CHAP 7: THE ESCAPE FROM ECLIPSE CIRCLE
CHAP 7: THE ESCAPE FROM ECLIPSE CIRCLE
23:59:59
The numbers continued falling.
23:59:58
23:59:57
The entire room froze.
Nobody understood what was happening.
Except Alexander Voss.
He stood calmly in the center of the boardroom while every door around them locked automatically.
The man who had spent seven years hiding in the shadows was finally showing his true plan.
Not a negotiation.
Not a trial.
A trap.
Ethan immediately moved toward the nearest exit.
Locked.
He tried the emergency access panel.
Nothing.
The system had been completely overridden.
Daniel grabbed his radio.
“Security team, respond!”
Static.
No answer.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Alexander smiled.
“I disconnected the building from the outside world.”
Ethan turned.
“You planned this.”
“Of course.”
Alexander looked around the room.
“The heir trial was never about choosing a successor.”
A pause.
“It was about gathering everyone important in one place.”
The shareholders looked alarmed.
“What are you doing?”
Alexander ignored them.
His eyes remained on Ethan.
“I wanted to see if the Blackwood family still had something worth destroying.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You will not touch my daughters.”
Alexander smiled.
“That sentence proves my point.”
“What?”
“You still think this is about power.”
He looked at Lily and Ava.
“It is about control.”
The alarm continued.
23:45:12
Every second felt heavier.
Amelia moved toward her daughters.
Ava immediately stepped between her and Alexander’s guards.
The movement surprised everyone.
Even Ava.
Because she had acted before thinking.
She had protected her family.
Alexander noticed.
“So.”
His expression darkened.
“The programming is failing.”
Ava stared at him.
“You lied.”
Alexander looked almost disappointed.
“After everything I gave you?”
Ava’s eyes filled with anger.
“You took everything.”
Silence.
“You took my memories.”
“You took my childhood.”
“You made me hate people who loved me.”
For the first time…
Alexander looked irritated.
Not angry.
Irritated.
Like a scientist watching an experiment become unpredictable.
“You were weak before I found you.”
Ava shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice became stronger.
“I was a child.”
The room went silent.
Because that sentence destroyed Alexander’s entire belief.
He had spent years convincing Ava that kindness was weakness.
That emotions were flaws.
That love was something to remove.
But now…
the child he created into a weapon was standing against him.
Because someone had shown her something Alexander never understood.
A family.
Suddenly, the main screen turned on.
A video appeared.
A massive underground facility.
Hundreds of servers.
Security rooms.
Laboratories.
And at the center…
a large glass chamber.
Daniel stared.
“What is that?”
Alexander answered calmly.
“The future.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“You built this?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Alexander looked at Ava.
“To create the perfect Blackwood heir.”
Amelia stepped forward.
“You experimented on children?”
Alexander looked at her.
“I improved them.”
Ethan’s anger exploded.
“You are insane.”
Alexander smiled.
“No.”
He pointed at the screen.
“I am honest.”
The video changed.
Images appeared.
Children.
Training rooms.
Psychological tests.
The Eclipse Circle had been collecting children from powerful families.
Turning them into obedient heirs.
Weapons.
Tools.
Ava was only one of many.
Ethan felt sick.
“How many?”
Alexander did not answer.
That was enough.
Too many.
Then another voice came through the speakers.
A woman.
Weak.
Terrified.
“Ethan…”
Everyone froze.
Amelia immediately recognized it.
“Clara?”
The voice belonged to the nurse who saved Lily.
The woman who disappeared seven years ago.
Alexander smiled.
“Every story has witnesses.”
Ethan looked at the screen.
“Where is she?”
Alexander leaned against the table.
“Alive.”
“Bring her here.”
“No.”
Alexander smiled.
“She has something you need to see.”
The screen changed.
A room appeared.
Clara was sitting in a chair.
Beside her was an old box.
A hospital box.
Ethan recognized it.
It was from the night of the fire.
Clara looked directly into the camera.
“Ethan…”
Her voice trembled.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan froze.
“Sorry for what?”
The nurse looked down.
“For not telling you the truth.”
The room became silent.
Amelia looked confused.
“What truth?”
Clara opened the box.
Inside was a small envelope.
And a photograph.
A photograph of Ethan.
But the date…
was before he met Amelia.
Everyone stared.
Daniel frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
Clara continued.
“Your family history was not what you believed.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“What are you saying?”
Clara looked at the camera.
“Alexander did not choose you randomly.”
A pause.
“He chose you because you were already connected to Eclipse Circle.”
The room went silent.
Ethan felt cold.
“No.”
Clara continued.
“Your father…”
She swallowed.
“Was one of the founders.”
Amelia looked at Ethan.
Confusion.
Shock.
Pain.
Ethan stepped backward.
“My father?”
The Blackwood family.
The empire.
The fortune.
Everything.
Suddenly the foundation beneath his life began cracking.
Alexander smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you used it.”
“Of course.”
Alexander walked closer.
“You spent years believing you were fighting against me.”
A pause.
“But you were always part of the game.”
The countdown continued.
18:02:11
Ethan looked at his daughters.
For a moment…
he felt something he had not felt in years.
Uncertainty.
What if Alexander was right?
What if the Blackwood family itself was built on darkness?
What if his entire life was a lie?
Then Lily grabbed his hand.
“Daddy.”
He looked down.
The little girl looked scared.
But she did not let go.
“You told me something.”
“What?”
“You said family is not about where we came from.”
A pause.
“It’s about what we choose to do.”
Ethan stared at her.
The words hit him.
Because they were his own words.
Words he told Lily when she was afraid.
And now she was giving them back.
Ava looked at Ethan.
Then quietly said:
“She’s right.”
Everyone looked at her.
Ava continued:
“Alexander taught me that blood creates power.”
She looked at Lily.
“But she taught me something else.”
“What?”
Ava whispered:
“Love creates family.”
For the first time…
Ethan saw both daughters standing together.
Not competitors.
Not heirs.
Sisters.
Suddenly…
Daniel noticed something.
“Wait.”
Everyone turned.
He was looking at the security panel.
“The lockdown has a weakness.”
Ethan moved closer.
“What?”
“The system is controlled from the underground facility.”
“So?”
Daniel looked at Ava.
“She knows the facility.”
Everyone became silent.
Ava understood.
“You want me to take you there.”
Ethan looked at her.
“I want you to come with us.”
Ava looked surprised.
Not because of the mission.
Because of the words.
Come with us.
Not obey.
Not prove yourself.
Belong.
She nodded.
“I know the way.”
Alexander watched them.
And then…
he laughed.
A quiet laugh.
“You really think escaping is winning?”
Ethan looked at him.
“Yes.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
The screen changed again.
A new message appeared.
PROJECT DAWN ACTIVATED
Amelia’s face turned pale.
“No…”
Ethan looked at her.
“What is Project Dawn?”
Amelia whispered:
“The reason Alexander kept me alive.”
The lights flickered.
A deep sound came from beneath the building.
Like something enormous waking up.
Alexander smiled.
“Seven years ago, I took your family.”
A pause.
“Tonight…”
“I take your future.”
The floor began shaking.
And beneath Blackwood Tower…
something started rising.
May you like
Something that had been hidden for seven years.
Something even Victor Blackwood had never known existed.
