Chapter 7: The Enemy Written in His Own Name
Dominic Vale had faced enemies before.
He had faced competitors who tried to destroy his companies.
Investors who tried to force him out.
Partners who smiled during negotiations while preparing betrayal behind closed doors.
He knew what enemies looked like.
They usually stood across from him.
They rarely carried his name.
But the letter on the table changed everything.
His father's handwriting.
His father's warning.
And his own name written at the bottom like an accusation.
For several seconds, Dominic simply stared.
No one spoke.
Not Marcus.
Not Vincent.
Not Dr. Harris.
Not even Clare.
The silence was heavier than any argument.
Finally, Marcus broke it.
"What does it say?""
Dominic didn't look up.
"You don't get to ask.""
Marcus's expression tightened.
"Dominic.""
"No.""
His voice was calm.
Almost too calm.
"You have spent weeks hiding information from me.""
Dominic folded the letter.
"You don't get to be curious now.""
Marcus looked away.
That reaction told Dominic more than words could.
His brother wasn't surprised.
He was worried.
And that was the difference.
"Vincent.""
"Yes, sir.""
"Tell me everything.""
Vincent nodded slowly.
But before he spoke, Dominic noticed something.
The security chief looked older.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like he had been carrying something too heavy for too long.
"After your accident," Vincent began, "I found evidence that someone inside Vale Industries had been preparing for a leadership transfer.""
Dominic listened.
"I thought it was Marcus.""
Marcus immediately turned.
"You thought?""
Vincent looked at him.
"I suspected.""
"And now?""
Vincent didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Dominic continued.
"What changed?""
"Daniel Rowan.""
The name pulled Clare's attention.
Vincent looked at her.
"He discovered financial records that weren't supposed to exist.""
"Connected to my father?""
Vincent nodded.
"Your father started Project Continuity twenty years ago.""
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"No.""
The word came instantly.
Not anger.
Denial.
"My father died before that.""
"He started it before he died.""
Dominic stared.
"What was it?""
Vincent took a breath.
"Your father believed every powerful company eventually became vulnerable because one person held too much control.""
Dominic looked at the letter.
"He wanted a successor plan.""
"Yes.""
"A backup.""
"Yes.""
Dominic laughed once.
A bitter sound.
"So my father created a plan to replace me?""
Vincent shook his head.
"No.""
The answer was immediate.
"Then explain.""
Vincent looked at him.
"Your father created a plan to protect the company if something happened to you.""
Dominic's expression remained cold.
"And someone changed it.""
"Yes.""
The room went quiet.
Dominic understood.
The original purpose wasn't the problem.
Someone had taken something designed as protection and turned it into a weapon.
"Who had access?""
Vincent looked toward Marcus.
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
"I didn't.""
Dominic watched him.
"You always answer before I ask.""
Marcus stopped.
A mistake.
Again.
Vincent continued.
"After your father died, only three people knew about Project Continuity.""
"Who?""
"Your father's lawyer.""
"Dead.""
"Yes.""
"His financial adviser.""
"Retired.""
"And?""
Vincent hesitated.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"And?""
Vincent looked at the letter.
"Your mother.""
The room changed.
Dominic froze.
His mother had died when he was twenty-four.
Before he built his empire.
Before Vale Industries became what it was.
Before he learned how to hide every emotion behind control.
"She knew?""
Vincent nodded.
"She was the one who asked your father to create it.""
Dominic looked confused.
"Why?""
"Because she was afraid of what would happen if you became like him.""
Nobody spoke.
The sentence landed differently.
Dominic had spent his life believing his father was a ruthless businessman who cared more about power than people.
A man who left behind a company but not warmth.
Now, suddenly, every piece of his history felt uncertain.
"What does that have to do with my name?""
Vincent looked at the letter.
"Your father wrote that message after someone accessed the original Project Continuity documents.""
Dominic unfolded the paper again.
The words looked different now.
If you are reading this, it means the people closest to you have already chosen a side.
"Who accessed them?""
Vincent's answer came quietly.
"Someone using your authorization.""
Dominic looked up.
"My authorization?""
"Your digital signature.""
A chill moved through him.
"Impossible.""
Vincent nodded.
"That's what Daniel discovered.""
Clare stepped forward.
"My husband found this?""
"Yes.""
"What happened to him?""
Vincent looked down.
"He was going to bring the evidence to Dominic.""
Clare's face changed.
"Then why didn't he?""
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew.
Daniel never got the chance.
Later that evening, Dominic sat in his office with the door locked.
The manor had never felt so unfamiliar.
The walls.
The furniture.
The security systems.
Everything he had built to protect himself suddenly felt like it belonged to someone else.
A knock came.
He expected Vincent.
Instead, Clare entered.
"Shouldn't you be upstairs?""
She closed the door behind her.
"Shouldn't you be resting?""
Dominic looked at her.
"I'm not very good at that.""
"I noticed.""
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Clare placed something on the desk.
A small notebook.
Dominic looked at it.
"Where did you get that?""
"Ellie.""
His expression changed.
"She had it?""
Clare nodded.
"She found it hidden inside the lining of her backpack.""
Dominic opened it.
Daniel Rowan's handwriting filled the pages.
Repair notes.
Dates.
Names.
Observations.
Near the middle was a page with a single sentence.
*"The problem is not who wants Dominic gone. The problem is who wants him alive but controlled.""*
Dominic read it twice.
Clare watched him.
"Your world is dangerous.""
He looked up.
"Your husband knew that.""
"Yes.""
"And he still got involved.""
She nodded.
"Because that's who he was.""
Dominic looked back at the notebook.
"He was trying to help me.""
"He was trying to stop them.""
A pause.
Then Clare said:
"There's something else.""
Dominic looked at her.
"What?""
"Before Daniel died, he told me something.""
"What?""
"He said if anything happened to him, I should find the one person who couldn't be bought.""
Dominic frowned.
"Who?""
Clare looked toward the door.
Toward the hallway where Ellie slept.
"I thought he meant someone powerful.""
She looked back.
"But he didn't.""
Dominic waited.
"He meant someone honest.""
The answer surprised him.
"Who?""
Clare smiled sadly.
"Ellie.""
Dominic almost smiled.
Almost.
"Your daughter?""
"Daniel always said children notice what adults train themselves not to see.""
The words reminded him of Ellie.
The brace.
The hidden mechanism.
The thing nobody looked at.
A small person seeing a big problem.
Dominic closed the notebook.
"Why did you come to work here?""
Clare hesitated.
Then answered.
"Because I needed money.""
He waited.
"But also because Daniel left one final instruction.""
"What instruction?""
She looked directly at him.
"Find Dominic Vale.""
The room went silent.
Dominic felt a strange pressure in his chest.
"Why?""
"I don't know.""
"Clare.""
"I swear.""
She shook her head.
"Daniel never explained.""
Dominic looked at the notebook again.
The dead mechanic.
The hidden evidence.
The warning.
Everything led back to him.
Not his money.
Not his company.
Him.
His phone suddenly buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
Dominic opened it.
A photograph appeared.
His face changed.
It was a picture of Ellie sleeping.
Taken moments ago.
Underneath was a message.
*"Stop looking for answers.""*
A second message appeared.
*"Or the next person who disappears won't be Daniel Rowan.""*
Dominic stood so quickly the pain in his leg almost dropped him.
Clare saw the screen.
Her face turned white.
"Oh my God.""
Dominic was already moving.
"Vincent.""
The security chief appeared instantly.
"What happened?""
Dominic handed him the phone.
Vincent's expression changed.
"How did they get this?""
Dominic looked toward the stairs.
Toward his home.
Toward his family.
"They didn't get into the house.""
Vincent looked confused.
"Then how?""
Dominic's eyes moved slowly across the room.
Across the cameras.
The security system.
The people he trusted.
"They were already inside.""
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every security monitor in the office turned on at the same time.
A single video began playing.
A man appeared on the screen.
Older.
Gray hair.
A face Dominic had not seen in twenty years.
His father.
The recording was dated two days before his death.
Dominic stepped closer.
His father's voice filled the room.
"Dominic, if you're seeing this, then I failed.""
The video paused.
Then his father continued.
"And the person who betrayed me is the same person who will betray you.""
Dominic stared.
Because before the recording ended, his father said one final sentence.
A sentence that revealed the truth behind Project Continuity.
"The enemy was never outside the family.""
The screen went black.
Then one name appeared.
The name of the person his father had feared most.
*Elijah Vale.*
May you like
Dominic's older brother.
A man everyone believed had died twenty years ago.
