Chapter 12 - The nursery door was open.A single lamp glowed inside.
Elena stepped in.
The room was empty.
Crib.
Rocking chair.
White curtains moving in the night breeze.
Then she heard a click.
The door locked behind her.
Vanessa stepped from the shadows.
She was holding a gun.
Her face looked broken.
“Where is Ruiz?”
Elena stared at her.
“Outside.”
Vanessa laughed.
“No. He isn't.”
“What did you do?”
“I cut the power to the cameras.”
Elena looked around.
“You're running out of places to hide.”
“So are you.”
Vanessa lifted the gun.
“I never wanted to kill you.”
“You pushed me.”
“I was scared.”
“You planned it.”
“I was told I would die if I didn't.”
“By Charles?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Elena froze.
“Then who?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Your husband.”
Silence.
Elena felt as if the floor had disappeared.
“Adrian?”
“He contacted me before we ever started the affair.”
“That is a lie.”
“He knew about your inheritance.”
“No.”
“He knew you were the heir.”
“No.”
“He told me to become close to him.”
Elena shook her head.
“Why?”
“To destroy you.”
Elena remembered every strange moment.
Every late-night argument.
Every secret phone call.
Every time Adrian told her she was imagining things.
She couldn't breathe.
Vanessa lowered the gun slightly.
“I was supposed to get you declared mentally unstable.”
“And then?”
“You'd be removed from the trust.”
“What about my baby?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Elena...”
“What about my baby?”
“They wanted the baby born under controlled conditions.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked toward the crib.
“Because your child carries the original bloodline.”
Elena's hands moved protectively over her stomach.
“Who is the father?”
Vanessa stared at her.
“You don't know?”
Elena shook her head.
Vanessa whispered:
“Adrian isn't.”
The world seemed to stop.
“No.”
“They switched the DNA results.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Cross.”
“Why?”
“Because the real father is dangerous.”
“Who?”
Vanessa's eyes moved toward the door.
Elena heard footsteps outside.
Vanessa whispered:
“He's already here.”
The nursery door opened.
Adrian stood there.
He was holding a gun.
Elena stared at him.
“Adrian.”
His face was empty.
Vanessa stepped aside.
“I told you she would never believe me.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
“I'm sorry.”
Elena backed away.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the inheritance.”
“Yes.”
“You arranged the affair.”
“Yes.”
“You tried to make me look insane.”
“Yes.”
“And the fall?”
His silence answered.
Elena looked toward Vanessa.
“You said—”
Vanessa suddenly smiled.
“I said Adrian told me to do it.”
Then Adrian raised his gun.
But not at Elena.
He fired at Vanessa.
The shot hit her shoulder.
She screamed and collapsed.
Elena stared in shock.
Adrian grabbed her.
“Run.”
She pulled away.
“Why?”
“Because I was lying to Vanessa.”
“What?”
“I didn't arrange the fall.”
“Then who did?”
Adrian looked toward the doorway.
His face became terrified.
“Her real employer.”
Elena turned.
A man stood in the hall.
Dr. Leonard Cross.
He held another gun.
May you like
And behind him stood a woman Elena had never seen before.
The woman looked exactly like Elena.
