Chapter 2 - My Security Chief Had Been Lying to Me for Twelve Years
The first rule of surviving in my world was simple:
Trust patterns, not people.
I had violated that rule with Victor.
For twelve years, I had let him into my home, my office, my meetings, and my private life.
I had given him access to everything.
He had known where I slept.
Who I met.
Where my money moved.
Which businesses belonged to me.
Where the emergency exits were.
He knew enough to destroy me.
And somehow, I had never considered him a threat.
Until that afternoon.
I locked down the building.
Every exit.
Every elevator.
Every vehicle.
I ordered my men to locate Claire and Emma without firing unless absolutely necessary.
Then I returned to the conference room.
The note was still on the table.
You're already too late.
I turned it over.
Nothing.
Then I noticed something.
A tiny black wolf had been drawn in the corner.
Luca's symbol.
My brother had taught me how to draw it when we were teenagers.
I had not seen that exact shape in thirteen years.
I called Victor.
Straight to voicemail.
I called his second.
No answer.
Then my private phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Sebastian Vale.”
A man's voice.
“You should have let the past stay buried.”
“Where is my family?”
Silence.
“Claire isn't your family.”
“She is.”
“You barely know her.”
“I know enough.”
The man laughed.
“Then you know nothing.”
“What do you want?”
“Your company.”
I almost smiled.
“Money?”
“Control.”
“You kidnapped my niece for control of my company?”
“No.”
He paused.
“We kidnapped her because she's the key.”
“To what?”
“You'll find out.”
The line ended.
I immediately contacted my financial team.
“Check every transfer related to Vale Global.”
They began searching.
Within twenty minutes, we found something.
Three shell companies had been purchasing properties tied to one of our old logistics networks.
The same week Luca disappeared.
The buyer?
A trust registered to a dead man.
My father.
I stared at the documents.
My father had continued moving assets after Luca's disappearance.
That was impossible.
Unless he had been preparing for something.
I opened the archive system.
Old files.
Photographs.
Contracts.
Then one folder caught my attention.
Luca.
I had seen it before.
But never opened it.
Inside was a single video.
Recorded thirteen years ago.
I clicked.
Luca appeared on the screen.
He looked younger.
Angry.
Tired.
And alive.
“Sebastian,” he said, “if you see this, don't trust the story they tell you.”
I leaned closer.
“I know what you were told.”
The footage paused.
Then continued.
“They will tell you I stole money.”
Another pause.
“They will tell you I betrayed Father.”
“They will tell you I ran.”
Luca shook his head.
“I didn't.”
My throat tightened.
“I'm leaving because someone inside our family is selling information.”
He named no one.
“The people doing this have protection.”
He looked off camera.
“I have evidence.”
Then the video ended.
I replayed it.
He wasn't talking like a man planning to run.
He was talking like a man preparing for war.
I opened the next file.
A list of names.
One was crossed out.
Victor.
Another.
My father.
Another.
A name I didn't recognize.
Elias Kane.
I knew that name.
A former financial adviser.
He had disappeared after Luca vanished.
I called an old contact.
“Find Elias Kane.”
Two hours later, I had an address.
A cabin in Vermont.
I flew there that night.
The cabin door was unlocked.
Inside sat an elderly man.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Eyes that looked exhausted.
He stood when he saw me.
“You're Sebastian.”
“Yes.”
“You look like your mother.”
I ignored that.
“Where is my brother?”
Elias closed his eyes.
“You don't know.”
“Then tell me.”
“Luca is alive.”
The room tilted.
I grabbed the table.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Then what do you know?”
Elias sat.
“Luca was taken.”
“By Victor?”
“No.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
I stared.
“My father?”
“He had him held.”
“Why?”
“Because Luca discovered what your father had built.”
I thought about the empire.
“You mean the criminal side?”
“Not that.”
Elias looked directly at me.
“The inheritance.”
“What inheritance?”
“The Vale trust.”
I knew nothing about a trust.
Elias explained.
Years ago, my grandfather had created a private family trust.
It contained shares, properties, and an encrypted account worth more than the visible value of the family business.
But there was a condition.
The trust could not be activated without both brothers' biometric signatures.
Mine.
Luca's.
If one brother disappeared, the assets remained frozen.
“That doesn't explain why my father kept Luca.”
“He needed both of you.”
“But Luca disappeared.”
“Because someone tried to kill him.”
“Who?”
Elias whispered:
“Your father.”
I felt sick.
“Why would he kill his own son?”
“Because Luca refused to sign.”
I stepped back.
“What was he trying to sign?”
“A transfer.”
“To who?”
“The company.”
“For what price?”
“Nothing.”
I didn't understand.
Elias leaned toward me.
“Your father wanted to transfer control to a private consortium.”
“Who?”
“The Meridian Group.”
I had heard that name.
A financial alliance that owned investment firms, transportation companies, construction companies, and private equity funds.
The public called them investors.
My father knew them as something else.
A powerful network that bought weakened businesses.
And destroyed families that refused to sell.
“Did my father work for them?”
“No.”
“He sold to them?”
“No.”
Elias shook his head.
“He fought them.”
Then he gave me another document.
A list of payments.
Money had moved into accounts connected to politicians, regulators, police officials, and media companies.
The Meridian had been trying to take control of our family for years.
My father resisted.
Luca discovered the plan.
Then disappeared.
“So why would Victor help them?”
“He didn't.”
I stared.
“Then what?”
“Victor was helping Luca.”
I froze.
That made no sense.
“Your security chief is not the man you think he is.”
“You just said he didn't betray us.”
“He took Claire because someone else was coming.”
“What?”
Elias stood.
“Listen carefully.”
“Where is my family?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With Victor.”
My pulse slowed.
“Then why was he hiding?”
“Because if Victor openly protected them, The Meridian would know.”
I remembered the note.
You're already too late.
Maybe it wasn't Victor's message.
Maybe it was a warning.
A phone rang.
Elias looked at it.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
His face changed.
“Who?”
He listened.
Then handed me the phone.
I heard Emma's voice.
“Uncle Sebastian?”
I closed my eyes.
“Emma, where are you?”
“I'm with Uncle Victor.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where is your mommy?”
“She is here.”
My heart loosened.
Then Emma whispered:
“Daddy came.”
I stopped breathing.
“Who?”
“Daddy.”
The call ended.
I looked at Elias.
“Luca.”
He nodded.
“He found them.”
The impossible had become real.
My brother was alive.
But before I could leave, Elias grabbed my arm.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“He's not the only one who survived.”
“Who else?”
May you like
Elias looked terrified.
“Your father.”
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