Chapter 13 - THE PERSON HIDING INSIDE WHITMORE HOUSEThe video continued playing.
Nobody in the security room moved.
Nobody spoke.
The message remained on every screen inside Whitmore House.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE, NAOMI.
Then the camera angle changed.
The library appeared.
The room where generations of Whitmore family members had stored their most valuable documents.
Private records.
Business contracts.
Family secrets.
And standing in the center of that room…
Was someone Naomi knew.
Someone she had trusted.
Someone who had been part of her peaceful life.
Naomi’s eyes narrowed.
“No…”
Ethan looked at her.
“You know them?”
The screen flickered.
The person slowly turned toward the camera.
And Naomi felt her stomach drop.
It was Daniel Cross.
The man who had exposed her identity during the engagement party.
The man who claimed he recognized her from her old life.
The man who had acted shocked when he saw her again.
But now he was standing inside the Whitmore library.
After midnight.
With the entire security system under his control.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Is he one of your people?”
Naomi didn’t answer.
Because she was trying to understand.
Daniel had been one of the few people from her past she respected.
A professional.
A protector.
Someone she believed understood the weight of that life.
But the image in front of her told a different story.
“He was there that night.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What night?”
“Philadelphia.”
The room became silent.
Naomi stared at the screen.
“He wasn’t supposed to be involved.”
The video continued.
Daniel stepped closer to the camera.
His voice came through the speakers.
“Hello, Naomi.”
Everyone froze.
Because he wasn’t speaking to the security team.
He wasn’t speaking to Ethan.
He was speaking directly to her.
“You always were good at disappearing.”
Naomi walked closer to the monitor.
“Daniel.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You can talk to him?”
Naomi ignored the question.
“What do you want?”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“There she is.”
The calm voice.
The controlled expression.
The person Naomi remembered.
But something was different.
“You spent years pretending you were done.”
Daniel continued.
“You changed your name.”
Naomi frowned.
“I never changed my name.”
“You changed your life.”
A pause.
“You convinced yourself that cleaning rooms and making tea would erase what happened.”
Naomi’s jaw tightened.
“It doesn’t concern you.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
The screen changed.
A document appeared.
Whitmore Development files.
Financial records.
Private contracts.
Ethan immediately recognized them.
“How did he get those?”
Naomi looked at the screen.
“He’s not working alone.”
Daniel leaned toward the camera.
“Do you know what I found interesting, Naomi?”
She said nothing.
“You always believed you were protecting people.”
The words hit her.
“But you never asked who was protecting you.”
Naomi’s expression changed.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel smiled.
“Philadelphia wasn’t an accident.”
Silence.
The sentence felt like a weapon.
Naomi stopped breathing for a moment.
“What?”
Ethan looked at her.
Naomi barely heard him.
Daniel continued.
“The attack was planned.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Naomi shook her head.
“The investigation proved otherwise.”
“The investigation proved what powerful people wanted it to prove.”
Her hands slowly tightened.
Because this was the one possibility she had never allowed herself to consider.
That night.
The mission.
The failure.
The death.
Maybe she had been blaming herself for something she never caused.
“You’re lying.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“Am I?”
The screen changed again.
A photograph appeared.
A meeting.
Several people sitting around a table.
One face stood out.
Victor Kane.
Another face appeared.
A face Naomi recognized immediately.
Her heart stopped.
Because it belonged to someone connected to Whitmore House.
Someone she saw every day.
The screen went black.
The lights returned.
Everyone stood frozen.
Ethan turned toward Naomi.
“Who was that?”
Naomi didn’t answer.
Because she was thinking about every conversation.
Every interaction.
Every moment she had ignored.
Then she whispered:
“Someone close.”
The next morning, Whitmore House was surrounded by investigators.
Ethan had increased security.
Nobody entered without authorization.
Nobody left without being questioned.
The mansion that once represented elegance now felt like a battlefield.
Vanessa arrived furious.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
She looked around.
“What is going on?”
Ethan turned.
“Someone hacked our systems.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
But Naomi noticed something.
A small reaction.
A brief movement.
Vanessa looked nervous.
Not confused.
Nervous.
Naomi watched her carefully.
And old instincts whispered.
There was more.
Later that afternoon, Naomi found Vanessa alone.
“You knew something.”
Vanessa immediately became defensive.
“Excuse me?”
“You looked scared when you heard about the attack.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
Naomi stepped closer.
“You have been trying to destroy me for weeks.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“And now you accuse me?”
“I’m asking.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You think everyone is your enemy.”
“No.”
Naomi looked at her.
“I think everyone has something to hide.”
That sentence stayed with Vanessa.
Because she did.
But not what Naomi thought.
That evening, Ethan found new information.
A hidden account.
A secret transaction.
Money moved through a company connected to Whitmore Development.
And the person approving the transfers…
Was someone inside the family.
Ethan stared at the document.
“No.”
Naomi looked at the name.
Her expression changed.
Because the truth was worse than she expected.
The person helping Victor Kane…
Was not a stranger.
It was someone who had been protecting the Whitmore name for years.
May you like
Someone everyone trusted.
Someone nobody suspected.
