Chapter 14 - The Old Cathedral had been abandoned for thirty years.Rain hammered the stained-glass windows.
Candles lined the altar.
Thomas Voss sat tied to a chair.
Ethan stood behind him.
Marcus entered first.
Dominic followed.
Then Sadie.
Ethan smiled.
“You came.”
Sadie looked around.
“How many guns?”
Ethan laughed.
“Still counting exits.”
“Habit.”
“I taught you that.”
“You taught me how to survive.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know what happens next.”
Ethan's smile faded.
“Do I?”
Sadie stepped forward.
“You lose.”
Ethan looked at Marcus.
“Your sister has become confident.”
Marcus answered:
“She has always been stronger than us.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
Dominic stepped beside Sadie.
Ethan pointed a gun at Thomas.
“Give me the trust key.”
“No.”
“Then he dies.”
Thomas laughed.
“My son.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You're enjoying this?”
“I've already won.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Thomas looked toward Dominic.
“You still don't know what your father buried.”
Dominic stiffened.
“Stop.”
Thomas smiled.
“Tell him.”
Ethan hesitated.
Dominic took a step.
“Tell us.”
Thomas looked at Sadie.
“The fourth child wasn't Ethan.”
Silence.
Ethan turned.
“What?”
Thomas's eyes moved toward the ceiling.
“The experiment had five embryos.”
Sadie froze.
Marcus stared.
Dominic whispered:
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“One was destroyed.”
“One became you.”
“One became Marcus.”
“One became Sadie.”
“And one…”
He smiled.
“…became Dominic.”
The cathedral went silent.
Sadie stared at Dominic.
“What?”
Dominic looked physically ill.
“No.”
Thomas laughed.
“Your father altered the records.”
“You're lying.”
“Dominic Russo was never Vittorio's biological son.”
Ethan's face changed.
Marcus looked at Sadie.
Sadie looked at Dominic.
He stepped backward.
“I don't believe this.”
Thomas continued.
“Your father raised you because you were the last child with the genetic marker.”
Dominic's hands shook.
“That isn't possible.”
Elena suddenly stepped from the shadows.
“It is.”
Everyone turned.
Sadie's heart stopped.
“Mom?”
Elena walked slowly toward them.
Thomas smiled.
“You survived.”
“You never stopped hunting me.”
“Of course not.”
Elena looked at Sadie.
“I needed you to find the truth.”
Sadie whispered:
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the only way to destroy the system was to bring all four children together.”
Ethan raised his weapon.
“You knew?”
Elena looked at him.
“I knew everything.”
Thomas stood.
“You're lying.”
Elena smiled.
“No.”
She lifted a remote.
Every light in the cathedral turned on.
Screens appeared across the walls.
Names.
Bank accounts.
Political records.
Police files.
Thousands of pages.
Sadie stared.
“What is this?”
“The truth.”
Elena pressed a button.
Every file began uploading.
Thomas lunged toward her.
Dominic stopped him.
They crashed into the altar.
Marcus attacked Ethan.
Gunfire erupted.
Sadie ran toward the control terminal.
A countdown appeared.
UPLOAD: 94%
Ethan broke free.
He aimed at Sadie.
Marcus stepped in front of her.
The bullet struck him.
“Marcus!”
He fell.
Ethan raised the gun again.
Sadie froze.
Dominic fired.
Ethan dropped.
Silence.
The upload reached:
100%.
Across Philadelphia, phones began ringing.
News stations received files.
Police servers crashed.
Bank accounts froze.
Politicians woke to accusations.
The Russo empire began collapsing in real time.
Sadie ran to Marcus.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Stay with me.”
He smiled weakly.
“You always were my stubborn little sister.”
“Don't talk.”
“I need to say something.”
“What?”
“I spent my whole life thinking revenge would make me whole.”
He coughed.
“It didn't.”
Sadie cried.
“So don't become me.”
Ethan slowly moved behind them.
He wasn't dead.
He raised his gun.
Dominic stepped between them.
Ethan fired.
Dominic fell.
Sadie screamed.
Ethan smiled.
Then Thomas grabbed him from behind.
Father and son crashed to the floor.
The cathedral doors burst open.
Police flooded inside.
Thomas was arrested.
Ethan was arrested.
Elena surrendered.
Dominic lay bleeding.
Sadie held his head.
“Don't die.”
He looked at her.
“You saved me with tea.”
She laughed through tears.
“You almost got killed by a waitress.”
“Best mistake I ever made.”
Then his eyes closed.
Sadie screamed his name.
The paramedics rushed in.
But as they carried Dominic away, Sadie noticed something.
A police officer standing near the cathedral entrance.
He wasn't helping.
He was watching her.
Then he quietly smiled.
He raised his phone.
May you like
A message appeared on its screen.
PHASE TWO BEGINS.
