Chapter 8 - We returned to Ashford House before dawn.Not because it was safe.

Because it was the opposite.

Someone wanted us there.

And I had decided to stop running.

Marco had disappeared.

Four guards were dead.

Harper was missing.

My wife's resurrection had shattered everything I believed.

My brother was alive.

My father might be alive.

And some unknown enemy was wearing the faces of the people closest to me.

Ashford House felt less like home than a machine designed to trap us.

Claire stood in the command room.

“We shouldn't go inside.”

“We're already inside.”

“No.”

She looked at me.

“We shouldn't stay.”

Elena nodded.

“She's right.”

I turned.

“You think we leave?”

“My daughter is inside.”

“Exactly.”

“You don't understand.”

“I understand perfectly.”

Elena grabbed my arm.

“You're walking into a trap.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

“Because traps have exits.”

Daniel watched us.

“You sound like your father.”

I turned.

“That isn't a compliment.”

“No.”

He looked toward the east wing.

“It's a warning.”

We entered the house.

Nothing moved.

No alarms.

No guards.

No sound.

Then the doors locked.

Every one of them.

Claire immediately reached for the control panel.

“Manual override.”

“It isn't responding.”

Victor stared at the screens.

“Someone changed the software.”

“Can you stop it?”

“No.”

I looked at him.

“Then you're less useful than I thought.”

The lights turned on.

One by one.

The chandelier.

The hallway lights.

The study.

The dining room.

Finally, the staircase.

A figure stood at the top.

My father.

Or someone wearing his face.

He smiled.

“Good evening.”

I raised my weapon.

“Where's Harper?”

He looked at Elena.

“You came home.”

Elena's face went white.

“Arthur?”

He smiled.

“No.”

His face changed.

Not physically.

Digitally.

His features flickered.

Arthur Ashford.

Then Daniel.

Then me.

Then Victor.

Finally, a woman.

Isabel Voss.

She stepped down the stairs.

Real.

Not a recording.

Her dark hair was streaked with silver.

Her expression was calm.

“Hello, Marcus.”

I didn't fire.

Because Harper suddenly appeared beside her.

Alive.

Holding her hand.

I felt my knees weaken.

“Dad.”

I took a step.

Isabel raised one finger.

“Slowly.”

Harper looked at me.

“I knew you'd come.”

My jaw tightened.

“Let her go.”

“Of course.”

“Now.”

“You haven't paid.”

I pulled the drive from my pocket.

“You want the company?”

“Yes.”

“You get it.”

Isabel smiled.

“Finally.”

“But first…”

I held up the drive.

“…you tell me why Harper.”

Her expression changed.

For the first time, I saw genuine fear.

“She remembers.”

“What?”

“Everything.”

I looked at Harper.

“Everything what?”

Isabel's voice lowered.

“The night Elena shot Arthur.”

Elena flinched.

“Harper was there.”

I turned.

“My daughter was two.”

“Children remember things adults assume they forget.”

Isabel continued.

“She saw your father enter the house.”

Harper whispered:

“Grandpa wasn't alone.”

I looked at Isabel.

“Who was with him?”

Harper answered.

“A woman.”

Isabel's face changed.

Elena whispered:

“Me.”

“No.”

Harper shook her head.

“Not Mommy.”

Silence.

She pointed at Isabel.

“That woman.”

Isabel went still.

“What did you see?”

Harper's eyes filled with tears.

“You told Grandpa to shoot Mommy.”

Isabel's expression hardened.

Daniel raised his weapon.

“So it was you.”

Isabel smiled.

“Children remember incorrectly.”

Harper shook her head.

“Mommy cried.”

Elena covered her mouth.

“And Daddy came.”

I froze.

“What?”

Harper pointed at me.

“You came in.”

I couldn't breathe.

“But…”

She whispered:

“You weren't Daddy.”

The room erupted.

Daniel fired.

Isabel ducked.

The windows shattered.

Gunfire exploded.

I grabbed Harper.

Elena pulled Claire behind the sofa.

Victor returned fire.

Then Harper screamed.

I looked down.

She wasn't looking at Isabel.

She was looking at the staircase.

At a man standing there.

My face.

My clothes.

My voice.

The false Marcus.

He smiled.

Then he raised a gun.

Straight at Elena.

I jumped.

The shot exploded.

Elena fell.

“Mom!”

Blood spread across her shirt.

I caught her.

“No.”

She stared at me.

Her lips moved.

“Marcus…”

“I've got you.”

She smiled weakly.

“I remember now.”

“What?”

“The night you came home…”

Her eyes widened.

“You weren't alone.”

I froze.

“Who was with me?”

She whispered one name.

“Harper.”

May you like

I Came Home Early and Found My Housekeeper’s 3-Year-Old Daughter Scrubbi...

I returned home hours earlier than expected and discovered my housekeeper’s three-year-old daughter standing barefoot in the laund...

My Family Inherited Millions and Left Me a Ruined House. Four Months Lat...

The lawyer’s office fell silent as my grandmother’s will was read, and I watched my family inherit millions while I received nothi...

A Desperate Mother Begged a Billionaire for a Job to Feed Her Two Childr...

I was stranded on a lonely Arizona highway with two starving children, a pair of ruined suitcases, and no way to reach our destina...

The false Marcus disappeared into the smoke.

And Elena passed out in my arms.