Chapter 12 - THE FAMILY REUNIONThe emergency lights flickered red.
Victor stood at the far end of the warehouse.
Older than I remembered.
But alive.
My father.
Two armed men stood beside him.
Daniel was there too.
His hands were tied.
Victor smiled.
“You always did make things complicated, Ethan.”
I stepped in front of Claire.
“You're not taking Noah.”
Victor laughed.
“Taking?”
He shook his head.
“Noah already belongs to me.”
Claire held the baby tighter.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
Victor walked closer.
“I built an empire.”
“You murdered my mother.”
“She betrayed me.”
“You murdered Lucas.”
“I corrected a problem.”
Lucas stepped forward.
“You tried.”
Victor looked at him.
“You should be dead.”
“So should you.”
Victor smiled.
“Yet here we are.”
He turned toward me.
“You want to know the truth?”
I said nothing.
“You were never meant to inherit Carter Holdings.”
“I know.”
“You were designed to protect it.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were the respectable son.”
Victor pointed toward Lucas.
“He was the useful son.”
Then Noah.
“And the baby was the bloodline.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why him?”
“Because the trust is genetically locked.”
Claire stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
Victor smiled.
“Am I?”
Daniel shouted,
“Don't listen to him!”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“You kept him alive longer than I expected.”
“You're going to prison,” Daniel said.
Victor laughed.
“Not before everyone else.”
Then he pulled out a small remote.
“I planted explosives around this building.”
Silence.
“You have five minutes.”
Claire looked at me.
Victor continued.
“Give me Noah.”
“No.”
“Then everyone dies.”
I grabbed Daniel's eyes.
He was looking at the ceiling.
At a sprinkler pipe.
Then at me.
He mouthed:
THREE.
I understood.
Lucas moved left.
Vanessa moved right.
Claire held Noah.
Daniel kicked the chair.
It slammed into one guard.
Chaos exploded.
Gunshots.
Glass.
Screams.
I tackled the second guard.
Lucas attacked Victor.
Vanessa ran toward the exit.
Claire dragged Daniel.
Then the first explosion hit.
The warehouse shook.
I grabbed Noah.
Smoke filled the room.
“Claire!”
No answer.
“Claire!”
I turned.
She was trapped beneath fallen metal.
I ran toward her.
“Ethan, go!”
“No!”
“Take Noah!”
“I’m not leaving you!”
She screamed.
“GO!”
Another explosion.
The floor cracked.
I pulled at the metal.
Nothing.
Then Victor appeared through the smoke.
He looked at Claire.
Then at me.
“You still choose her.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
He raised his gun.
A gunshot rang out.
Victor fell.
I looked behind him.
Daniel stood there.
Holding the gun.
Victor collapsed.
But before he died, he smiled.
“Open the ledger,” he whispered.
“What?”
His eyes found Noah.
Then he breathed his final words.
May you like
“Page seventy-two.”
And died.
