Chapter 8 - Room Seven
Private Room Seven had no windows and no furniture except a round table beneath an antique chandelier. Aurelia's manager, an elegant woman named Mina Torres, unlocked it without asking questions.
“Your father used this room,” Mina told Elena. “So did Adrian.”
“How long have you known?”
“Long enough to know that wealthy men lie badly when they are afraid.”
The brass key opened a wall panel. Behind it sat a narrow compartment containing a black notebook and a key card marked ARCHIVE.
Oliver opened the notebook. The first pages contained dates, initials, and numbers. The handwriting matched the note in the ledger.
“This is Voss's,” he said.
Elena stood close enough for her sleeve to brush his. “What does it say?”
“Payments to a private investigator. Surveillance on Adrian, Naomi, and my mother.”
Chloe took the notebook. “There are entries about me.”
Her joking tone disappeared.
The notebook named Chloe as an unauthorized heir and listed a date beside her birth. Elena read the line twice.
“You knew?” she asked.
Chloe shook her head. “I knew Adrian was my father. I didn't know the family had made a file to erase me.”
“He was your father?” Oliver asked.
“Adrian had an affair before he married Elena's mother. My mother signed an agreement to keep quiet. Adrian paid for my education but never acknowledged me publicly.”
Elena turned away. “I wondered why he always looked at you as if he owed you something.”
“He did,” Chloe said. “He just paid everyone except me.”
The archive key card led them to a concealed elevator below Aurelia. The walls were concrete, and old wine racks had been converted into server cabinets. Oliver found a file labeled PARKER, PETER.
Before he could open it, Elena's phone lit up. A message from her security director, Rafael Dunn: DO NOT TRUST PARKER. HE IS COMPROMISED.
Oliver saw the message. “Who is Rafael?”
“My head of security.”
“And what does compromised mean?”
“I don't know.”
“You always know more than you say.”
She stepped toward him. “I am trying to protect you.”
“By reading my messages?”
Elena went still.
Oliver held up his phone. “My device has been mirrored since the night we met. Chloe found the access trail.”
Chloe looked embarrassed. “I found it this morning.”
“You ordered it,” Oliver said to Elena.
“I ordered a security mirror for every device in the penthouse.”
“My phone was in the penthouse.”
“You were in danger.”
“That doesn't give you the right.”
“No.” Elena's voice fell. “It doesn't.”
The apology he wanted came too late to soften the betrayal.
“I am leaving,” Oliver said.
“The elevator is locked.”
“Then unlock it.”
She entered the code. The elevator doors opened, but the lights inside flickered.
On the server cabinet behind them, a green indicator began blinking. A file was transferring from the hidden system to an outside address.
Chloe ran to the console. “Someone is copying the archive.”
Oliver watched the progress bar race forward.
May you like
The final file name appeared on the screen before the system went dark.
ADRIAN VALE—CONFESSION.
