PART 5 — THE TRAITOR AMONG THEM
The emergency exit slammed open.
The Chief Financial Officer sprinted down the marble corridor without looking back.
For three full seconds...
No one moved.
The guests were too stunned to react.
The executives stared in disbelief.
Marcus blinked.
Then shouted,
"Stop him!"
The security guards finally snapped back to reality.
Four men rushed after the fleeing executive.
Their polished shoes thundered against the marble floor.
The lobby exploded into chaos.
Guests stepped aside.
Champagne glasses tipped over.
Whispers turned into frightened voices.
Sebastian Laurent never took his eyes off the fleeing man.
His face had become frighteningly calm.
Twenty-two years.
For twenty-two years he had searched across Europe.
He had hired investigators.
Former police officers.
Private intelligence firms.
International agencies.
Yet he had never imagined...
the betrayal had been sitting inside his own company.
The young master watched the hallway without saying a word.
Arthur stood beside him.
"He'll run."
The young master asked quietly,
"Can he escape?"
Arthur smiled.
"No."
"He stopped being free twenty-two years ago."
Outside the auction house—
Rain had begun to fall.
The CFO burst through the rear entrance.
His breathing was frantic.
A black luxury sedan waited behind the building.
The rear door opened.
A nervous driver shouted,
"Quick!"
The CFO jumped inside.
The tires screeched.
The car accelerated into the narrow European streets.
Seconds later—
The auction house security team emerged.
Too late.
Marcus arrived just behind them.
"Damn it!"
He watched the sedan disappear into the night.
One guard lowered his head.
"We've lost him."
Marcus slammed his fist against a marble pillar.
"No..."
"If he escapes..."
His sentence remained unfinished.
Because he suddenly realized something terrifying.
If the CFO spoke...
Marcus himself would inevitably be questioned.
Back inside the auction lobby—
No one had resumed talking.
The luxurious atmosphere had completely disappeared.
The priceless paintings.
The sculptures.
The antique jewelry.
None of them mattered anymore.
Every guest cared about only one question.
Who had stolen the Laurent heir?
The young master finally looked toward Arthur.
"You knew."
Arthur nodded.
"For many years."
"Why didn't you tell him?"
He looked toward Sebastian.
Arthur sighed.
"Because I couldn't prove it."
Sebastian slowly closed his eyes.
"I accused outsiders."
"I searched criminal organizations."
"I searched foreign countries."
"I searched everywhere..."
"...except my own table."
Arthur placed one hand on his brother's shoulder.
"That's exactly what they wanted."
The young master slowly unfolded the old letter once again.
His eyes stopped on a single sentence.
"Trust actions... never appearances."
He looked around the room.
Then smiled sadly.
"Father already knew."
Sebastian looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
The young master handed him the letter.
Near the bottom—
A short handwritten note had almost faded away.
"If I ever lose you...
begin your search beside those who profit from your absence."
Sebastian's hands began trembling violently.
"I..."
"I never noticed this."
Arthur nodded.
"You never finished reading."
Sebastian stared at him.
Arthur continued quietly,
"Every year you rewrote the first page."
"But the final page..."
"...was always sealed."
Sebastian slowly realized the truth.
He had been too overwhelmed by grief.
Too consumed by guilt.
He had never carefully examined the letter he himself had written.
The answer...
had been beside him all along.
Suddenly—
One of the younger executives stepped forward.
His face was pale.
"Mr. Laurent..."
Sebastian looked up.
The executive hesitated.
"I..."
"I remember something."
The room turned toward him.
"It happened twenty-two years ago."
Arthur immediately became attentive.
"What?"
The executive swallowed.
"I was only an accounting assistant."
"I wasn't important."
"No one ever asked me."
The young master stepped closer.
"What did you see?"
The man closed his eyes.
"I saw the CFO carrying two briefcases into the old archive room."
"Late at night."
"He wasn't alone."
"Someone else was with him."
Marcus stiffened.
His heartbeat exploded.
Arthur asked,
"Who?"
The executive slowly turned.
His shaking finger pointed...
toward Marcus.
The room froze.
Marcus's face turned completely white.
"No."
"That's impossible."
"I had just started working here!"
The executive shook his head.
"You weren't the manager yet."
"You were his assistant."
Marcus stumbled backward.
"I..."
"I didn't know anything."
"You helped him carry the files."
Marcus immediately shouted,
"I never opened them!"
"I never asked what was inside!"
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"But you knew."
Marcus looked at the floor.
Silence.
The young master's voice remained calm.
"You've remembered something."
Marcus breathed heavily.
"I..."
"I thought it was only financial records."
Arthur suddenly interrupted.
"No."
Marcus looked up.
"It wasn't financial records."
Arthur slowly reached into his coat.
For the second time that evening—
He removed another old document.
Unlike the letter...
This one was a faded employee registry.
He placed it on the marble table.
"There were only four people in that archive room."
He pointed at the names.
Sebastian Laurent.
Arthur Laurent.
The Chief Financial Officer.
Marcus Devereux.
Marcus stared at the paper.
His legs gave way.
He collapsed onto one knee.
"I was twenty-three..."
"I wanted the promotion."
"They told me..."
"...it was confidential."
"They told me never to ask questions."
Tears filled his eyes.
"I obeyed."
The young master quietly asked,
"Did you ever wonder why?"
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"Every day."
"But by the time I understood..."
"...I was already trapped."
The guests listened without making a sound.
Marcus continued,
"The CFO controlled everything."
"The promotions."
"The salaries."
"The contracts."
"He reminded me every year..."
"...that if I spoke..."
"...I'd lose everything."
The young master looked at him.
"You almost did."
Marcus nodded slowly.
"No."
"I already have."
He looked around the auction house.
The respect.
The authority.
The confidence.
Everything was gone.
Because of one decision made twenty-two years earlier.
At that exact moment—
One of the security guards burst back into the lobby.
He was breathing hard.
"We found the abandoned sedan."
Everyone looked toward him.
"But..."
"The driver is unconscious."
"The CFO disappeared."
Arthur's expression became serious.
Sebastian frowned.
"How?"
The guard swallowed.
"There was only one message left inside the car."
"What message?"
The guard handed over a folded black card.
The young master opened it.
Only one sentence was written.
"The man you caught was never the one giving the orders."
The room fell silent once again.
Arthur slowly exhaled.
"I was afraid of this."
Sebastian looked at him.
"What aren't you telling us?"
Arthur's face darkened.
"The CFO..."
"...was only following instructions."
The young master slowly raised his eyes.
"Then who was giving them?"
Arthur did not answer immediately.
Instead...
he turned toward the enormous family portrait hanging above the grand staircase.
A portrait that had decorated the auction house for more than thirty years.
He stared at one face in particular.
Then whispered,
"We've been looking at the mastermind..."
"...every single day."
The young master slowly followed Arthur's gaze toward the portrait.
His expression changed.
For the first time that night...
May you like
he looked genuinely shocked.
To be continued...
