She touched Daniel's face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
A knock sounded.
"Come in."
Richard entered.
He was holding a glass of whiskey.
"She's found the archive."
Victoria slowly turned.
"What?"
"Thomas helped her escape."
Victoria's face lost its color.
"Where is she?"
"Probably with that journalist."
Victoria placed the photograph on the table.
"Richard, this has gone too far."
He laughed bitterly.
"Too far? It went too far when you decided to let our son die."
Victoria slapped him.
Richard barely moved.
"Don't pretend you weren't part of it."
She stepped backward.
"I never wanted Daniel dead."
"But you gave the order."
Victoria began crying.
Richard approached her.
"Listen to me carefully. Tomorrow morning, Evelyn will be declared a threat to national security. By the end of the week, nobody will believe anything she says."
"And if she releases the files?"
Richard smiled.
"Then we'll make sure she never gets the chance."
He walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he turned around.
"One more thing, Victoria."
She looked at him.
"Your daughter isn't the only one who survived that night."
Victoria froze.
Richard closed the door.
And for the first time in eighteen months, Victoria began screaming.
At 6:15 the following morning, Evelyn received a message from an unknown number.
There were only seven words.
Your mother wants to meet you alone.
Beneath the message was an address.
An abandoned hotel on the outskirts of the city.
Evelyn stared at her phone.
James stood beside the kitchen counter, reading through the documents Daniel had left behind.
"Absolutely not," he said.
She looked up.
"You don't even know what I was going to say."
"I know that you're considering meeting a woman who may have helped arrange your disappearance."
"She's my mother."
"That's exactly why she's dangerous. She knows how to manipulate you."
Evelyn slipped her phone into her jacket.
"Daniel mentioned her in the recording. She knows what happened that night. I need answers."
James closed his laptop.
"Then we go together."
"The message specifically says alone."
"People who want you to come alone usually have a reason."
Thomas, who had been sitting silently near the window, finally spoke.
"He's right. Victoria never does anything without a plan."
Evelyn looked at him.
"You said you worked for my family for fifteen years. Did you know my mother was involved?"
Thomas lowered his eyes.
"I knew she was afraid of your father. I didn't know how far she had gone until Daniel died."
"Why did you stay?"
"My wife was sick. Your father paid for her treatment. He made sure I understood that my family's survival depended on my loyalty."
Evelyn studied him.
"Then you know what it feels like to owe everything to people who destroy your life."
Thomas nodded.
"Yes."
She took a deep breath.
"I'm going to meet her. But you can follow me from a distance."
James reluctantly agreed.
The abandoned hotel had once been one of the most luxurious buildings in the city.
Now its windows were broken, its entrance covered in dust, and its faded sign barely visible from the road.
Evelyn parked outside at exactly seven o'clock.
She entered through the main doors.
The lobby smelled of damp wood and old furniture.
A single lamp was burning near the reception desk.
"Victoria?"
Her voice echoed through the empty building.
A woman appeared at the top of the staircase.
Victoria Ashford.
She was not wearing her usual designer clothes. Her hair was tied loosely behind her head, and dark circles surrounded her eyes.
For the first time, she looked like an ordinary mother.
Not a wealthy businesswoman.
Not a powerful public figure.
Just a frightened woman.
"Evelyn."
Evelyn did not move.
"Why did you ask me to come?"
Victoria descended the staircase slowly.
"I needed to speak to you without your father knowing."
"Then start talking."
Victoria looked at her daughter's uniform.
"You look so much like Daniel."
Evelyn's expression hardened.
"Don't use his name to avoid answering my questions."
Victoria flinched.
"You're right."
She reached into her handbag and removed a photograph.
It was old, slightly damaged, and folded in half.
Evelyn took it.
Her hands began to tremble.
The photograph showed four people standing in front of a military transport vehicle.
Victoria.
Richard.
General Marcus Hale.
And a young woman in uniform.
Evelyn.
But the photograph had been taken years before her disappearance.
On the back was a handwritten note.
The family that built the operation.
Evelyn stared at the image.
"Why am I in this photograph?"
Victoria sat on an old sofa.
"Because your father began preparing for your deployment long before you joined the military."
"What are you talking about?"
"Richard wanted someone inside the military who could provide access to transportation records and supply routes. He believed that having a daughter in uniform would make certain things easier."
Evelyn felt sick.
"Are you saying he encouraged me to enlist because he wanted to use me?"
Victoria nodded.
"I tried to stop him."
"But you didn't."
"I was afraid."
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
"That's all you ever say."
Victoria began crying.
"I know you hate me."
"Hate you? I spent eighteen months wondering whether you were still alive. I imagined you crying for me. I imagined you visiting my grave. I thought you missed me."
She stepped closer.
"Instead, you knew exactly where I was being sent."
Victoria covered her face.
"I didn't know you would disappear."
"Did you know I would be attacked?"
"No."
"Did you know Daniel would die?"
Victoria began sobbing.
"I didn't want that to happen."
Evelyn grabbed the photograph.
"Then tell me what happened."
Victoria remained silent for almost a minute.
Then she began speaking.
"Two years ago, Daniel discovered that your father was moving money through a network of private companies. He found evidence of illegal weapons shipments, secret military contracts, and payments to government officials."
Evelyn listened without interrupting.
"He came to me first. He begged me to convince Richard to stop. I promised I would."
"But you didn't."
"No. I confronted your father, and he told me that if the investigation became public, everyone would lose everything."
"Everyone?"
"Our family. The company. The people who depended on us."
Victoria looked down.
"Your father said he had spent thirty years building an empire. He refused to let Daniel destroy it."
Evelyn's hands tightened.
"What happened the night Daniel died?"
Victoria wiped her cheeks.
"Daniel arranged to meet a journalist. He had copies of the financial records and planned to hand them over."
"James?"
Victoria shook her head.
"No. Someone else."
"Who?"
"A woman named Catherine Wells. She worked for the government and had been investigating your father's company."