CHAPTER 10 THE CHOICE THAT WASN’T A CHOICE
The three red laser dots trembled over the children's chests.
One on Emma.
One on Daniel.
One on Lily.
Nathan's blood turned cold.
He raised his gun toward Thomas.
“Lower them.”
Thomas smiled.
“You're in no position to give orders.”
Nathan glanced at the armed men surrounding them.
There were too many.
Ten.
Maybe fifteen.
Every weapon was trained on him, Grace, or the children.
Richard stood several feet away, frozen.
Alexander had disappeared into the shadows.
Nathan looked at Thomas.
“You want the children?”
“Yes.”
“Take me instead.”
Thomas laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He stepped closer.
“The children aren't prisoners.”
His eyes settled on Lily.
“They are keys.”
Nathan tightened his grip.
“You're not touching her.”
Thomas looked almost amused.
“Then perhaps we should begin with Emma.”
One of the soldiers raised his weapon.
Emma screamed.
“Daddy!”
Nathan's entire body reacted.
“WAIT!”
The soldier stopped.
Thomas smiled.
“There.”
He pointed at Nathan.
“That reaction.”
He turned to the others.
“That's why he was always so easy to control.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“You don't know me.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I know everything about you.”
He took another step.
“I know what you ate the morning you met Grace.”
Nathan froze.
“I know where you kissed her for the first time.”
Grace's face went pale.
“I know the exact moment you discovered she was pregnant.”
Nathan stared.
“And I know what you did the night she disappeared.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
“What did you do?”
Nathan swallowed.
“I searched for her.”
Thomas smiled.
“No.”
He pulled a small tablet from his coat.
“You went to your father's office.”
Nathan's eyes widened.
Thomas pressed the screen.
A video appeared on the nearest monitor.
Five years earlier.
Nathan stormed into Richard's office.
Younger.
Angrier.
Desperate.
“I want the truth!”
Richard sat behind his desk.
“She left.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Nathan slammed a photograph onto the desk.
Grace.
Pregnant.
Richard looked at it.
“You need to let her go.”
Nathan shook his head.
“I love her.”
Richard's voice became cold.
“She doesn't love you.”
The video froze.
Nathan stared at the screen.
He remembered that night.
But there was something he had forgotten.
A second person had been standing behind the glass door.
Someone he couldn't see clearly.
Thomas.
Watching.
Nathan turned.
“You were there.”
Thomas nodded.
“I watched your father destroy your life.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I wasn't allowed to.”
“Why?”
Thomas's expression changed.
“Because I was already planning your escape.”
Nathan frowned.
“My escape?”
Thomas nodded.
“But then Grace disappeared.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“I thought my father had her taken.”
“He did.”
Thomas looked at Richard.
“But your father didn't know what Alexander had planned.”
Richard suddenly stepped forward.
“Thomas.”
Thomas turned.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Richard's face hardened.
“I tried to protect Nathan.”
Thomas laughed.
“You protected the family.”
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
Richard looked toward Lily.
“Not when Alexander controls everything.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You still blame him.”
“Because he threatened my son.”
“And what did you do?”
Richard didn't answer.
Thomas stepped closer.
“You signed the papers.”
Richard's eyes filled with shame.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked at his father.
“What papers?”
Richard whispered:
“The execution order.”
Grace froze.
Nathan's face changed.
“For Lily?”
Richard nodded.
“I never intended for it to be carried out.”
Nathan stared at him.
“But you signed it.”
“Yes.”
“You signed an order to kill my daughter.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Nathan's hand trembled.
For a moment, he looked as though he might shoot his father.
Then Lily whispered:
“Daddy?”
Nathan turned.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
The laser dot still rested over her chest.
Nathan immediately moved in front of her.
Thomas smiled.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“You care.”
Thomas looked at the three children.
“And that makes you predictable.”
Nathan lowered his weapon.
“Fine.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow.
“I'll do whatever you want.”
Grace grabbed Nathan's sleeve.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I need to get them out.”
Thomas nodded.
“Good.”
He pointed toward the three doors behind him.
“Each child goes through a different door.”
Nathan stared.
“What happens?”
“They are tested.”
“For what?”
“Compatibility.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“And if they fail?”
Thomas said nothing.
Nathan understood.
“No.”
Thomas shrugged.
“Then you can choose which one dies.”
Grace stepped forward.
“Monster.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Don't call me that.”
“You're threatening children.”
“I'm giving you a choice.”
“No.”
Grace pointed toward Lily.
“You're afraid of her.”
Thomas's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Nathan noticed.
Grace continued.
“You keep calling her a key.”
Thomas stared at her.
“But you're terrified of what happens if she reaches the vault.”
Silence.
Nathan looked at Thomas.
“She can open something.”
Thomas said nothing.
“Something you don't want opened.”
Thomas's jaw tightened.
Nathan smiled coldly.
“That's it.”
He looked toward Lily.
“She's the reason you're afraid.”
Thomas raised his hand.
The laser sights shifted.
One moved from Lily to Nathan's chest.
Thomas's voice became quiet.
“Be careful.”
Nathan didn't move.
“What happens if Lily opens the vault?”
Thomas stared at him.
“You'll find out.”
“Then why not kill her?”
Thomas hesitated.
Nathan saw it.
Because Thomas couldn't.
Not yet.
He needed Lily alive.
Nathan understood.
“You need her.”
Thomas said nothing.
“You can't access the vault without her.”
Thomas finally smiled.
“Now you're learning.”
Nathan lowered his gun.
“Then here's my offer.”
Thomas waited.
“You let Grace and the children walk out.”
“And you?”
“I stay.”
Grace immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Grace.”
“You promised never to leave us.”
“I won't.”
He touched her hand.
“I'm buying time.”
Thomas laughed.
“You think you can negotiate?”
Nathan looked at him.
“You need me too.”
Thomas's smile disappeared.
Nathan continued.
“Emma and Daniel are genetic prototypes.”
Thomas nodded.
“And Lily is the natural heir.”
“Yes.”
“But I'm the source.”
Silence.
Nathan stepped forward.
“You need my blood.”
Thomas stared at him.
“For what?”
“To activate the system.”
Thomas's eyes narrowed.
Nathan had guessed.
But Thomas didn't deny it.
Nathan continued.
“You need all three children.”
“Yes.”
“And you need me alive.”
Thomas smiled.
“Correct.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Then we're going to use that.”
Grace whispered:
“What are you planning?”
Nathan didn't answer.
He turned toward Thomas.
“Take me.”
Thomas nodded.
“Gladly.”
“But nobody touches the children.”
Thomas considered it.
“Agreed.”
“And Grace goes free.”
Thomas smiled.
“She can leave.”
Grace immediately understood.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Trust me.”
“You're asking me to trust you after everything?”
Nathan's eyes softened.
“I'm asking you to trust the man who loves you.”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
Thomas gestured.
Two guards moved toward Nathan.
Nathan slowly handed over his weapon.
Then his watch.
Then his phone.
The guards searched him.
Thomas watched carefully.
Finally, Nathan was taken away.
Grace stood frozen.
Lily cried.
“Daddy!”
Nathan turned.
His eyes met hers.
He smiled.
“I'll come back.”
Then the guards dragged him through the steel door.
It slammed shut.
Grace immediately looked at Thomas.
“You made a mistake.”
Thomas smiled.
“What mistake?”
“You let him go.”
Thomas frowned.
Grace stepped closer.
“You think Nathan sacrificed himself.”
She smiled through her tears.
“He didn't.”
Thomas's expression hardened.
“What did he do?”
Grace lifted her wrist.
A tiny device was hidden beneath her sleeve.
She pressed it.
Somewhere inside the mansion, an alarm began.
Thomas froze.
Grace looked at the steel door.
“Nathan didn't surrender.”
She smiled.
“He planted a tracker.”
Thomas's men rushed toward the door.
But before they could open it, every light in the mansion turned blue.
A voice echoed through the speakers.
Nathan.
“Thomas.”
Thomas looked up.
Nathan's voice was calm.
“You made one mistake.”
Thomas stared at the cameras.
“What?”
Nathan answered:
“You separated me from my family.”
The screens flickered.
Then one by one, the mansion's security systems began shutting down.
Doors unlocked.
Cameras went black.
Weapons malfunctioned.
Thomas stared in disbelief.
“How?”
Nathan's voice came again.
“Because I spent five years learning how my father's empire worked.”
A pause.
“And tonight…”
Every screen suddenly displayed the same message:
COLE GLOBAL SYSTEM BREACH.
Nathan continued:
“…I took control of it.”
Thomas's face went white.
Richard looked toward the screens.
Alexander emerged from the shadows.
For the first time, both men looked genuinely afraid.
Then Nathan's voice whispered through every speaker in the mansion:
“Now, Thomas…”
The main vault door began opening.
“…tell me where my mother is.”
Thomas looked toward the darkness.
And from somewhere behind him came a woman's trembling voice.
“Nathan…”
Everyone froze.
Grace's face turned white.
Because the voice was coming from inside the vault.
May you like
And this time, it wasn't a recording.
It was real.
