Chapter 2 A name buried in the Ashes

Three days later...

The country had already moved on.

News channels no longer spoke about the victims.

Instead, every broadcast repeated the same thing.

"𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱."

"𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗔𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀."

Lucien switched off the T.V. Before the reporter could finish.

The room fell silent.

He sat in an abandoned apartment on the outskirts of the city. The curtains remained shut, leaving only a faint beam of sunlight come into the room.

For three days...

He hadn't spoken.

He hadn't eaten.

He simply stared at the silver ring resting in his palm.

His mother's last gift.

Then came a knock.

"It's me," Elias said.

Lucien unlocked the door.

Elias entered carrying a paper bag filled with groceries and medicine. His bullet wound was healed, but he was still having trouble walking.

"You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"You said that yesterday also."

Lucien looked away.

"Starving yourself won't bring them back."

Elias sighed.

"No."

"But revenge requires someone alive."

Silence filled the room.

After a few minutes, Lucien finally picked a bottle of water.

It wasn't much, but enough to satisfy Elias.

The old man placed a folder on the table.

"I found this."

Lucien frowned.

"What's this?"

"Everything I could gather before the police sealed the Veritas Mansion."

Lucien immediately opened the folder.

Inside were photographs.

Financial reports.

Board meeting records.

List of company shareholders.

Nothing unusual.

Until a photo caught his attention.

It was taken in a charity gala six months ago.

His father stood in the center smiling for the camera. Around him were many influential buisness leaders.

He recognized every face...

Except one.

A tall man wearing a black suit stood slightly behind the others.

His face was partially hidden.

Yet everyone else seemed to be watching him instead of the camera.

"Who is he?"

Elias leaned closer.

"I don't know," he frowned seeing the photo. "He wasn't invited."

Lucien flipped the photo over.

Behind the photo was, in his father's writing was written something.

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

Lucien's heartbeat quickened.

His father had noticed him.

Which meant...

He was connected to everything.

Elias opened another folder.

"I also found this."

He slid a pen drive across the table.

"The one your father left."

Lucien inserted the pen drive into an old laptop.

For sometime the screen remained black.

Then...

A message appeared.

𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗭𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗗𝗘.

Lucien frowned.

"I don't know the password."

"What about your birthday?"

Lucien typed it.

𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗗.

His father's birthday.

Denied.

Company's founding date.

Denied.

Nothing worked.

Frustrated, Lucien slammed the laptop shut.

"There has to be another way!"

Elias stared at the ring thoughtfully.

"The ring."

Lucien looked down.

"The ring?"

"Your father designed it himself."

Lucien removed it.

Inside the band...

Tiny numbers were engraved.

119023

He typed them.

The screen unlocked instantly.

They both stared in disbelief.

Dozens of folders appeared.

Security footage.

Bank transactions.

Audio recordings.

Private emails.

But...

One folder was highlighted in red.

𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦... 𝗥𝗨𝗡

Lucien clicked it.

The screen flickered.

His father's face appeared.

It wasn't a business interview.

He looked exhausted.

His tie was loose.

He had dark circles under his eyes.

If anyone saw this recording, they would know he had been living in fear.

He looked directly into the camera.

"𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛... 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠..."

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖'𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦."

Lucien's eyes filled with tears.

Hearing his father's voice felt unreal.

"𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦."

"𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑒."

"𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠."

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠... 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠... 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑤 𝑒𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡."

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠..."

The screen glitched.

Static covered the screen.

The recording froze.

Then disappeared.

A single message replaced it.

𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗨𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗗

"No..." Lucien whispered.

"No!"

He tried opening it.

Nothing.

The remaining data had been erased.

He clenched his fists.

"They destroyed it..."

Elias stared at the screen.

"Not all of it."

Lucien looked up.

"What?"

"The beginning survived," he told him. "It means your father wants you to know one thing."

Lucien took a deep breath.

"They are much bigger than the Veritas Group."

Elias nodded.

"And they know how to erase evidence."

Lucien slowly closed the laptop.

His expression changed.

The grief was still there...

But something else had taken his place.

Purpose.

"They'll find me."

Elias understood immediately.

"What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm going to disappear."

"For how long?"

Lucien looked towards the city from the window.

"As long as it takes."

"When I'll come back..."

"... They won't recognize me."

Outside the rain had finally stopped.

But the people responsible for destroying the Veritas family had no idea...

That the boy they had failed to kill had just declared war.

 ---

Lucien closed the laptop slowly.

His father's last message echoed in his mind.

Who were those people?

And why had they destroyed the Veritas family?

Elias walked towards the window and carefully pulled the curtains aside.

"There are two SUVs parked on the street since morning."

Lucien's expression hardened.

"They found us."

"I'm afraid so."

Without wasting time, Elias unplugged the laptop and placed it into the backpack.

"Take only what you need."

"What about you?" Lucien asked.

Elias smiled faintly.

"I've protected the Veritas family my whole life."

"I'm not backing now."

...****************...

Fifteen minutes later...

The apartment door burst open.

Armed officers marched inside.

"Clear every room!"

"Search everything."

But the apartment was empty.

The officer picked up a photograph lying on the table, showing the Veritas family together and smiling.

"They escaped."

A man standing behind the officer removed his gloves.

Unlike other officers, he was wearing a charcoal-grey suit instead of the uniform.

His face remained calm.

Almost emotionless.

He glaced at the family photo before putting it back on the table.

"So..."

"The boy is smarter than I expected."

An officer bowed.

"Should we continue searching for him, sir?"

The man smiled.

"No."

"He has nowhere to go."

"Eventually..."

"He'll come looking for us."

Without saying anything else, the man turned and left.

...****************...

A bus headed towards the northern countryside sped along the highway.

Lucien sat at the back, wearing a black hoodie and a baseball cap covering his face.

For the first time in his life...

No one recognized him.

Behind him, Elias unfolded a road map.

"We're going somewhere safe."

Lucien stared out the window.

"Where?"

"To a friend of your father."

"I thought father trusted no one."

"He didn't, but there was one exception."

Lucien looked at him.

"Who?"

"A man named 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐬."

"He retired years ago."

"What does he do now?"

Elias folded the map.

"He owns a small bookshop."

Lucien frowned.

"A bookshop?"

"You'll understand when you meet him."

...****************...

Later that evening.

The bus stopped at a quiet mountain town.

Unlike the busy capital, the streets here were peaceful.

Children played outside despite the chilly weather.

No one knew who Lucien was.

For the first time in his life...

Lucien felt invisible.

They both stopped in front of a modest two-story shop.

A wooden board hanging on top said:

𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬.

The lights were still on.

Elias knocked three times.

Nothing happened.

He knocked two more times.

Several seconds later...

The door opened.

An elderly looking man came out with neatly combed gray hair, looking at them on the rim of their glasses.

Then his settled on Lucien.

For a long time he didn't said anything.

Then he sighed.

"So..."

"Adrian couldn't protect you after all."

Lucien's heart skipped a beat.

"You know my father?"

Victor stepped aside.

"I knew your father long before he became the CEO of Veritas Group."

"Come inside."

As the door closed behind them, Lucien noticed something unusual.

The bookstore wasn't just filled with books.

One wall was covered with newspaper clippings.

Another displaced photo's of powerful CEO's, Judge's and Politicians.

Each photograph had handwritten notes beside it.

Some names were crossed out.

Others were circled in red.

Lucien looked at Victor.

"What is all this?"

The old man removed his glasses.

"Its a record."

"A record of people whose lives were ruined by the same people who destroyed your family."

Lucien's pulse quickened.

"You know who they are?"

Victor nodded.

"I've been hunting them for 23 yrs."

He walked towards a locked cabinet and removed a thick black file.

Dust covered its surface.

Across the front, written in silver letters, was one word;

𝗢𝗕𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡

Victor remained silent for a long time before opening the file.

Inside were dozens of photographs.

Some showed businessman.

While, others showed some politicians.

A few newspapers clipping about mysterious company bankrupt, disappearances and unexplained deaths.

Victor placed one photo in front of Lucien.

It was Damien Cross.

"Your father's Chief Financial Officer."

Lucien's eyes narrowed.

"He betrayed us."

Victor nodded.

"He gave Obsidian access to Veritas Group's internal system. Without him, they couldn't have destroyed your family so easily."

Lucien's grip tighten around the silver ring.

"So... He's the reason my parents are dead."

"No," Victor corrected quickly.

"He's only the first domino."

Victor quickly turned pages.

At the top was a single word.

𝗢𝗕𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡

"They aren't a company, they are a network."

"Powerful businessman, politicians, investors... They are the one who control everything from the dark."

"They erase evidences."

Lucien stared at the file without saying a word.

Everything makes sense now.

The lies.

The fire.

The media.

The police.

It had all been planned.

Victor closed the file.

"If you chase them now, you'll be dead before you even reach Damion."

Lucien lowered his head.

His reflection simmered in the silver ring on his finger.

"I'm not strong enough..."

"Not yet," Victor replied.

"But you can become strong enough."

The room fell silent.

Finally, Lucien stood.

"I'll disappear."

Victor looked at him.

"When I return..."

"Lucien Veritas will no longer exist."

...****************...

𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.

The headquarters of 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 buzzed with excitement.

Employees lined the lobby as luxury cars pulled up one after another.

Today's meeting was important.

A mysterious young businessman had arrived to discuss a billion-doller partnership.

The elevators flew open.

A tall man stepped out wearing a perfectly tailored black suit.

His black hair was neatly styled.

His expression was calm.

Cold.

Unreadable.

No one recognized him.

Not a single employee realized...

That the heir they had failed to kill Six years back had just walked back into their lives.

Lucien smiled faintly as he looked at the company logo.

"𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯."

𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑶𝑭 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 2

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