Chapter 6 - “Marcus!”Ethan ran into the corridor.
No answer.
A door slammed somewhere ahead.
Ethan drew the pistol from the security cabinet.
Amelia pushed Lily behind her.
“Stay here.”
Ethan moved through the dark.
He found Marcus collapsed against the wall.
Blood stained his shirt.
But he was breathing.
Someone had hit him from behind.
“Who?”
Marcus opened his eyes.
“Not who.”
“What?”
Marcus struggled to sit.
“How.”
Ethan stared at him.
Marcus pointed toward the ventilation shaft.
“He came through there.”
Ethan looked up.
The cover had been removed.
A small device blinked on the floor.
A voice recorder.
He pressed play.
Adrian’s voice filled the corridor.
“Ethan, if you’re hearing this, I failed.”
Ethan froze.
Adrian continued.
“Victor believes I died five years ago. Keep it that way.”
Ethan looked at Marcus.
“This recording is old.”
Marcus nodded.
“It was pre-recorded.”
Adrian’s voice continued.
“Your daughter is not the only survivor.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“There were two babies in the nursery.”
Amelia covered her mouth.
Adrian continued.
“When the fire started, the nurses evacuated them separately.”
A pause.
“One baby was Lily.”
“And the second?”
The recording crackled.
“I don’t know.”
The message ended.
Ethan stared at Amelia.
She was trembling.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Amelia nodded.
“I was unconscious after the delivery.”
Ethan looked at Lily.
One daughter he had just found.
One child missing.
A second survivor could explain everything.
A forged identity.
A fake death.
A hidden succession claim.
Or something worse.
Marcus recovered enough to speak.
“Sir.”
Ethan turned.
“There’s an encrypted file on the device.”
“Open it.”
“I can’t.”
“Then get someone who can.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No one outside this bunker.”
Ethan understood.
He took the device himself.
“Show me.”
For twenty minutes, they worked through layers of encryption.
Finally, the screen opened.
A hospital document appeared.
Two infant records.
BABY A: FEMALE, BLACKWOOD
BABY B: FEMALE, UNKNOWN
Then a handwritten note.
Baby A transferred to private custody.
Baby B transferred under emergency identity.
Beneath it was one name.
ELENA VALE.
Ethan stared.
“Who is Elena Vale?”
Amelia shook her head.
“I’ve never heard that name.”
Marcus searched the database.
Then stopped.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“Elena Vale died three years ago.”
“How?”
“House fire.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“Another fire?”
Marcus nodded.
Before Ethan could speak, the bunker door unlocked.
All three froze.
Someone entered.
Lily appeared first.
She looked frightened.
“Daddy.”
Ethan immediately moved toward her.
“Where were you?”
“I woke up.”
“Who brought you here?”
She pointed behind herself.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Late sixties.
Gray hair.
Hospital badge.
A small burn scar on her neck.
Ethan raised his weapon.
The woman lifted both hands.
“My name is Clara Bennett.”
Amelia stared at her.
“Clara…”
The woman began crying.
“You survived.”
Ethan looked between them.
“You know each other?”
Clara nodded.
“I was your wife’s nurse the night of the fire.”
Ethan’s grip tightened.
“You helped Victor.”
“No.”
She looked at Lily.
“I helped her escape.”
“Then why disappear?”
“Because Victor found everyone who tried to talk.”
She reached inside her coat.
Ethan aimed the weapon.
Clara slowly removed a folded photograph.
She handed it over.
It showed the maternity ward before the fire.
Two infants.
Two bassinets.
One nurse standing beside them.
Clara.
On the back she had written:
THE CHILD YOU WERE TOLD DIED WAS NOT LILY.
Ethan stared.
Clara whispered:
“The baby who died was the other girl.”
Ethan looked at Lily.
The room went silent.
Then Amelia whispered:
“No.”
Clara’s eyes filled with tears.
“Your daughter survived.”
May you like
She pointed at Lily.
“But she was never supposed to be the only one.”
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