Chapter 19 - The Last SecretSmoke swallowed the room.
Adrian dragged Toby toward the exit.
Daniel followed.
I stayed behind.
Something Victor said echoed in my head.
“She chose you.”
I looked at the burning servers.
There had to be something else.
I ran toward the central console.
A hidden file was opening.
PROJECT HEIR
The screen showed my mother.
Her voice filled the room.
“Cara, if you’re seeing this, Victor has failed to stop you.”
I froze.
“This is the final truth.”
The video changed.
Two babies.
Twins.
Me.
And another child.
But the second baby wasn’t in a hospital.
She was in the arms of another woman.
Isabella.
My real biological sister.
Not the hidden daughter.
Something bigger.
The woman in the photograph was not my twin.
She was my older sister.
Isabella.
“She was born six years before you,” my mother said.
“She disappeared because Victor wanted her as leverage.”
My hands shook.
“Your adoption was designed to hide the bloodline.”
The screen changed again.
A photograph of Victor.
Beside him stood a young woman.
Elena Vale.
Not Isabella.
Elena was the architect of Black Ledger.
And she was the person who had manipulated every Duca from the shadows.
Then came the final revelation.
My mother had not simply stolen the ledger.
She had built a failsafe.
The ledger would only unlock fully when all three Duca heirs were present.
Adrian.
Isabella.
Me.
I stared.
Somewhere outside, an alarm screamed.
Then a voice came from behind me.
“You found it.”
I turned.
Isabella stood in the doorway.
Alive.
Bleeding.
Holding a gun.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Cara.”
I whispered:
“Why?”
She lowered the gun.
“Because Mom was right.”
“She said I was the key.”
“You are.”
“Then why did you try to kill me?”
“I didn’t.”
I stared.
She shook her head.
“Someone wanted you to think I did.”
“Who?”
She looked behind me.
A shadow moved through the smoke.
Adrian.
No.
The figure stepped forward.
It was Elena.
She smiled.
May you like
And behind her stood Vincent.
Alive.
