Chapter 10 — The Second Recording
Chapter 10 — The Second Recording
The second recording began with a sound.
Not a voice.
Not a gunshot.
A baby's heartbeat.
Slow.
Steady.
Alive.
Marcus stood motionless in the security room as the audio played through the speakers.
Khloe was beside him.
Victor stood behind them.
Detective Ruiz watched the monitor.
And Elena sat in silence, her hands trembling.
The recording had been recovered from a device nobody knew existed.
A backup hidden inside the original hospital camera system.
It had been created seven months earlier.
Before Isabella's attack.
Before the poison.
Before Marcus knew Alexander was alive.
Before anyone understood what was coming.
The recording began with a doctor's voice.
“Heartbeat is strong.”
A second voice answered.
“Good.”
Marcus's face tightened.
He recognized the second voice.
Alexander.
“Has she been told?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The doctor hesitated.
“And the father?”
“Marcus doesn't know.”
“Does he need to?”
“No.”
The recording continued.
“Then keep it that way.”
Khloe covered her mouth.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“Someone knew about our baby before we did.”
Elena whispered:
“That isn't the worst part.”
The recording continued.
The doctor spoke again.
“What happens after delivery?”
Alexander answered calmly.
“The child is transferred.”
“To where?”
“My facility.”
“And the mother?”
A pause.
“She's not part of the agreement.”
Khloe's eyes filled with tears.
Marcus's fists tightened.
“She was going to take our baby.”
“Yes,” Elena whispered.
The recording continued.
“But what if Marcus refuses?”
Alexander laughed softly.
“He won't.”
“Why are you certain?”
“Because he'll believe his wife is dying.”
The room went silent.
Marcus felt something cold settle in his chest.
The attack hadn't been designed merely to frighten him.
It had been designed to make him desperate.
Desperate enough to sign.
Desperate enough to surrender.
Then a woman's voice entered the recording.
Isabella.
Marcus looked at Khloe.
“No.”
Isabella's voice was shaking.
“You promised she wouldn't be hurt.”
Alexander answered:
“I promised she would survive.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
“Then I'm done.”
A chair scraped against the floor.
Isabella continued.
“I won't help you anymore.”
Alexander's voice became colder.
“You don't have a choice.”
“I do.”
“You think your brother is safe because you cooperate?”
Silence.
Then Isabella whispered:
“You said you wouldn't touch him.”
“I said I wouldn't kill him.”
Isabella began crying.
“What are you going to do?”
“Make him disappear.”
Marcus stared at the recording.
Victor whispered:
“That's why she protected Matteo.”
Khloe nodded slowly.
“She wasn't protecting Alexander.”
“She was protecting her brother.”
The recording suddenly distorted.
Static filled the speakers.
Then another voice appeared.
A man's voice.
Older.
Angrier.
Marcus froze.
His father's voice.
“Alexander, this ends tonight.”
Elena stood.
Her face became white.
“No.”
The recording continued.
Marcus's father spoke.
“You don't own my son.”
Alexander answered:
“I own the trust.”
“You own nothing.”
“I own everything.”
“No.”
A long pause.
Then Marcus's father said:
“Not anymore.”
A door slammed.
A gunshot followed.
Khloe gasped.
Marcus closed his eyes.
The recording stopped.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Detective Ruiz asked:
“Was that the night your father died?”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
Marcus turned toward her.
“You knew.”
“I heard the recording.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Marcus's voice broke.
“Everyone was afraid.”
Elena looked at him.
“Your father knew what would happen.”
“What?”
“He knew Alexander would come after you.”
Marcus stared.
“What did he do?”
Elena took a breath.
“He created a second trust.”
The second trust had never appeared in any official financial records.
It was created twelve hours before Marcus's father disappeared.
Its sole beneficiary was Marcus.
Its trustee was not Alexander.
Not Gabriel.
Not even Marcus's father.
It was Khloe's mother.
Marcus looked at Khloe.
“Your mother?”
Elena nodded.
“Your father trusted her because she was outside the Thorne family.”
Khloe stared.
“What did the trust contain?”
“Everything Alexander couldn't control.”
Marcus frowned.
“Money?”
“No.”
“Companies?”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“Evidence.”
The second trust contained recordings.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
Names.
Locations.
Medical records.
Everything Alexander had spent decades trying to erase.
And one file was marked:
DO NOT OPEN UNTIL MARCUS TURNS THIRTY-FIVE.
Marcus looked at the clock.
He had turned thirty-five nine months earlier.
“Why wait until thirty-five?”
Elena answered:
“Because your father believed that was the age when you would finally have enough power to survive the truth.”
Marcus opened the file.
A video appeared.
His father sat behind a desk.
He looked tired.
Older than Marcus remembered.
His eyes were red.
“Marcus,” he said.
Marcus couldn't breathe.
His father continued.
“If you're watching this, then I'm gone.”
Khloe moved closer.
The recording continued.
“I need you to understand something.”
He paused.
“I didn't abandon you.”
Marcus's eyes filled.
“I didn't choose the company over you.”
He looked down.
“I chose you over everything.”
Marcus whispered:
“Dad.”
His father's voice became softer.
“Alexander will tell you that the empire belongs to the family.”
He shook his head.
“It doesn't.”
“It belongs to whoever can protect the people inside it.”
The recording flickered.
Then his father said:
“There is a woman you must find.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Her name is Elena Vale.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Marcus looked at her.
The recording continued.
“She knows where your mother is.”
The screen went black.
Khloe looked at Elena.
“You knew where my mother was too.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Elena hesitated.
“She was in hiding with Marcus's mother.”
Marcus's face changed.
“They were together?”
“For years.”
“Where?”
Elena shook her head.
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because if I do, they'll be killed.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“They're already alive.”
“That doesn't mean they're safe.”
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It wasn't Marcus's.
Not Victor's.
Not Ruiz's.
It was Elena's.
She looked at the screen.
Her face went pale.
“It's her.”
“Who?”
“My sister.”
Khloe stared.
“Your sister?”
Elena answered.
A woman's voice came through.
“Don't tell them where we are.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Mom?”
Khloe whispered.
The voice continued.
“Alexander knows.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
Then the woman whispered:
“Chicago.”
Marcus frowned.
“Where?”
A pause.
“Under the old Thorne estate.”
The call ended.
Victor looked at Marcus.
“The old estate was demolished.”
“No,” Elena whispered.
“It wasn't.”
She looked terrified.
“It was never demolished.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
“The building was destroyed.”
She swallowed.
“But the underground facility remained.”
Victor immediately called his security team.
“Find the property records.”
Within minutes, they had them.
The estate had officially been demolished twenty-two years earlier.
But beneath the property was an underground structure.
Three levels.
Private power supply.
Water system.
Emergency exits.
The facility had been built by Alexander's father.
Marcus stared at the map.
“How many entrances?”
“Four.”
“Guarded?”
“Unknown.”
“Then we find out.”
That night, Marcus, Victor, Ruiz, Adrian, and Gabriel gathered outside the abandoned property.
Khloe remained in a secure location.
Marcus didn't want her anywhere near the operation.
He looked at Adrian.
“You're sure?”
Adrian nodded.
“This is where they kept me.”
Marcus turned.
“What?”
Adrian stared at the ruined estate.
“I spent six years underground.”
Marcus's expression changed.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought they were still watching.”
Victor looked toward the darkness.
“They probably are.”
They entered through a collapsed section of the basement.
The tunnel was narrow.
Wet.
Cold.
Adrian led the way.
“I remember this corridor.”
They reached a steel door.
Adrian stopped.
“This wasn't here before.”
Victor examined it.
“New lock.”
Gabriel smiled bitterly.
“Then we're close.”
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
Hundreds of recordings.
Photos.
Files.
Names.
Marcus stared.
His entire life was displayed on the walls.
His childhood.
His marriage.
His business.
Khloe.
Every hospital visit.
Every pregnancy appointment.
Every conversation.
Someone had been watching them for years.
Then Marcus noticed one screen.
A live feed.
Khloe.
Sleeping.
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“Where is she?”
Victor grabbed the radio.
“Security!”
No response.
Marcus turned.
“Call everyone.”
Then the lights went out.
A voice came through the speakers.
“Hello again, Marcus.”
Alexander.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Where is my wife?”
“You should be asking where your child is.”
Marcus froze.
The screen changed.
Khloe appeared.
She was still asleep.
But someone was standing behind her.
A man.
Gray hair.
Black suit.
Marcus recognized him.
His father's twin.
Thomas Thorne.
Marcus whispered:
“Where is she?”
Thomas smiled.
“Safe.”
“Touch her and—”
“You're in no position to threaten me.”
Marcus looked around.
The doors had locked.
Victor tried the controls.
Nothing.
Thomas continued:
“You found the second recording.”
Marcus stared at the screen.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because now you're ready for the truth.”
Thomas leaned closer.
“Your father didn't die.”
Marcus's heart stopped.
“What?”
“He survived.”
The room went silent.
Thomas continued:
“He has been alive for twenty-eight years.”
Marcus could barely speak.
“Where?”
Thomas smiled.
“Standing beside you.”
Marcus slowly turned.
Everyone was there.
Victor.
Ruiz.
Adrian.
Gabriel.
But one person was missing.
Elena.
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“Elena.”
The speakers crackled.
Thomas laughed.
“She was never the person you thought she was.”
Marcus stared at Gabriel.
Gabriel's face had gone white.
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“She wasn't protecting you.”
“She was protecting him.”
Marcus looked at Adrian.
Adrian stepped backward.
Marcus's voice shook.
“Adrian?”
Adrian said nothing.
Thomas smiled.
“Ask him who really ordered your father's death.”
Marcus stared at Adrian.
The man he had spent six years mourning.
The man he had just welcomed back.
Adrian's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't have a choice.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Answer me.”
Adrian whispered:
“I signed the order.”
Silence.
Khloe's live image remained on the screen.
Thomas smiled.
The trap had worked.
Not because Marcus had been captured.
Not because Khloe had been taken.
Because the truth had finally turned the people Marcus trusted against one another.
And somewhere in the darkness beneath the old estate, another recording began playing.
A recording Marcus had never heard.
His father's voice.
Saying one sentence:
“If Adrian ever comes back, don't trust him.”
May you like
Marcus stared at Adrian.
And for the first time since the nightmare began, he didn't know who was telling the truth.
