CHAPTER 15 — THE TRAITOR WHO TRIED TO SAVE THEM
The gun was pointed at Elias Crane.
Not Damian.
Not Hazel.
Not Victor.
Elias.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Because the man they believed was the traitor…
was the only person standing against the real enemy.
---
Michael Voss stood at the end of the hallway.
His hand shook slightly.
The same man who had spent months planning Damian Russo’s downfall.
The same man who had betrayed the organization from the inside.
The same man Damian wanted dead.
Was now aiming a gun at the person who controlled everything.
Elias looked at him.
Not angry.
Almost disappointed.
“Look at you.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“What?”
“You finally grew a conscience.”
A pause.
“Twenty years too late.”
The words hit.
Because they were true.
---
Damian stared at Michael.
“Explain.”
Michael looked at him.
For the first time, there was no arrogance.
No manipulation.
Just exhaustion.
“I never wanted your empire.”
Damian laughed coldly.
“You tried to kill me.”
Michael lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“And I deserved to die for that.”
Nobody expected that answer.
Especially Damian.
---
Michael slowly lowered the gun.
Not because he trusted Elias.
Because he was tired.
“Twelve years ago, Elias came to me.”
Hazel watched him carefully.
“What did he want?”
Michael looked at her.
“The same thing he always wanted.”
A pause.
“Someone close to Damian.”
---
The hallway became silent.
Michael continued.
“Elias knew he couldn't control Damian directly.”
He looked at Damian.
“You were too stubborn.”
A bitter smile.
“So he created pressure.”
“Enemies.”
“Losses.”
“Doubt.”
Every word landed.
“He needed someone inside.”
Damian’s eyes narrowed.
“And that was you.”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
---
Damian walked closer.
The old anger returned.
“You killed people for him.”
Michael didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
“You betrayed everyone.”
“Yes.”
“You destroyed my family.”
Michael looked at Hazel.
His expression changed.
“Yes.”
The honesty was almost worse.
Damian grabbed his collar.
“You expect forgiveness?”
Michael looked directly at him.
“No.”
A pause.
“I expect nothing.”
---
Hazel stepped closer.
“Then why help us now?”
Michael looked at her.
Because that was the question nobody understood.
Why now?
Why after all the damage?
Why after all the lies?
Michael looked toward Elias.
“Because I finally realized something.”
A pause.
“He never wanted me to win.”
The hallway went quiet.
“He wanted me to become him.”
---
Elias smiled.
“Pathetic.”
Everyone looked at him.
He was calm.
Too calm.
“You think betrayal makes you different?”
He looked at Michael.
“You are exactly what I created.”
Michael’s face tightened.
“No.”
Elias tilted his head.
“No?”
Michael looked at Damian.
Then Hazel.
Then Victor.
“I made choices.”
A pause.
“Bad ones.”
Another pause.
“But they were mine.”
---
For the first time…
Elias looked annoyed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Hazel noticed.
And so did Damian.
Elias wasn’t angry when people fought him.
He was angry when people stopped being controlled.
---
The facility alarm suddenly changed.
A red warning light flashed.
Garrett looked at the system.
“Something’s wrong.”
Damian turned.
“What?”
Garrett’s face changed.
“The building is going into lockdown.”
Victor looked around.
“Elias?”
“No.”
Hazel stared at the screens.
Then whispered:
“Not Elias.”
Everyone looked at her.
She walked toward the monitor.
A security feed appeared.
The Apex Building.
Their headquarters.
Someone had entered.
Someone they knew.
Someone they trusted.
---
Damian watched the screen.
His expression hardened.
Because the person walking through his building wasn’t an enemy.
It was someone who had worked beside him for years.
Someone who knew every security code.
Every weakness.
Every secret.
Garrett whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
Damian said nothing.
Because he knew.
---
The person stopped in front of Damian’s office.
Looked directly at the camera.
And smiled.
Then spoke.
“You always were terrible at noticing the people closest to you.”
The voice was female.
Hazel froze.
Because she recognized it.
A voice from her childhood.
A voice she thought belonged to someone who disappeared forever.
Her mother’s voice.
Claire’s voice.
But Claire was standing beside them.
Alive.
Confused.
Terrified.
The woman on the screen smiled again.
And removed her hood.
---
Everyone froze.
Because there were two women who looked almost identical.
Two Claire Brooks.
Two versions of the same person.
One standing beside Victor.
One inside Damian’s office.
---
Victor stepped back.
Impossible.
“No…”
Hazel stared.
Her entire world stopped.
“Mom?”
The woman on the screen smiled.
“No, sweetheart.”
A pause.
“I’m not your mother.”
She looked directly at Hazel.
“I’m the reason your mother had to disappear.”
---
Nobody spoke.
Then Elias laughed.
Not loudly.
Not happily.
Like someone who had been waiting years for this moment.
Damian looked at him.
“You knew.”
Elias smiled.
“Of course.”
A pause.
“Because the biggest secret was never about Damian Russo.”
His eyes moved toward Hazel.
“It was about who created Hannah Brooks.”
---
Hazel slowly looked at the screen.
The woman smiled.
And said the words that destroyed everything she believed.
“You were never trained to protect Damian.”
May you like
A pause.
“You were trained to kill him.”
