Chapter 4: The Basement No One Could Enter
The silver key matched an old storage room beneath the Mercer mansion.
A room Juliette had been forbidden to enter as a child.
That night, while her parents slept, she unlocked the rusted door.
Dust filled the air.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Family albums.
Medical records.
Financial documents.
Then...
A locked steel cabinet.
Inside waited a collection of cassette tapes labeled with Caroline's handwriting.
The first tape crackled to life.
"If you're hearing this..."
"...I didn't make it home."
Juliette froze.
Caroline's voice.
Alive.
"I discovered something about Dad."
"He didn't build Mercer Biotech from genius."
"He built it from stolen research."
"And when I threatened to expose everything..."
"...someone decided I had to disappear."
Juliette's knees gave out.
Could her father...
the man the world admired...
have destroyed his own daughter to protect an empire?
May you like
Footsteps echoed above.
Someone had entered the basement.
