Chapter 12 - THE FAMILY ABOVE THE FAMILY
The message remained on every screen.
NO ONE LEAVES UNTIL THE DEBT IS PAID.
The words were simple.
But they carried a warning.
Someone was watching.
Someone was listening.
Someone had enough power to take control of the Beaumont estate without entering the building.
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“Who are they?”
Daniel didn’t answer immediately.
That scared Marcus more than anything.
Because Daniel had faced dangerous people before.
But this was different.
This time Daniel looked uncertain.
“They call themselves The Circle.”
Claire frowned.
“The Circle?”
Daniel nodded.
“A group of people who have controlled businesses, governments, and private organizations for decades.”
Marcus looked at the documents.
“And the Beaumonts?”
Daniel looked at Vivienne.
“They are not leaders.”
“They are employees.”
Everyone in the room reacted.
Even Preston.
Because apparently…
even Preston Beaumont had not known everything.
Vivienne looked furious.
“You should not have said that.”
Daniel smiled.
“Why?”
“Because now everyone knows.”
Vivienne stepped forward.
“You have no idea what you started.”
Marcus interrupted.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You started this.”
The security system suddenly activated again.
A voice came through the speakers.
Unknown.
Distorted.
Male.
“Marcus Reed.”
Everyone froze.
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
“Who are you?”
The voice laughed softly.
“You have your father’s courage.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Because nobody mentioned his father.
Not anymore.
The voice continued.
“That is why we watched you.”
Claire looked confused.
“Watched him?”
The voice answered.
“For years.”
Marcus felt anger rise.
“You threatened my family.”
“No.”
The voice replied.
“We tested your family.”
Marcus stared.
“My daughter was not a test.”
A pause.
Then the voice said something that made the entire room freeze.
“Your daughter was never supposed to find the documents.”
Claire went pale.
Marcus immediately looked at her.
“What documents?”
The voice continued.
“The documents your father hid before he died.”
Marcus froze.
His father.
A secret.
Another secret.
Another buried truth.
The voice laughed.
“You thought Daniel Cross was the beginning.”
“It was not.”
“It was the middle.”
The screens changed.
A photograph appeared.
An old photograph.
Marcus looked at it.
And his entire body went cold.
Because the photograph showed his father.
Standing beside Vivienne Beaumont.
Thirty years earlier.
Claire looked at him.
“Dad?”
Marcus couldn’t answer.
Because he had spent his entire life believing his father was an honest man.
A good man.
A man who hated corruption.
But now…
he was seeing him connected to the very family he was fighting.
The voice spoke one final time.
“The truth you are searching for…”
A pause.
“Is the truth your own family buried.”
The screens went black.
Nobody moved.
Marcus stared at the photograph.
Daniel looked at him carefully.
“Marcus.”
Marcus barely heard him.
Because one terrifying thought had entered his mind.
What if the Beaumonts were not the only family hiding secrets?
What if his own bloodline was part of the reason Claire suffered?
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And what if saving his daughter meant destroying everything he believed about himself?
:::
