Chapter 4 - The Betrayal at Midnight
Marcus immediately stepped in front of Julian, shielding him from Maria.
"Mrs. Vance, what is going on here?" Marcus demanded, his voice stern and professional.
"Julian claims Arthur is still alive in this house," Marcus said, watching her face for any slip.
Maria let out a soft, theatrical sigh and shook her head in sadness.
"Oh Marcus... I was hoping to spare you from this pain," Maria said, dabbing her eyes with a silk handkerchief.
She pulled out an iPad from her bag and tapped the screen before turning it toward Marcus.
On the screen was a live video feed from inside a hospital room.
A man looking identical to Arthur lay motionless on a ventilator, his vitals flatlining on the monitor.
"He passed away three hours ago at St. Jude's private facility," Maria lied with chilling perfection.
"Julian is suffering from severe trauma-induced hallucinations," she explained with fake pity.
Marcus looked at the video, then back at Julian, his eyes clouded with confusion and doubt.
"That video is a fake! It's a pre-recorded loop!" Julian yelled out in frustration.
"Marcus, look at the wall behind her! There is a hidden room behind the chapel alter!" Julian urged.
Maria's eyes flashed with a momentary hint of panic, but she quickly masked it with authority.
"Marcus, he is trespassing and unstable," Maria said coldly.
"If you do not remove him from this property immediately, I will fire you on the spot and press charges against both of you," she threatened.
Marcus looked deeply into Julian's frantic eyes, searching for the truth.
"Julian... I've known your father for twenty years," Marcus said softly.
"If there was even a fraction of a chance he was alive, I would burn this house down to find him," Marcus continued.
"Then help me search the hidden room!" Julian begged.
Marcus took a deep breath, his hand tightening around his weapon.
Suddenly, Marcus raised his hand and shoved Julian violently against the wall.
"I'm sorry, kid," Marcus growled, pinning Julian's arm behind his back.
"I work for the Vance family estate, and Maria holds the keys now," Marcus said coldly.
Julian gasped in sheer horror as he realized his father's most trusted loyalist had just turned on him.
Maria smiled triumphantly as Marcus forced Julian down onto his knees.
"Lock him in the wine cellar until the police arrive," Maria ordered smoothly.
"And make sure he doesn't talk to anyone," she added.
As Marcus dragged a crying, struggling Julian down the basement stairs, Maria walked back up to the chapel.
She opened the hidden door once again and stepped inside Arthur's dark cell.
Arthur watched in complete despair as Maria held up the syringe again.
"Your son failed, Arthur," Maria whispered with a malicious giggle.
"Everyone believes you are dead, and no one is coming to save you," she whispered, sliding the needle into his neck.
Arthur felt the cold chemical surge through his veins as his vision began to blur into blackness.
Down in the pitch-black wine cellar, Julian was thrown onto the cold concrete floor as the thick iron door slammed shut.
He heard the heavy lock turn from the outside.
Julian lay in the dark, bruised and broken, surrounded by total silence.
Just as he was about to give up hope, he heard a faint metallic tapping coming from the brick wall behind him.
Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.
It was Morse code—a secret signal his father had taught him when he was a boy.
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The wall was sharing a air duct with the hidden chamber right next door.
His father was on the other side of that brick wall, alive, but time was rapidly running out.
