The night wind blew gently outside the safe house.
The sky above the city was dark and starless. The street in front of the small house was almost empty, only occasionally a car passed by with headlights cutting through the darkness for a few seconds before returning to silence.
Inside the house, the atmosphere was far from calm.
Daniel sat in front of his laptop with a serious face. His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard, tracing the access paths of the company server that someone had just tried to breach.
Ethan stood behind him with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Are they still trying to get in?" asked Ethan.
Daniel nodded without taking his eyes off the screen.
"A few minutes ago, yes."
"Now?"
"They've stopped."
Ethan frowned.
"Why did they stop?"
Daniel let out a short breath.
"Because they already got what they were looking for."
Those words made the atmosphere in the room grow heavier.
Victor Hale, who was sitting on the sofa, immediately straightened up.
"Did they find the Helios files?" his voice sounded panicked.
Daniel turned the laptop screen slightly so Ethan could see.
"Not all of them."
He pointed to the folder that had just been accessed.
"Only old archives related to Elena Ward's research."
Victor covered his face with his hands.
"This is bad… very bad."
Ethan looked at him.
"Why?"
Victor slowly lowered his hands.
"Because it means they already know you found that recording."
Daniel said coldly,
"It seems they've known from the start."
Ethan walked a few steps away from the desk.
His mind was racing.
If someone was trying to hack their server to find information about the Helios project, it meant one thing.
Someone inside the organization was starting to get worried.
And that person wanted to make sure all evidence of the past stayed buried.
Ethan stopped walking and looked at Victor again.
"Now you really have to talk."
Victor looked exhausted.
"How many times do I have to say you don't want to know?"
Ethan replied in a flat voice,
"Until you stop lying to yourself."
Victor stared at him for a few seconds.
Then he laughed softly, but without humor.
"You're a lot like your father."
Ethan immediately tensed up.
"Don't bring my father into this."
Victor shook his head slightly.
"He's been part of this from the very beginning."
Daniel turned away from his laptop.
"Explain."
Victor took a long breath.
"You want to know who ordered Elena Ward's murder that night?"
Ethan said softly,
"That's why we came looking for you."
Victor stared at the floor.
"But the one who gave the order wasn't the only one involved."
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
"There were others."
Victor nodded slightly.
"Several people."
He lifted his head and looked at Ethan.
"Including your father."
The room fell silent immediately.
Daniel stopped typing.
Ethan stared at Victor without blinking.
"Repeat that."
Victor swallowed.
"Your father was in the lab that night."
Ethan let out a short laugh.
"That's impossible."
Victor did not respond.
Daniel said softly,
"We shouldn't dismiss the possibility right away."
Ethan turned to him.
"Are you serious?"
Daniel spoke carefully,
"Ethan's father was one of the main investors in the Helios project."
Victor nodded.
"That's right."
Ethan clenched his fists.
"An investor isn't the same as a murderer."
Victor said quickly,
"I never said he killed Elena."
Ethan stared at him sharply.
"But you said he was there."
Victor lowered his head again.
"Yes."
Daniel closed his laptop.
"Then tell us everything."
Victor was silent for quite a while.
As if his mind was fighting with itself.
Finally he spoke softly,
"Twenty years ago, Elena Ward was close to completing Helios technology."
Ethan had heard that part before.
But this time Victor continued with different details.
"That technology could accelerate human cell regeneration."
Daniel said,
"Revolutionary medical therapy."
Victor shook his head.
"It was more than that."
He looked at Ethan.
"If used in a certain way, that technology could make the human body recover from wounds that should have been fatal."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"Like… making someone almost impossible to kill."
Victor did not answer.
But his expression was clear enough.
Daniel said softly,
"No wonder an organization like Helix wanted it."
Victor nodded.
"But Elena refused to give them the technology."
Ethan said,
"And they decided to take it by force."
Victor took a long breath.
"That night, several people came to the lab."
Daniel asked,
"Who were they?"
Victor closed his eyes briefly before answering.
"People from Helix."
He paused for a moment.
"Marcus Sterling was there."
Ethan did not look surprised.
"That was obvious."
Victor continued,
"But he wasn't the leader."
Daniel said,
"The same person who appeared in the video recording."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
Ethan asked,
"And my father?"
Victor opened his eyes.
"He arrived earlier."
Ethan held his breath.
"Why?"
Victor said softly,
"To try and stop them."
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"You mean he was trying to protect Elena?"
Victor nodded weakly.
"He knew Helix wanted to steal the technology."
Ethan said,
"Then he was on the right side."
Victor looked at him with a complicated expression.
"At first, yes."
Ethan frowned.
"What do you mean 'at first'?"
Victor lowered his head again.
"Because everything changed when that person walked into the room."
Daniel said softly,
"The leader of Helix."
Victor nodded.
"He came last."
Ethan asked,
"And then?"
Victor swallowed.
"He gave Elena one choice."
Daniel said,
"To hand over the Helios technology."
Victor nodded.
"But Elena refused."
Ethan said,
"And then they killed her."
Victor closed his eyes.
"Yes."
The room fell silent again.
Several seconds passed without anyone speaking.
Finally Ethan said in a lower voice,
"Who was that person?"
Victor slowly opened his eyes.
Fear was clearly visible on his face.
"Do you really want to know?"
Daniel replied,
"That's why we're all here."
Victor looked at them one by one.
Then he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper,
"That person wasn't just the leader of Helix."
Ethan waited.
Victor continued,
"He's the one who controls most of the shadow organizations in business and politics around the world."
Daniel said,
"The name."
Victor shook his head slightly.
"I can't."
Ethan stepped closer.
"You have to."
Victor looked at him desperately.
"If I say the name…"
He paused for a moment.
"…you'll all be dead."
Daniel said flatly,
"A risk we've already accepted."
Victor took a long breath.
But before he could speak
the sound of a car engine was heard from outside the house.
Ethan immediately turned to the window.
Car headlights illuminated the street in front of the safe house.
Daniel stood up quickly.
"This can't be a coincidence."
Victor immediately turned pale.
"They found us."
Ethan said coldly,
"Not necessarily."
But then the sound of a car door opening was heard.
Footsteps approached the house.
Daniel took a gun from the desk.
Ethan stood near the door.
Victor trembled on the sofa.
Someone knocked on the front door of the house.
Three soft knocks.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
Daniel whispered,
"Don't open it."
But from outside the door, a calm voice was heard.
The voice of an old man.
"Ethan."
Ethan immediately recognized it.
Leonard Graves.
Daniel looked at Ethan in confusion.
"What is he doing here?"
Ethan did not answer.
Leonard's voice was heard again from outside the door.
"I know Victor Hale is inside."
Victor immediately looked like he was about to faint.
Leonard continued in a casual tone,
"And if you really want to know who ordered Elena Ward's murder…"
he paused for a moment.
"…then you have to open that door now."