flashlight from his bag and moved towards the door.

The corridor was still quiet, but his instincts screamed that he wasn't alone. Vic stalked toward the elevator, but stopped when he saw that the elevator indicator light showed that someone had gone up to this floor.

He turned around, heading for the fire escape. But after just a few steps, he heard a familiar voice.

“Mrs. van der Wolff?”

Vic turned his head. Hans stood at the end of the corridor, flashlight in hand. “There's a problem with the electricity. I was ordered to check all the floors.”

There was something odd in his tone of voice. Vic took a closer look - Hans' shoes were different from the ones he was wearing earlier. And since when did De Nederlandsche Bank's security guards wear Patek Philippe watches?

“Sure, Hans. I was just about to get off.” Vic smiled, while slowly backing away. “But I think you should check the server room first. I noticed some strange fluctuations in the system earlier.”

'Hans' smiled. Not the usual friendly smile. “Unfortunately, Mrs. van der Wolff, I'm more interested in what you found out about the safe.”

Vic didn't wait for the rest. He ran towards the fire escape, pushing hard on the door. The sound of heavy steps chased him. He descended as quickly as he could, cursing his choice of shoes tonight.

2nd floor... 1st floor...

The sound of steps above him grew closer. Vic reached the basement door - the safe storage area. He had a choice: go up to the lobby and hope for help, or...

His instincts drove him to open the basement door. If he was right, the mysterious safe was here. And perhaps, the answer to the 15-year mystery that haunted her.

The basement hallway was dim and silent. Rows of safes lined up in neat rows, each equipped with a sophisticated security system. Vic moved quickly towards the coordinates he found in the system - an area hidden behind normal-looking wall panels.

The sound of the basement door opening. The heavy steps were getting closer.

With trembling hands, Vic pulled out his hard drive, searching for the file containing the access code he had found. The wall panel shifted silently, revealing a safe with a security system far more complex than any other.

“Impressive, Mrs. van der Wolff.” The voice sounded closer. “But I guess your search ends here.”

Vic didn't turn around. His fingers moved quickly on the safe's control panel, entering the complex combination he had solved. A subtle mechanical sound was heard - the safe began to open.

“Stand back from that safe. Now.”

Vic finally turned around. 'Hans' pointed a gun at him. But that wasn't what made his blood rush.

Behind the man, Stefan stood with an expression he'd never seen before. Cold. Calculative. Dangerous.

“I'm sorry, schatje,” Stefan said quietly, using her affectionate nickname in Dutch. “But you're too close to the truth.”

Before Vic could react, the safe door opened completely. Cold air rushed out, bringing with it the metallic scent familiar to any forensic.

The smell of blood.

Inside the safe, curled up like she was sleeping, the figure of Alexandra Visser lay frozen. Still wearing the same clothes as in her last photograph 15 years ago. And in her stiff hands, a USB drive with a symbol that made Vic gasp.

The Red Lotus.

His world collapsed in an instant. Not because of the corpse in front of him. Not because of the gun pointed at him.

But because of the Patek Philippe ring on Stefan's finger - the exact same ring that 'Hans' was wearing.

An exclusive membership token that only members of the Red Lotus inner circle have.

And that's when Vic realizes - his marriage, his career, his whole life, might just be part of a much bigger, darker game.