Chapter 2 - The Man Who Should Be Dead
The elevator stopped outside my office.
Nobody moved.
The entire floor was silent.
My security team had surrounded the hallway.
Weapons ready.
But I gave one instruction.
No shooting.
Not yet.
Because whoever was coming up here had one thing no enemy should have had.
Luca’s access code.
The elevator doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Not a stranger.
Not an assassin.
Someone I recognized immediately.
Someone I thought I would never see again.
“Daniel.”
Mateo raised his weapon.
I lifted my hand.
“Lower it.”
Daniel Cross looked older than I remembered.
Thirteen years ago, he had been Luca’s closest security advisor.
The man who protected him.
The man who disappeared three days after Luca vanished.
Everyone believed Daniel had betrayed him.
Everyone believed he ran.
But now he stood in my building.
Alive.
Holding a small black case.
“Sebastian Vale.”
His voice was exhausted.
“I knew eventually you would find the truth.”
I walked toward him.
“You used Luca’s code.”
Daniel nodded.
“Because Luca gave it to me.”
My expression hardened.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He looked around.
“I expect you to see what’s inside this case.”
Mateo stepped forward.
“Sebastian, this could be a trap.”
Daniel looked at him.
“It is.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel continued.
“But not from me.”
He opened the case.
Inside was an old encrypted drive.
And a photograph.
I picked it up.
The moment I saw it, everything changed.
It was Luca.
Alive.
Holding a newborn baby.
Emma.
My fingers tightened around the picture.
“When was this taken?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Six years ago.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“Luca…”
Daniel nodded.
“He knew he was running out of time.”
I stared at the picture.
My brother was smiling.
A smile I hadn’t seen in thirteen years.
He looked peaceful.
Happy.
And that hurt more than anything.
Because it meant Luca had a life I never knew about.
A daughter I never protected.
A battle he fought alone.
“What happened to him?”
I asked.
Daniel looked away.
“Your brother discovered the truth about the council.”
“The truth?”
Daniel nodded.
“Vale Global wasn’t the target.”
He looked at Emma.
“She was.”
The drive contained years of information.
Financial records.
Encrypted messages.
Private recordings.
Everything Luca had collected before disappearing.
The biggest revelation was simple.
The attack against Luca wasn’t about power.
It was about inheritance.
The Vale family had a hidden trust.
Created over one hundred years ago.
A trust that controlled assets worth billions.
But only direct descendants could inherit it.
Luca was the rightful heir.
And now Emma was.
Someone had tried to remove both of them.
“Victor.”
I said the name quietly.
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because we both knew.
That night, I moved Clara and Emma into the underground residence beneath my penthouse.
A place nobody outside my security team knew existed.
For the first time in thirteen years, I slept with a weapon beside my bed.
Not because I was afraid.
Because someone had finally given me something worth losing.
At three in the morning, I found Emma sitting in the hallway.
She was holding her sketchbook.
“Why are you awake?”
She looked up.
“Daddy used to say bad dreams come when people forget the truth.”
I sat beside her.
“What truth?”
She opened the notebook.
On the last page was a message.
Written in childish handwriting.
But not written by her.
By Luca.
My breathing stopped.
The words were simple.
Sebastian.
If you are reading this, I failed.
My hands trembled.
Emma looked at me.
“Daddy said you would understand.”
I turned the page.
And read the rest.
Do not trust the council.
Do not trust anyone who tells you I died without showing you my body.
The person who betrayed me is someone we both loved.
I stared at the final sentence.
And my heart sank.
Because Luca had written one more thing.
May you like
One name.
Victor.
