Chapter 10 - The chapel caught fire in seconds.Flames raced across the wooden walls.
Marcus kicked open a side window.
Ethan climbed through.
The entire roof groaned.
Outside, he turned back.
“Lily!”
No answer.
“Amelia!”
Nothing.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“We have to move.”
Ethan resisted.
“They’re not here.”
“What?”
“The chapel is a message.”
He stared at the burning building.
“The real location is somewhere else.”
The clock.
The trust.
His father.
Adrian.
The second child.
Everything was connected.
Marcus looked at the trust document.
“There’s a property clause.”
Ethan read it.
An old Blackwood medical facility.
Decommissioned twenty years ago.
Still legally owned by the family.
“It’s under the city.”
They drove through underground streets and arrived at the old facility before midnight.
The front doors were chained.
They broke them.
Inside, the building smelled of mold and antiseptic.
A hallway stretched into darkness.
Ethan found an old room.
A nursery.
Two rusted bassinets.
One had a faded tag.
LILY B.
The other:
A. BLACKWOOD
Ethan stared.
“Adrian.”
Marcus searched the room.
Behind a cabinet was a hidden staircase.
They descended.
At the bottom was a steel door.
It opened.
Inside were dozens of files.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Payment ledgers.
Identity documents.
All connected to Victor.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
Adrian Blackwood.
Ethan turned a page.
Adrian had been investigating Victor for years.
He had discovered the hospital scheme.
He had tried to rescue Lily.
Then came the boating accident.
A staged death.
A disappearance.
Ethan found a final report.
ADRIAN BLACKWOOD SURVIVED.
Below it:
CURRENT STATUS: UNKNOWN
Marcus found a second monitor.
“It’s recording.”
The screen turned on.
Adrian appeared.
Older.
Scarred.
Alive.
“If you’re seeing this, Ethan, Victor failed.”
Ethan stared.
Adrian continued.
“There are things I could never tell you in person.”
He explained that after discovering Victor’s plans, he infiltrated the network.
He helped Lily escape several times.
He hid evidence.
He created false records.
But Victor always stayed one step ahead.
Then Adrian revealed the final secret.
“Amelia was never the only hostage.”
Ethan’s heart sank.
He looked at the screen.
“Victor also took your father’s original legal adviser.”
Daniel Cross.
“Cross knows how to terminate the trust.”
Adrian’s face became grim.
“And Victor cannot risk him talking.”
The recording ended.
A noise came from the next room.
Ethan raised his gun.
The door opened.
A man stepped out.
Gray hair.
Blood on his shirt.
Daniel Cross.
Ethan lowered the weapon slightly.
“Where are they?”
Daniel stared at him.
“Victor has Amelia.”
“And Lily?”
Daniel hesitated.
“The real girl is with him.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“What about the other girl?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“The other girl is not a replacement.”
“What does that mean?”
“She is your daughter too.”
Silence.
Ethan felt as though the floor had vanished.
“Explain.”
May you like
Daniel whispered:
“Amelia gave birth to twins.”
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