Chapter 3 - The Hidden Truth
Victoria felt the air completely leave her lungs as she stared at the vintage photograph.
Her father had died in a tragic plane crash over a decade ago.
There was absolutely no logical way he could have posed for a picture with a ten-year-old boy.
She sprinted back to her private study where Leo was being held under heavy guard.
She burst through the heavy oak doors and slammed them shut behind her.
"Where did you get this watch?" she demanded, holding the silver timepiece up to the light.
Leo backed away slowly, his small hands shaking with intense fear.
"I do not know what that is," the boy cried out defensively.
Victoria stepped closer, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.
"This was found at the crime scene, and it has a picture of you inside it," she explained.
Leo squinted at the photograph and suddenly let out a sharp gasp.
"That is not me," Leo whispered in a trembling voice.
Victoria frowned in deep confusion.
"What do you mean it is not you?" she asked.
"That is my older twin brother, Julian," Leo confessed softly.
He explained that Julian was kidnapped from their orphanage exactly five years ago by men in dark suits.
Victoria's mind raced as the impossible puzzle pieces finally began to connect.
Her father had funded several secret orphanages before his suspicious death.
Someone was clearly using Leo's missing twin brother to frame this innocent child for murder tonight.
Before she could ask any more questions, the heavy wooden doors of her study rattled violently.
Marcus shouted from the other side of the thick oak panels.
"Miss Victoria, the police are here, and they have an immediate arrest warrant for the boy," the security chief yelled.
Victoria looked around the room frantically for any possible escape route.
She noticed the heavy iron grate covering the old fireplace ventilation shaft.
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"We are not going out that door, Leo," she whispered.
Suddenly, a massive explosion blew the study doors completely off their heavy hinges.
