Chapter 1

I drove back to the hotel with my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My heart was still racing from what had just happened. I kept checking the rearview mirror every few seconds, half-expecting to see someone following me.

When I finally reached the hotel, I went straight up to the presidential suite and locked the door behind me. Only then did I allow myself to breathe.

I sat on the edge of the bed, still holding the USB drive Lena had given me. My mind was spinning with everything she had told me:

My mother had been murdered.
My uncle — Adrian Langford — who I didn’t even know existed, was alive and working against me.
Powerful people on the board and close to my father were involved.
And someone very close to me might be a traitor.

I felt like the ground beneath my feet was crumbling.

I plugged the USB drive into my laptop and began going through the files. There were hundreds of documents — old emails, financial records, photographs, and even scanned letters. Lena had clearly spent years collecting this information.

One folder caught my attention immediately. It was labeled “Elena – Protect at all costs.”

Inside were several documents and a video file.

I opened the video first.

It was footage from a security camera, dated five years ago — the year my mother died. The video showed my mother getting into her car outside a restaurant. She looked over her shoulder several times, as if she knew she was being watched.

Then, a black car pulled up behind hers.

Two men got out.

The video cut off right before anything happened, but it was clear enough. My mother had been followed. And whoever was in that black car had almost certainly been involved in her death.

I felt tears sting my eyes, but I forced them back. Now wasn’t the time to cry. Now was the time to understand.

I opened another file — a scanned letter written by my mother, dated just two weeks before her death. It was addressed to my father.

Richard,

If something happens to me, I need you to promise that you will protect Elena. She doesn’t know the truth yet, and I hope she never has to. But if they come for her the way they came for me, you must tell her everything.

Victor Lang is not the only threat. There are others — people we once called family. Adrian is alive. He has been watching us for years. And Thomas… Thomas is not who he pretends to be.

Please, protect our daughter. She is stronger than both of us, but she will need help.

I love you.
Always,
Isabella

I stared at the letter, my heart pounding.

Thomas…

Thomas Reed. My father’s most trusted advisor. The man who had been like an uncle to me since I was a child.

My mother had suspected him.

I felt sick.

I kept reading through the files until I found something that made my blood run cold.

It was a photograph of Thomas Reed meeting with Adrian Langford in a private restaurant. The photo was dated only eight months ago.

They were working together.

I closed the laptop and stood up, pacing the room. My mind was racing.

Thomas Reed — the man my father trusted more than anyone — was working with my uncle. The same uncle who wanted to destroy me.

And my mother had known.

She had tried to warn my father, but he hadn’t believed her. Or maybe he had chosen not to see it.

I sat back down and picked up my phone. I wanted to call my father right away and tell him everything. But then I remembered Lena’s warning:

Don’t tell anyone — not even your father.

I hesitated.

Could I really trust my own father?

I didn’t know anymore.

Instead, I called Richard.

“I need you to do something for me,” I said as soon as he answered. “I need you to look into Thomas Reed. Quietly. I want to know every meeting he’s had in the past year, every transaction, every person he’s been in contact with.”

Richard was quiet for a moment.

“Elena… Thomas has been with your father for over twenty years. Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure,” I said. “And Richard… don’t tell my father. Not yet.”

Richard sighed.

“Alright. I’ll start looking into it tonight. But Elena, be careful. If Thomas is really involved, then you’re in more danger than we thought.”

After I ended the call, I sat in silence for a long time.

The weight of everything was crushing me.

My mother had been murdered.
My uncle wanted me destroyed.
My father’s most trusted advisor might be a traitor.
And someone out there was still threatening me.

I felt more alone than I had ever felt in my life.

My phone buzzed again.

Another message from the unknown number.

You met with Lena tonight. That was brave.

But bravery won’t save you.

They already know you have the files. And they’re coming for you.

Tonight.

I stood up immediately.

My heart was pounding.

I quickly grabbed the USB drive and hid it in a different place — inside a book on the shelf. Then I checked the locks on the door and windows.

I didn’t know who “they” were, but I wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

I called hotel security and asked them to increase the guards around the presidential suite. I also asked them to monitor anyone trying to access my floor.

Then I sat on the bed with my phone in my hand, waiting.

Hours passed.

Nothing happened.

But the silence felt dangerous.

Around 3 a.m., I finally started to relax a little. Maybe the message had just been another attempt to scare me.

I was about to lie down when I heard a soft sound outside my door.

Footsteps.

I froze.

The footsteps stopped right in front of my suite.

I quietly got up and moved toward the door, trying not to make any noise. I looked through the peephole.

There was a man standing outside. He was wearing a hotel staff uniform, but I didn’t recognize him. He was holding something in his hand — a small envelope.

He slipped the envelope under the door and walked away.

I waited a few seconds before picking it up.

Inside was a single piece of paper with a short message written on it:

You should have listened.

Now it’s too late.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

Before I could react, I heard another sound.

This time, it came from the balcony.

I turned around slowly.

The curtains were drawn, but I could see a shadow moving behind them.

Someone was out there.

I grabbed my phone and was about to call security when the balcony door suddenly opened.

A man stepped inside.

He was tall, dressed in all black, and wearing a mask that covered the lower half of his face. In his hand, he held a gun.

I froze.

“Don’t move,” he said calmly. “And don’t scream.”

I stared at him, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

The man didn’t answer. Instead, he took another step forward.

“I was sent to deliver a message,” he said. “But I was also told that if you resisted… I could do whatever I wanted.”

He raised the gun slightly.

“Sit down.”

I slowly sat on the edge of the bed, never taking my eyes off him.

The man reached into his jacket and pulled out another envelope. He tossed it onto the bed beside me.

“Open it.”

I picked up the envelope with shaking hands and opened it.

Inside was a single photograph.

It showed my father.

He was sitting in his office, talking to someone. The photo had clearly been taken from outside the building with a long-range lens.

But that wasn’t what made my blood run cold.

What made me freeze was the person sitting across from him.

It was Thomas Reed.

And in the corner of the photo, there was a timestamp from just two hours ago.

My father was still meeting with Thomas. Even after everything.

The man in black spoke again.

“Your father is not as innocent as you think. He’s known about Adrian for years. He’s known about everything. And he chose to stay quiet.”

I looked up at the man, my voice barely steady.

“Why are you telling me this?”

The man tilted his head slightly.

“Because I was told to give you one last chance. Walk away. Give up Langford Holdings. Disappear. If you do that, you and your father might be allowed to live.”

He took another step closer.

“But if you keep fighting… then both of you will die. And it won’t be quick.”

I stared at him, my fear slowly being replaced by something else.

Anger.

I stood up slowly.

“Get out,” I said.

The man seemed surprised by my tone.

“What?”

“I said get out,” I repeated, louder this time. “And tell whoever sent you that I’m not going anywhere. And I’m not giving up.”

The man stared at me for a few seconds.

Then he smiled under the mask.

“You really are your mother’s daughter,” he said. “She said the same thing before she died.”

He turned and walked back toward the balcony.

Just before he stepped outside, he looked back at me one last time.

“See you soon, Elena.”

Then he disappeared into the night.

I stood there, shaking, for a long time.

When I finally moved, I picked up my phone and called Richard.

“Richard,” I said the moment he answered, “I need you to do something for me. Right now.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to look into my father,” I said. “Everything. His meetings, his finances, his connections to Thomas Reed and Adrian Langford. I want to know if he’s been hiding things from me.”

Richard was quiet for a moment.

“Elena… are you sure about this?”

“I’ve never been more sure,” I said. “Someone just broke into my room and threatened me. They told me my father has been lying to me. I need to know if it’s true.”

Richard sighed.

“Alright. I’ll start looking into it immediately. But Elena… be extremely careful. If your father is involved, then you might not be safe even in your own hotel.”

After I ended the call, I sat on the bed and stared at the photograph the man had left behind.

My father and Thomas Reed, meeting in secret.

I didn’t want to believe it. But I couldn’t ignore the evidence anymore.

Everything was falling apart.

My mother had been murdered.
My uncle wanted me dead.
My father might be working with them.
And someone had just broken into my room to threaten me.

I felt completely alone.

But I also felt something else.

Determination.

I wasn’t going to let them win.

I wasn’t going to let them take everything my mother had built — everything I was trying to rebuild.

I stood up and walked over to the window.

Outside, the city lights were still glowing.