Chapter 9 - The Family SecretElena led them into a vast underground chamber.
It looked less like a hidden room and more like a command center.
Screens covered the walls.
Phones.
Documents.
Bank records.
Political files.
Every major financial event of the last decade appeared on the screens.
Adrian stared.
“You built all this?”
Elena nodded.
“Your father wanted control.”
“You said you were protecting me.”
“I was.”
“Then why did you let me become the man I am?”
Elena looked saddened.
“Because I needed you to become strong enough to survive.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You call this survival?”
“You were raised to trust no one.”
“That sounds like your plan.”
“It was.”
Grace stepped forward.
“Why did you watch me?”
Elena's expression changed.
“You were Clara's promise.”
Adrian looked at Grace.
“What promise?”
Grace swallowed.
“My mother worked with Clara.”
Elena nodded.
“She helped Clara escape.”
“Escape from what?”
“From your father.”
Adrian stared.
Nathan Whitmore had not been the brilliant businessman Adrian remembered.
He had built the original network.
Clara discovered what he was doing.
She threatened to expose him.
So Nathan staged the accident.
But Clara survived.
She went into hiding.
And Grace's mother helped her.
“When did Clara die?”
“She didn't.”
Adrian felt the room disappear.
“What?”
Elena stepped toward a screen.
A live camera appeared.
A woman sat inside a small room.
Older.
But unmistakable.
Clara.
Adrian dropped to his knees.
“My God.”
Grace covered her mouth.
“That’s her.”
Clara looked directly into the camera.
“Elena.”
“I found him.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“Adrian?”
He couldn't speak.
Elena placed a hand on his shoulder.
“She has been alive all these years.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Then why didn't she contact me?”
“Because your father threatened to destroy everyone around her.”
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then Clara said:
“Adrian, you must leave Whitmore House.”
“Why?”
“Because Malcolm is not the one controlling Black Meridian.”
A terrible silence followed.
Clara continued.
“Your father is.”
Adrian clenched his fists.
“Nathan is dead.”
“No.”
Clara leaned toward the camera.
“He has been alive for fifteen years.”
The lights in the room flickered.
A warning alarm sounded.
Elena's face changed.
“They found us.”
Adrian turned.
“Who?”
The security doors began locking one by one.
Then a message appeared across every monitor.
WELCOME HOME, ADRIAN.
A second message followed.
YOUR TEST IS OVER.
May you like
And beneath it, another line appeared.
NOW WE TEST YOU.
