Chapter 2 - THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOR
Nobody moved.
Not even Charles.
The man standing in the doorway looked like someone who had walked out of a nightmare.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
Lucien stared at him.
His blood ran cold.
“Uncle Adrian?”
Ava buried her face against Lucien’s chest.
She had never seen the man before.
But Lucien had.
Everyone in the Vale family had.
Adrian Vale.
Charles’s younger brother.
The man who disappeared twelve years ago.
The man everyone believed was dead.
Charles’s expression finally cracked.
For the first time that night, he looked afraid.
“Impossible,” Charles whispered.
Adrian smiled.
“That’s what you wanted everyone to believe.”
The room exploded with whispers.
People stepped backward.
Phones came out.
Cameras started recording.
Lucien didn’t care.
His focus stayed on Adrian.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked around the room.
Then at Charles.
“Because someone had to come back and tell the truth.”
Charles stepped forward.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Adrian laughed softly.
“Still the same.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you still think you control every person in the room.”
Lucien looked between them.
“What happened twelve years ago?”
Neither man answered.
That scared him more than anything.
Because secrets were always louder than words.
Adrian reached into his coat.
Several people immediately reacted.
Lucien moved in front of Ava.
But Adrian only pulled out a small black device.
“A recording.”
Charles’s face changed.
“No.”
Lucien noticed.
“You know what that is.”
Charles didn’t answer.
Adrian pressed the button.
A voice filled the room.
Charles.
Younger.
Colder.
“If Lucien refuses to cooperate, we use his weakness.”
A pause.
“What weakness?”
A second voice answered.
“A child.”
Lucien stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“His daughter will bring him back.”
Ava squeezed Lucien’s hand.
“Daddy?”
Lucien couldn’t speak.
His eyes slowly moved toward Charles.
“You planned this before tonight.”
Charles looked away.
That was the answer.
Lucien stepped closer.
“You used my daughter.”
Charles finally snapped.
“I protected this family!”
“No.”
Lucien’s voice shook with anger.
“You protected yourself.”
Before Charles could respond, the entire building shook.
A loud explosion came from outside.
Glass shattered.
People screamed.
The lights flickered.
Adrian looked toward the windows.
“They found us.”
Lucien grabbed Ava.
“Who?”
Adrian looked at him.
“The people your father made a deal with.”
Another explosion.
Closer.
Adrian’s face turned serious.
“And now they’re here to collect.”
The council doors slammed shut.
Then locked.
Someone outside whispered:
“Lucien Vale.”
A pause.
“We know you’re inside.”
Lucien tightened his grip on Ava.
The voice continued.
May you like
“Bring us the girl.”
And every person in the room went silent.
