CHAPTER 7 THE SON NATHAN NEVER KNEW
05:00.
The timer began counting down.
04:59.
Nathan stared at the little boy.
The child stood beside Emma, gripping the sleeve of his shirt.
His eyes were wide.
Afraid.
Confused.
And somehow painfully familiar.
Nathan couldn't speak.
The boy looked at him again.
“Daddy?”
Nathan's chest tightened.
“No…”
Grace whispered the word beside him.
Not because the child wasn't his.
Because she already knew what Alexander was doing.
“You're lying.”
Alexander smiled.
“Am I?”
Nathan's eyes never left the boy.
“What is his name?”
Alexander tapped his cane against the marble floor.
“Daniel.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Nathan turned toward her.
“Grace.”
She didn't answer.
“Do you know him?”
Grace's lips trembled.
“Yes.”
Nathan's heart sank.
“How?”
She looked at Daniel.
“Because I saw him.”
“Where?”
“At the hospital.”
Grace swallowed.
“The night Emma was born.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You said Emma was your first child.”
“She was.”
“Then who is he?”
Grace looked at Nathan.
“I don't know.”
Alexander laughed.
“That's the beauty of the arrangement.”
Nathan pointed his gun at him.
“Stop playing games.”
Alexander didn't flinch.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then lower the weapon.”
“No.”
Alexander shrugged.
“Then your son dies in five minutes.”
Grace grabbed Nathan's arm.
“Don't.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What does he mean?”
“I don't know.”
“You know something.”
“I remember seeing him.”
She looked at Daniel.
“He was in a bassinet next to Emma.”
Nathan frowned.
“Why?”
Grace shook her head.
“There were two babies.”
Nathan's face changed.
“Two?”
“Yes.”
Grace's voice became weaker.
“The nurses called them C-17 and C-18.”
Nathan looked at Alexander.
“And you told everyone Emma was the only child.”
Alexander smiled.
“Because only one was supposed to survive.”
Nathan's expression darkened.
“Why?”
“Because two natural heirs were never part of the plan.”
Grace stared at him.
“Natural?”
Alexander nodded.
“Emma was created through the program.”
He pointed at Daniel.
“So was he.”
Then he pointed at Lily.
“But she wasn't.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“Then why are they all here?”
“Because the program failed.”
Alexander smiled.
“Lily changed everything.”
The timer continued.
04:21.
Nathan looked at Daniel.
“Who is his mother?”
Alexander's smile disappeared.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“Then what's the right one?”
“Who gave him Nathan Cole's DNA?”
Silence.
Nathan slowly turned toward Grace.
She shook her head.
“I didn't.”
Alexander laughed.
“Of course you didn't.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Then who?”
Alexander lifted his cane.
“Your mother.”
Nathan froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“She's dead.”
“She was alive when Daniel was created.”
Nathan's breathing stopped.
Alexander continued.
“Your mother secretly took your genetic material when you were a teenager.”
Nathan stared at him.
“She used it to create the first heir.”
“Daniel.”
Alexander nodded.
“Daniel was the prototype.”
Nathan looked at the boy again.
The little boy was crying now.
He didn't understand any of it.
He only knew that the man in front of him was someone he desperately wanted to call father.
Nathan slowly lowered his gun.
Daniel took one step toward him.
“Daddy…”
Nathan crouched.
“Come here.”
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
“Don't.”
Nathan ignored him.
Daniel ran.
Nathan caught him.
The boy wrapped both arms around Nathan's neck.
Nathan closed his eyes.
For the first time, he held a son he never knew existed.
And the child whispered:
“I waited for you.”
Nathan's eyes filled with tears.
“I'm sorry.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Mommy said you would come.”
Nathan froze.
“Your mommy?”
Daniel nodded.
“She's waiting upstairs.”
Grace's face went white.
Nathan looked at Alexander.
“You said he didn't have a mother.”
“I said nothing of the sort.”
Nathan stood.
“Who is she?”
Alexander smiled.
“Someone you know.”
Grace suddenly stepped backward.
“No.”
Nathan turned.
“Grace?”
She stared at Alexander.
“I know what you're doing.”
Alexander smiled.
“Do you?”
“You're trying to make us turn against each other.”
“I'm giving you the truth.”
“No.”
Grace pointed at Daniel.
“That boy's mother is dead.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“Are you certain?”
Grace's face crumbled.
“I saw her.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Who?”
Grace whispered a name.
“Emily.”
Nathan froze.
His younger sister.
She had disappeared when he was twenty-one.
The family had told him she ran away.
He had never seen her again.
Nathan's voice trembled.
“Emily is his mother?”
Alexander nodded.
“Your sister gave birth to Daniel.”
Nathan looked horrified.
“But she's…”
“Alive.”
Nathan stared at him.
“Where?”
Alexander pointed upward.
“She's waiting for you.”
Grace grabbed Nathan's hand.
“Don't go.”
Nathan looked at her.
“She might be alive.”
“That is exactly what he wants you to believe.”
A gunshot exploded.
The marble floor beside Nathan shattered.
Everyone screamed.
Alexander hadn't fired.
One of the guards had.
The timer continued.
03:08.
Alexander's voice became cold.
“Choose.”
Nathan looked at Lily.
Then Emma.
Then Daniel.
“No.”
Alexander frowned.
Nathan raised his weapon.
“I'm not choosing.”
“You have three children.”
“Then I'll save all three.”
Alexander laughed.
“You can't.”
Nathan's eyes hardened.
“Watch me.”
He grabbed Daniel's hand.
Grace pulled Lily close.
Emma suddenly ran toward them.
“Daddy!”
Nathan caught her too.
For one brief moment, all three children were together.
Alexander's expression finally changed.
Fear.
Just for a second.
Nathan noticed.
“You're afraid.”
Alexander said nothing.
“You're afraid of them being together.”
Nathan looked at the three children.
“Why?”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“Because together, they can destroy everything.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“What do they have?”
Alexander didn't answer.
Grace looked at Emma.
Then Daniel.
Then Lily.
She suddenly noticed something.
Each child had a small mark on the inside of their wrist.
A tiny black circle.
Grace stared.
“They all have it.”
Nathan looked down.
Daniel's wrist.
Emma's.
Lily's.
Lily had the same mark.
Nathan looked at Alexander.
“What is that?”
Alexander's face went pale.
Grace suddenly remembered something.
Five years ago.
The day Lily was born.
A nurse had marked Lily's wrist.
Grace had asked why.
The nurse had said it was simply an identification mark.
But now…
It was identical.
Alexander's voice became quiet.
“The mark means they are compatible.”
“Compatible with what?”
Alexander looked at the three children.
“With the vault.”
Nathan frowned.
“What vault?”
“The one beneath this estate.”
Richard's voice suddenly came from behind them.
“Don't open it.”
Everyone turned.
Richard stood in the doorway.
Blood covered one side of his face.
Nathan stared.
“Dad?”
Richard looked at the children.
Then at Alexander.
“You found all three.”
Alexander smiled.
“You failed to stop him.”
Richard's eyes fell on Nathan.
“I tried to protect you.”
Nathan's voice was bitter.
“You've been saying that my whole life.”
Richard took a step forward.
“I need you to listen to me now.”
Nathan raised his gun.
“Why?”
Richard pointed toward the floor.
“Because the vault isn't holding money.”
Nathan stared.
“Then what?”
Richard's face was filled with terror.
“It contains the original records of every child.”
Grace's heart sank.
Richard continued:
“And if Alexander opens it…”
He looked at Lily.
“…the entire world will learn what the Cole family has done.”
Alexander's expression hardened.
“Enough.”
Richard shouted:
“Nathan, don't let him get the children into that vault!”
The lights suddenly went out.
A metallic door opened somewhere beneath the mansion.
Then a voice echoed through the darkness.
“VAULT ACCESS GRANTED.”
The timer stopped.
02:00.
A second later, every lock in the mansion released.
Alexander smiled.
“It has begun.”
And beneath their feet, something enormous started moving.
The entire mansion shook.
Lily screamed.
Emma grabbed Nathan.
Daniel clung to Grace.
Then the floor beneath them cracked open.
May you like
And Nathan realized the vault wasn't beneath the mansion.
The mansion had been built on top of it.
