Chapter 4 - The Blood Inside The Walls
The first gunshot shattered every assumption I had about my family.
For thirteen years, I believed the enemy was outside the walls of Vale Global.
A competitor.
A rival organization.
Someone who wanted our money.
But as I stood inside the darkness of the boardroom, listening to bullets tear through the executive floor, I understood something far worse.
The enemy had never been outside.
He had been sitting at our table.
“Everyone down!”
Mateo’s voice exploded through the security system.
The council members dropped behind the massive wooden table.
Victor Vale remained standing.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Everyone else was afraid.
Victor wasn’t.
Not because he was brave.
Because he already knew what was happening.
I grabbed his jacket and pulled him down just as another bullet ripped through the glass wall behind him.
The old man hit the floor beside me.
For a second, we looked at each other.
The man I suspected of destroying my brother.
The man I had spent my entire life respecting.
And the man who might now be the only person who knew why Luca died.
“Who is attacking us?”
I demanded.
Victor said nothing.
That silence told me more than an answer would have.
“You know.”
His eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what you just stepped into, Sebastian.”
I almost laughed.
“My brother disappeared for thirteen years.”
Another shot echoed.
“My family lied to me.”
I leaned closer.
“And now someone is trying to kill Luca’s daughter.”
My voice dropped.
“So forgive me if I’m done being kept in the dark.”
The emergency lights turned on.
Red shadows covered the room.
Mateo appeared through the security door with six armed guards.
“Everyone is alive.”
He looked at me.
“But we have a problem.”
“What?”
Mateo hesitated.
“The shooter escaped.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“He had executive clearance.”
The room became silent.
Again.
Another person inside.
Another betrayal.
Victor slowly stood.
“You’re finally seeing it.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“The Vale family isn’t fighting an enemy.”
He adjusted his suit.
“We’re fighting a disease.”
---
The investigation began immediately.
Every security camera in the building was reviewed.
Every employee record was checked.
Every access point was locked.
But the result was impossible.
The shooter had entered using a valid identity.
A person who had worked for Vale Global for twenty years.
A person who had attended family dinners.
A person who knew every secret hallway.
His name was Richard Hale.
Victor’s personal advisor.
And he had vanished.
“Find him.”
I said.
Mateo nodded.
“We already started.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Find him before the police do.”
Mateo understood.
The police would ask questions.
We needed answers.
---
That night, I returned to the underground residence.
Clara was waiting.
The moment she saw my face, she knew.
“What happened?”
I looked at Emma sleeping on the couch.
“She was right.”
Clara froze.
“Who?”
“Luca.”
I walked toward the window.
“He wasn’t running from enemies.”
I turned back.
“He was running from family.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For bringing this back into your life.”
I looked at her.
“Clara.”
She looked up.
“If you hadn’t come here, my brother’s daughter would still be hiding.”
A pause.
“And I would still be living with a lie.”
For the first time, Clara allowed herself to cry.
“He loved you.”
I looked away.
“Then why didn’t he come to me?”
Her answer was quiet.
“Because he was protecting you.”
Those words hurt.
Because they sounded exactly like Luca.
Always protecting everyone.
Even when nobody protected him.
---
The next morning, Daniel Cross decrypted the drive.
The information inside was worse than we expected.
Luca had discovered something called Project Wolf.
A hidden operation created by the Vale Council.
The purpose?
To remove anyone who threatened the council’s control.
Not competitors.
Not enemies.
Family members.
The names were listed.
One after another.
Young heirs.
Executives.
People who had suddenly disappeared.
People whose deaths had been explained away.
My hands went cold.
“How long?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Decades.”
I stared at the files.
“My father knew?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
But his silence was enough.
Another betrayal.
Another wound.
The Vale family had not been built only on success.
It had been built on secrets.
May you like
And blood.
---
