CHAPTER 6 — Betrayed From Within
CHAPTER 6 — Betrayed From Within
The first gunshot echoed through the estate.
The second came much closer.
Glass shattered somewhere downstairs.
Then came the unmistakable sound of boots pounding across hardwood floors.
"They're inside!"
Victor's voice cut through the darkness.
Every instinct screamed the same command.
Protect the twins.
Claire was already moving.
She scooped up our daughter while I lifted our son into my arms.
The babies immediately began crying.
"Follow me!" Victor shouted from the hallway.
Emergency lights flickered on, bathing the corridor in a dim red glow.
Not enough to illuminate the house—
Just enough to cast long, ominous shadows.
Victor pressed his thumb against what looked like an ordinary wooden wall.
A hidden panel slid open with a low mechanical hum.
Behind it was a narrow concrete staircase leading underground.
"Go!" he ordered.
Claire hurried down first, clutching our daughter to her chest.
I followed with our son.
Halfway down, I looked back.
Victor remained at the entrance.
"Aren't you coming?"
"In a minute."
"What are you doing?"
"I need to close the security doors."
The panel slid shut before I could argue.
The underground corridor was unlike anything I expected.
Concrete walls.
Steel doors.
Backup generators humming softly.
Rows of surveillance monitors.
This wasn't just a panic room.
It was a bunker.
Claire looked around in disbelief.
"You built this?"
Victor's voice crackled through an intercom.
"I built it after your father was murdered."
I froze.
My father...
Murdered?
I had always been told he died in a boating accident.
Claire looked at me.
"You didn't know?"
I slowly shook my head.
"No..."
She closed her eyes.
"Oh, Ethan..."
Before she could explain—
Every monitor suddenly came alive.
Camera feeds from throughout the estate filled the screens.
Masked men flooded the first floor.
Not three.
Not five.
At least twelve.
Each carried military-grade weapons.
One detective's earlier words echoed in my mind.
Professionals.
Victor appeared on one of the monitors.
He stood alone in the grand foyer.
Calm.
Hands in his pockets.
The attackers surrounded him.
Their leader removed his mask.
Gray hair.
Scar across his left cheek.
Cold eyes.
Victor sighed.
"I wondered when you'd finally show yourself."
The man smiled.
"Thirty years is a long time to wait."
"I've always been patient."
"So have I."
The stranger glanced around the empty foyer.
"Where's the family?"
Victor shrugged.
"Safe."
The man's smile disappeared.
"We'll find them."
"No."
Victor smiled for the first time.
"You won't."
The stranger raised his pistol.
"I can always make you tell me."
Victor laughed.
"You've never understood me."
"I'd rather die."
The gunman stepped closer.
"So be it."
He pulled the trigger.
Click.
Nothing happened.
Confusion flashed across the attacker's face.
Victor smiled wider.
"You should've checked your ammunition."
Suddenly—
Smoke erupted throughout the foyer.
Blinding white smoke.
The attackers shouted in confusion.
Emergency steel barriers slammed down from the ceiling.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The invaders were split into separate sections of the mansion.
"They're trapped!" Claire whispered.
Victor's voice came through the intercom again.
"Only temporarily."
Then every monitor began showing a different hallway.
The attackers regrouped with astonishing speed.
"They know the layout," I said.
Victor answered immediately.
"Yes."
"Too well."
A knot formed in my stomach.
"What are you saying?"
Silence.
Then Victor spoke quietly.
"They had help."
Before I could ask—
One monitor caught my eye.
Someone wearing a security uniform was walking calmly through a restricted hallway.
He used a keycard.
The locked doors opened instantly.
No alarms.
No resistance.
Victor saw it too.
His face darkened.
"No..."
Claire looked at the screen.
"Who is that?"
The camera zoomed automatically.
The man's face became clear.
My breath caught.
I recognized him.
"That's..."
The words barely came out.
"That's Daniel."
My former executive assistant.
The same man my mother had trusted with changing my phone number after the divorce.
The same man who supposedly handled Claire's letters.
The same man who always claimed he was protecting my interests.
Victor cursed under his breath.
"It was him."
Everything suddenly connected.
The missing phone calls.
The vanished letters.
The failed office visits.
The attackers always knowing where Claire had gone.
Every road had led to one person.
Daniel.
He hadn't simply intercepted our messages.
He had orchestrated our separation from the very beginning.
Claire covered her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
I felt physically sick.
"He knew she was pregnant."
Victor nodded grimly.
"He knew everything."
As if hearing us, Daniel looked directly into one of the security cameras.
Then...
He smiled.
Slowly, deliberately...
He raised a small remote control.
Victor's expression changed instantly.
"No!"
He reached toward his radio.
"Everyone evacuate the west wing!"
Too late.
Daniel pressed the button.
A deafening explosion ripped through the estate.
The bunker shook violently.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
Lights flickered.
Some of the monitors went black forever.
Claire lost her balance, nearly dropping our daughter.
I caught her just in time.
"What did he do?"
Victor stared at the damaged screens.
"He destroyed the server room."
Another explosion followed.
Closer this time.
Emergency lights failed.
Only battery-powered lamps remained.
Victor's voice became urgent.
"They've cut us off."
"No cameras."
"No communications."
"No outside help."
For the first time since I'd met him...
Victor looked genuinely worried.
Then one final monitor flickered back to life.
Daniel stood alone in front of the camera.
He removed his earpiece.
Looked straight into the lens.
And spoke only six words.
"I already have Margaret Carter."
My blood turned to ice.
May you like
My mother...
Had never made it into the bunker.
