CHAPTER 12 — THE HOUSE OF LIES
The road disappeared beneath a curtain of rain.
Alexander drove faster.
Elena sat beside him, staring through the windshield.
She had barely spoken since they left.
Finally, Alexander broke the silence.
“How long were you held there?”
Elena swallowed.
“Twelve years.”
Alexander's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Twelve years?”
“They moved me from place to place. But that house was where it started.”
“Who kept you there?”
Elena looked at him.
“Veronica.”
Alexander's jaw clenched.
“I'll kill her.”
“No.”
Elena grabbed his arm.
“If you lose control, Sofia loses her only protection.”
Alexander forced himself to breathe.
The navigation announced:
Destination reached.
He slowed.
Ahead stood an enormous Victorian house surrounded by iron fencing.
No lights.
No cars.
No signs of life.
But Alexander knew better.
Someone was inside.
He stopped the car.
Daniel and Margaret arrived seconds later.
Alexander turned to them.
“Stay here.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“This is about my daughter too.”
Alexander looked at him.
“She is my daughter.”
Daniel held his gaze.
“And she's the reason Elena survived.”
Elena stepped between them.
“Enough.”
She pointed toward the house.
“Sofia is inside.”
Alexander immediately moved toward the gate.
It opened before he touched it.
He froze.
Daniel whispered,
“They want us to enter.”
Alexander looked at Elena.
She nodded.
“They always did.”
They walked toward the front door.
It opened by itself.
Inside, the house smelled of dust and old perfume.
Alexander's eyes moved across the room.
A chandelier.
A grand staircase.
Portraits.
And one enormous photograph hanging above the fireplace.
It showed Elena.
Pregnant.
Alexander stopped.
“When was this taken?”
Elena stared at it.
“The week before Sofia was born.”
Alexander looked closer.
There was something written beneath the photograph.
THE HEIR IS COMING.
He felt sick.
“Who took this?”
Elena whispered:
“Veronica.”
Suddenly, a child's voice came from upstairs.
“Daddy!”
Alexander ran.
“SOFIA!”
Elena followed.
They reached the second floor.
A hallway stretched in both directions.
Sofia screamed again.
“Daddy!”
Alexander followed the sound.
He burst into a bedroom.
Empty.
A speaker on the wall crackled.
Then Veronica's voice filled the room.
“You came.”
Alexander turned.
“Where is my daughter?”
“She is safe.”
“Let me see her.”
A screen mounted on the wall turned on.
Sofia appeared.
She was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
Alexander's heart nearly stopped.
“Daddy!”
“I'm here!”
Sofia began crying.
“Please don't leave me.”
“I won't.”
Veronica's voice returned.
“Bring me the original trust.”
Alexander shouted:
“I don't have it!”
“You have access to it.”
“How?”
“Your grandfather left the authorization with you.”
Alexander frowned.
“What authorization?”
Veronica laughed.
“You really don't know.”
Elena suddenly stepped forward.
“Veronica!”
The screen changed.
Veronica appeared.
She was sitting behind a desk.
Her hair was disheveled.
But her expression was calm.
“Elena.”
“You're finished.”
“No.”
Veronica smiled.
“I'm finally free.”
Alexander stared at her.
“You murdered my wife.”
Veronica looked at Elena.
“I didn't.”
Elena's face hardened.
“You helped them.”
“I helped myself.”
Alexander stepped toward the screen.
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I protected her.”
“You call this protection?”
Veronica's smile vanished.
“You think Sofia is your daughter.”
“She is.”
“You think Elena is her mother.”
“She is.”
“You think you're entitled to the Voss fortune.”
Alexander said nothing.
Veronica leaned closer to the camera.
“You are wrong about all three.”
Elena went pale.
Alexander turned toward her.
“What is she talking about?”
Elena whispered,
“She has the final file.”
Veronica smiled.
“Yes.”
She held up a black folder.
“Everything you believed is inside here.”
Alexander stared.
“Open it.”
Veronica shook her head.
“Not until you bring me the trust.”
“Where?”
“The museum.”
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
“Why there?”
“Because that's where your grandfather kept the original records.”
Alexander looked at Elena.
She shook her head.
“Don't go.”
Veronica laughed.
“She knows why.”
Alexander turned toward her.
“What?”
Elena finally whispered:
“The museum has a vault.”
Alexander stared.
“What is inside?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“The truth about Sofia's birth.”
Veronica smiled.
“And the identity of the person who ordered Elena's death.”
Alexander's blood ran cold.
He looked at the screen.
“You're going to tell me who?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Veronica leaned back.
“Bring the trust.”
“Then you'll tell me?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You'll see for yourself.”
The screen went black.
Alexander immediately turned to Elena.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Elena looked devastated.
“I wanted to protect you.”
“By lying?”
“I was terrified.”
“Of whom?”
Elena looked toward the hallway.
Then she whispered:
“Of your father.”
Alexander froze.
“My father is dead.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Your father didn't die twelve years ago.”
Alexander's face went blank.
“He was the one who arranged my disappearance.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Then who was buried in his place?”
Elena looked at him.
“I don't know.”
A loud metallic sound came from downstairs.
The front door slammed shut.
Then the house lights turned on.
Every window was covered by steel shutters.
Alexander looked around.
They were trapped.
A speaker crackled above them.
Veronica's voice whispered:
“Welcome home, Alexander.”
The staircase behind them suddenly locked.
Then every door in the hallway clicked shut.
Elena grabbed Alexander's hand.
“Don't move.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the end of the corridor.
“Because this house has cameras everywhere.”
Alexander stared at the dark hallway.
“And someone is watching us right now.”
A red light appeared above the door.
A camera turned toward them.
Then a man's voice came through the speaker.
Not Veronica's.
Not Richard's.
Not Daniel's.
A voice Alexander had heard only in childhood.
Deep.
Cold.
Familiar.
“Hello, son.”
Alexander stopped breathing.
Elena closed her eyes.
Sofia screamed from the monitor.
“Daddy!”
The voice continued:
“It's time you finally learned the truth.”
Alexander stared at the speaker.
His father's voice.
The man who had supposedly been dead for twelve years.
And then the screen switched on again.
His father appeared.
Alive.
May you like
Smiling.
With Sofia sitting beside him.
