The reporter was dead.
And somehow…
that no longer felt shocking enough.
The ballroom had descended into complete chaos now.
Police everywhere.
Guests leaving in panic.
Security shouting over reporters still trying to force their way closer.
But I stood frozen beside Daniel, staring at the detective.
“The body was found where?” Daniel asked carefully.
The detective hesitated briefly.
Interesting.
He looked nervous around Richard Hart.
Very nervous.
“In the underground parking structure,” he finally answered.
Richard’s expression didn’t change.
Not even slightly.
That terrified me more than panic would have.
The detective continued carefully:
“There appears to have been an altercation.”
Evelyn crossed her arms tightly beside me.
“Of course there was.”
Daniel looked exhausted now.
Not guilty.
Not manipulative.
Exhausted.
Like someone watching a nightmare repeat itself.
I suddenly remembered something Evelyn said earlier:
“Your mother tried to take me with her the night she died.”
The reporter.
My mother.
The break-in.
None of these people were random anymore.
Patterns were forming.
And I was starting to hate the shape of them.
The detective looked directly at me.
“There’s something else.”
My stomach tightened instantly.
He lifted a plastic evidence bag slowly.
Inside it was a shattered phone.
The reporter’s phone.
Daniel’s expression darkened immediately.
“What was on it?”
The detective hesitated again.
Bad sign.
Very bad sign.
Then quietly answered:
“A video.”
The ballroom seemed to disappear around me again.
A video.
Of what?
The detective looked uncomfortable now.
“We haven’t recovered the full file yet.”
“But?” I asked sharply.
He swallowed.
“There was enough audio left to identify one sentence.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The detective looked directly at Richard Hart.
Then repeated the sentence quietly:
“She knows about Madrid.”
Silence.
Total silence.
Richard’s face hardened instantly.
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
And Evelyn?
Evelyn looked genuinely afraid for the first time.
Not cautious.
Not tense.
Afraid.
My pulse accelerated violently.
Madrid.
The safe deposit box.
The key.
Someone knew.
Which meant:
someone had been watching us tonight.
Daniel suddenly grabbed my wrist again.
“Sophia, we’re leaving.”
This time I didn’t fight immediately.
Because suddenly the ballroom no longer felt dangerous.
It felt exposed.
Open.
Like prey standing under stadium lights.
Richard stepped forward coldly.
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Daniel snapped toward him instantly.
“She’s not staying here either.”
The tension between them changed again.
Not family tension.
War.
Real war.
And somehow I realized something terrifying:
Daniel genuinely believed his father might be involved in this.
The detective’s radio suddenly crackled loudly.
Then another officer rushed toward him quickly.
Urgent expression.
“They recovered another file.”
Everyone froze again.
The officer handed over a tablet.
The detective looked at the screen.
Then visibly paled.
Oh my God.
“What?” I whispered.
Nobody answered immediately.
Then slowly…
the detective turned the screen toward me.
Security footage.
Grainy.
Dark underground garage.
The reporter arguing with someone.
The image quality was terrible, but one detail was unmistakable.
The man wore a Hart Global security jacket.
The reporter shoved him.
The man grabbed her arm.
Then—
the footage suddenly cut out.
My breathing stopped completely.
Richard looked furious now.
“That footage is incomplete.”
The detective looked uncomfortable again.
“Yes, sir.”
Sir.
Not Mr. Hart.
Sir.
I noticed Daniel noticed it too.
And suddenly I understood something horrifying:
Richard didn’t just control corporations.
He controlled people.
Police.
Security.
Information.
Maybe even investigations.
Daniel looked at the detective sharply.
“Who authorized the footage removal?”
Silence.
The detective wouldn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Evelyn stepped closer to me immediately.
“You need to disappear tonight.”
“No,” Daniel said instantly.
Both turned toward each other.
And suddenly I realized:
they hated each other.
Not jealousy.
Not romance.
Distrust.
Deep distrust.
Evelyn looked at Daniel coldly.
“You already failed once.”
The sentence hit him hard.
Really hard.
Daniel’s face changed instantly.
Pain.
Real pain.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Because suddenly it sounded like:
someone else died under his protection before.
I stared between them carefully.
“What does that mean?”
Neither answered.
Of course.
Always more secrets.
Then suddenly my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Everyone noticed immediately.
Slowly, I answered.
Silence.
Then a distorted male voice whispered: