Chapter 10 - THE MAN JASPER FEAREDThe theater had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Victor turned it into something else.
An underground auction house.
We watched from across the street as black cars arrived one after another.
Men in tuxedos.
Women in evening gowns.
Lawyers.
Bankers.
People with money and secrets.
Every person entering carried a blank white envelope.
Inside each envelope was a new identity.
Dr. Voss remained in the car.
Mother refused to leave.
Isabella and I entered through a service corridor.
The theater beneath the theater was enormous.
Rows of tables.
Computers.
Printers.
Forged passports.
Identity documents.
Corporate seals.
A wall of photographs showed hundreds of faces.
Among them was mine.
Current photograph.
Taken three days earlier.
My stomach tightened.
Victor knew exactly where we had gone.
Then the lights came up.
Victor Hale stepped onto the stage.
The room became silent.
"Ladies and gentlemen."
He smiled.
"Tonight's first item is a family."
The screen behind him showed the Montgomery name.
Then Isabella's.
Then mine.
Applause.
My hands tightened around my weapon.
Victor continued.
"A family with access to old money, private trusts, and information that has survived three generations."
Then Jasper appeared beside him.
His face was swollen.
His hands were tied.
Victor pushed him onto his knees.
"This is what betrayal looks like."
Jasper glared at him.
Victor turned toward the audience.
"Twenty-eight million stolen."
He looked at me.
"Twenty-eight million hidden."
Then at Isabella.
"And one foundation still standing."
Isabella stepped into the light.
"You're going to need a bigger stage."
Every head turned.
Victor stared.
She walked calmly toward the center.
Jasper looked terrified.
"Isabella!"
Victor raised a hand.
No one moved.
"You have courage."
"No."
She smiled.
"I have evidence."
Victor's expression changed.
She held up a phone.
"Every transaction. Every shell company. Every name."
Victor laughed.
"You wouldn't release it."
"Why not?"
"Because you'd destroy your own family."
Isabella's smile disappeared.
"You already did."
The room went silent.
Then every screen in the theater turned black.
A countdown appeared.
Victor looked around.
"What did you do?"
I stepped onto the stage.
"I gave your system one choice."
Victor stared at me.
"What choice?"
"Confess."
The countdown continued.
Victor's people began reaching for weapons.
Then alarms sounded.
Police sirens outside.
Victor looked at me.
"You wouldn't."
"I didn't."
His expression hardened.
"Then who?"
I looked toward Isabella.
She held up another phone.
"Me."
The countdown hit thirty.
Victor's entire network was about to be transmitted.
But then someone approached from behind me.
Mother.
Victor saw her.
And smiled.
"I wondered when you'd finally come back."
Mother whispered:
"Victor."
He nodded.
Then he said something that froze me.
"You know the truth about Caleb."
Mother's face changed.
Victor looked at me.
"Ask her what happened the night you were born."
The countdown hit ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Victor smiled.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Every screen went white.
Then one sentence appeared.
THE ORIGINAL HEIR IS NOT CALEB.
May you like
I turned toward my mother.
Her face had gone completely pale.
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