Chapter 7 - The countdown hit zero.Nothing exploded.
Instead, every file cabinet opened simultaneously.
Hundreds of documents slid onto the floor.
A hidden sprinkler system activated.
But the water smelled like gasoline.
I immediately understood.
The room was being saturated.
“Fire system!”
Marco shouted.
We ran.
The corridor behind us slammed shut.
Smoke filled the vault.
Elena dragged Lily.
Sophie held Claire's hand.
My mother remained behind.
“Mom!”
She looked at me.
“I have one thing left to do.”
“What?”
“Buy you time.”
The vault door began closing.
I ran toward her.
She shook her head.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
For the first time in my life, my mother looked terrified.
“Your father never trusted me,” she said.
“Why would I?”
“Because I chose you.”
The door closed.
Fire erupted behind it.
Sophie screamed.
I tried to reopen it.
It would not move.
Elena pulled me away.
“She chose us.”
“She lied to me.”
“She saved us.”
We ran.
At the end of the corridor was another staircase.
It led to the old underground garage.
A single vehicle waited there.
Black sedan.
Engine running.
The same one from the security camera.
I pointed my gun.
“Who is driving?”
The window lowered.
A man looked out.
Victor.
My brother.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
He smiled.
“Get in.”
I raised the pistol.
“You're dead.”
“So was Elena.”
He glanced at her.
“You've got a strange definition of dead.”
Elena stepped toward him.
“Victor, we don't have time.”
“What about Father?”
“Still here.”
Victor looked at me.
“You finally remember?”
“No.”
“You will.”
He opened the passenger door.
“Get in before Marco finds us.”
I looked behind us.
Footsteps.
White shirts.
A lot of them.
We got in.
Victor accelerated through the tunnel.
The mansion disappeared behind us.
“Where are we going?”
“Chicago.”
“We're already in Chicago.”
“Not the city.”
He pressed a hidden switch.
The floor of the tunnel opened.
The car dropped into a lower level.
Sophie screamed.
Victor laughed.
“Welcome to the real house.”
The vehicle landed.
A massive underground facility stretched beneath the city.
Dozens of rooms.
Steel corridors.
Security cameras.
Medical equipment.
And people.
Some were old.
Some were young.
All wore numbered bracelets.
Elena whispered:
“R-18.”
I turned.
“What?”
She pointed at a door.
R-18.
Victor stopped.
“This is where your father's operation moved after he died.”
I stared at him.
“My father built this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor looked toward me.
“Because he discovered something about our family.”
“What?”
“That the Vale bloodline isn't what you think.”
Then a speaker crackled.
A man's voice filled the corridor.
My father's voice.
“Adrian.”
I froze.
“Come home, son.”
The lights turned red.
May you like
Victor whispered one sentence.
“He's been waiting for you.”
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