CHAPTER 5 TEN MINUTES TO SAVE THEM BOTH
09:56.
The red numbers flashed above the steel doorway.
Grace stared at them.
Then at the empty bed.
Then at Lily.
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“No, no, no…”
She grabbed Lily and pulled her against her chest.
Nathan stepped in front of them.
His gun was aimed at Victoria.
“You have five seconds to tell me where Emma is.”
Victoria smiled.
“You still think I'm the one in control?”
Nathan's eyes hardened.
“Four.”
Victoria's smile faded.
“Three.”
“Wait.”
Dr. Mercer stepped between them.
She raised both hands.
“Nathan, shooting her won't help.”
Nathan didn't lower the gun.
“Then tell me where my daughter is.”
The doctor looked at the countdown.
“She's being moved to the lower level.”
“How do we get there?”
“You can't.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Try me.”
Dr. Mercer swallowed.
“There are biometric locks. Only members of the Cole family can access the lower level.”
Nathan looked at Richard's security system.
“My fingerprints?”
The doctor nodded.
“Your blood.”
Nathan didn't hesitate.
He took a small knife from his pocket and cut his palm.
Grace flinched.
“Nathan!”
He pressed his bleeding hand against the scanner.
The machine flashed red.
ACCESS DENIED.
Nathan stared at it.
“What?”
Dr. Mercer looked confused.
“That shouldn't happen.”
Nathan tried again.
Nothing.
Then the machine displayed another message.
PRIMARY HEIR STATUS REVOKED.
Nathan's face went pale.
“What does that mean?”
Dr. Mercer whispered:
“It means someone has removed you from the Cole bloodline.”
Victoria laughed softly.
Nathan turned toward her.
“You.”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“You still don't understand how small I am in all of this.”
Nathan walked toward her.
“Then explain.”
Victoria stepped backward.
“Your father didn't build the system.”
Nathan stopped.
“Who did?”
Victoria looked at Grace.
Then Lily.
Then Nathan.
“Your grandfather.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“My grandfather died twenty years ago.”
Victoria smiled.
“That's what you were told.”
The room fell silent.
Grace stared at her.
“Your grandfather is alive?”
Victoria nodded.
“And he's the reason Lily was never supposed to exist.”
Nathan's phone suddenly vibrated.
Everyone froze.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Nathan answered.
“Who is this?”
A man's voice came through.
Old.
Calm.
Powerful.
“Nathan.”
Nathan's face changed.
The voice continued.
“You've caused considerable trouble tonight.”
Nathan gripped the phone.
“Where are my daughters?”
A pause.
Then:
“You have two daughters.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“Where are they?”
“You'll see them soon.”
“I swear to God…”
“You're angry.”
The old man's voice sounded almost amused.
“Good. Anger makes people careless.”
Nathan looked toward the countdown.
“Eight minutes.”
The voice continued.
“Seven minutes, actually.”
Nathan looked up.
The countdown had changed.
07:41.
His blood ran cold.
“What happens at zero?”
Silence.
Then:
“Lily is transferred.”
“Transferred where?”
“Somewhere you will never find her.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“And Emma?”
A pause.
“Emma has already been transferred.”
Grace nearly collapsed.
Nathan caught her.
“Where?”
The voice answered:
“Home.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
“Emma is going home.”
“To whom?”
The old man laughed.
“To her father.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“I am her father.”
“No.”
The voice became colder.
“You are the genetic father.”
Nathan froze.
“There is a difference.”
The call ended.
Nathan stared at the phone.
Grace whispered:
“What did he mean?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Because something had just clicked.
The photograph.
The seven children.
Project Heir.
The inheritance agreement.
And the words Edward had spoken.
Lily wasn't the first child.
Nathan turned toward Dr. Mercer.
“Who is Emma's father?”
The doctor looked terrified.
“It's complicated.”
“Answer me.”
She shook her head.
“Emma was created from your genetic material.”
Grace froze.
“What?”
Dr. Mercer continued.
“But the pregnancy wasn't yours.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“The Cole family used your genetic samples.”
Grace's eyes widened.
“You're saying they…”
“Yes.”
The doctor looked at Nathan.
“They used your DNA to create heirs.”
Grace felt sick.
Nathan looked toward Lily.
“Lily wasn't created.”
Dr. Mercer nodded.
“No.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“She was conceived naturally.”
“Yes.”
“That's why they wanted her gone.”
“Yes.”
“Because she's the only one they didn't control.”
Dr. Mercer lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Nathan suddenly understood.
Emma was an engineered heir.
Lily was the real threat.
The only child who carried Nathan's blood without the family's interference.
The only heir they couldn't claim ownership over.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“They were never afraid of Lily.”
Grace whispered:
“They were afraid of what she could inherit.”
“Exactly.”
A loud explosion shook the chamber.
The armed guards outside moved.
Victoria shouted:
“Get them!”
Nathan fired once.
The bullet struck the weapon of the nearest guard.
Grace grabbed Lily and ran toward the tunnel.
“Go!”
Nathan fired again.
Glass shattered.
Dr. Mercer ducked behind a table.
Victoria screamed:
“Don't let them escape!”
Grace pulled Lily through the opening.
Nathan followed.
They sprinted down the tunnel.
Behind them, gunfire erupted.
06:18.
Nathan looked at the countdown displayed on the emergency monitors.
“Which way?”
Dr. Mercer pointed toward a steel staircase.
“Down.”
Grace stared at her.
“You're coming.”
The doctor hesitated.
Then grabbed a keycard.
“I started this.”
She looked at Grace.
“I'll help end it.”
They descended.
The staircase seemed endless.
At the bottom was another corridor.
Nathan noticed dozens of doors.
Each had a number.
E-01.
E-02.
E-03.
Grace looked horrified.
“How many children?”
Dr. Mercer whispered:
“Seventeen.”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“Where are they?”
“Some died.”
“And the others?”
“Transferred.”
“Where?”
The doctor shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Nathan stopped.
“What about the seventh child?”
Dr. Mercer looked at him.
“What seventh child?”
“The seventh survivor.”
The doctor went pale.
Nathan remembered the file.
Seven mothers.
Seven children.
But only two listed as surviving heirs.
Then he saw it.
A door at the end of the corridor.
Unlike the others, it had no number.
It had a name.
NATHAN COLE.
Nathan walked toward it.
Grace grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“This is where they kept records about me.”
The door opened automatically.
Inside was a small room.
One chair.
One desk.
One camera.
And a single file.
Nathan picked it up.
His hands trembled.
On the cover was a photograph of himself as a child.
Underneath:
SUBJECT N-01.
Grace whispered:
“N-01?”
Nathan opened the file.
The first page contained a sentence.
THE ORIGINAL HEIR PROGRAM BEGAN WITH NATHAN COLE.
He turned the page.
His expression changed.
There was a medical record.
Then another.
Then another.
His childhood illnesses.
Blood tests.
Genetic reports.
Psychological evaluations.
Every detail of his life had been documented.
But one page made him stop.
A photograph of Nathan at age twelve.
Beside it was a note:
MATERNAL DEATH EVENT: SUCCESSFUL.
Nathan's fingers went numb.
His mother hadn't simply been killed.
Her death had been planned.
He turned another page.
A final document was attached.
It was signed by Richard Cole.
Nathan stared at the signature.
Then he read the final line.
Once Nathan produces a natural heir, terminate the mother and child.
Grace covered her mouth.
Nathan couldn't breathe.
The signature was dated five years ago.
The day Grace disappeared.
Nathan slowly lowered the file.
“My father ordered it.”
Grace shook her head.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
Grace pointed at the bottom of the page.
“There are two signatures.”
Nathan looked closer.
His father's signature was first.
Below it was another.
A signature Grace recognized immediately.
Victoria's father.
But underneath both signatures was a third name.
Nathan's eyes widened.
Because it belonged to the man whose voice had just called him.
His grandfather.
Alexander Cole.
Nathan whispered:
“He's alive.”
A speaker in the room suddenly activated.
Alexander's voice filled the chamber.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked toward the camera.
“I've been waiting for you, Nathan.”
Nathan raised his gun.
“Where are my daughters?”
Alexander laughed.
“Which one?”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Both.”
Another pause.
Then Alexander said:
“Come to the old Cole estate.”
Nathan stared.
“Why?”
“Because that's where your mother died.”
Grace's blood ran cold.
Alexander continued:
“And that's where Emma is waiting.”
Nathan's grip tightened.
“What about Lily?”
Silence.
Then Alexander spoke one final sentence.
“If you want Lily alive…”
The lights went out.
“…bring Grace alone.”
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And somewhere in the darkness, Lily suddenly screamed.
“MOMMY!”
