Chapter 13 - The Final MorrisonCassidy knelt beside Brendan.
“Brendan.”
His eyes fluttered.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Enough.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
Adrian aimed at Cassidy.
“Drop it.”
Daniel froze.
Arthur reached for the emergency alarm.
Adrian fired.
The alarm panel exploded.
Cassidy looked up.
“Why?”
Adrian stared at her.
“Because Victor promised me control.”
“He's dead.”
“He left promises behind.”
“You murdered Jessica?”
“No.”
“Diane?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
He pulled out a photograph.
Nathaniel Ellison.
Alive.
Cassidy's face went white.
“That isn't possible.”
“He survived.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“That photograph is recent.”
Adrian nodded.
“Your father has been alive for seven years.”
Lily collapsed into a chair.
“No.”
Adrian looked at Cassidy.
“He built the plan.”
Cassidy shook her head.
“You expect me to believe this?”
“I expect you to look.”
He placed a tablet on the desk.
A live video appeared.
An older man sat in a dark room.
Cassidy knew the face instantly.
Her father.
Nathaniel Ellison.
Alive.
Cassidy couldn't breathe.
“Dad?”
Nathaniel looked at the camera.
“Cassidy.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You let me believe Lily was dead.”
“I had to protect you.”
Cassidy's voice broke.
“From what?”
Nathaniel looked at Adrian.
“From him.”
Adrian laughed.
“You see?”
Nathaniel continued.
“The Morrison family was never the threat.”
Cassidy stared.
“Then who is?”
Nathaniel took a breath.
“Me.”
Silence.
Cassidy felt her world collapse.
Her father explained everything.
He had created the Ellison trust.
He had used Morrison Global as a shield.
He had concealed Lily because she had discovered the truth.
Adrian had been his agent.
Victor Morrison had known.
The marriage had been part of the plan.
Brendan had been used.
Diane had been used.
Even Jessica had been used.
Everyone was a piece.
Cassidy whispered:
“You destroyed all of us.”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
“I was trying to preserve the company.”
“For whom?”
“For you.”
Cassidy stared.
Then looked at her stomach.
“My daughter?”
Nathaniel nodded.
“She is the last successor.”
Adrian suddenly turned.
“Enough.”
He grabbed Lily.
“Give me the seal.”
Lily shook her head.
Adrian pressed the gun against her.
Cassidy stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
“No.”
“I'm the one you want.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You think I'm afraid of killing you?”
“No.”
Cassidy slowly smiled.
“I think you're afraid of what happens when you kill me.”
Adrian frowned.
Cassidy held up her phone.
A timer was running.
02:17.
“What is that?”
“Protocol 8.”
Arthur stared at her.
She had never told him.
Cassidy continued.
“Protocol 7 freezes the company.”
She looked at Adrian.
“Protocol 8 transfers everything.”
Adrian's face changed.
“To whom?”
Cassidy touched her stomach.
“My daughter.”
Adrian's eyes widened.
“If you kill me, the transfer becomes permanent.”
Nathaniel's face appeared on the tablet.
He whispered:
“Cassidy, don't.”
She looked at him.
“You already made enough decisions for me.”
The timer reached 00:47.
Cassidy stepped closer.
“You wanted control?”
Her voice was calm.
“You have thirty seconds.”
Adrian's gun hand began to shake.
Then Brendan, still bleeding, moved.
He grabbed Adrian's ankle.
Adrian stumbled.
Daniel lunged.
One shot.
Then another.
Adrian fell.
Silence.
Cassidy stared at the timer.
00:12.
Arthur shouted:
“Cassidy, shut it down!”
She looked at the screen.
Her father was still watching.
Lily was crying.
Brendan was bleeding.
The company was collapsing around them.
Cassidy reached for the phone.
Then stopped.
Because another message appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
Protocol 8 was never real.
Cassidy's blood froze.
A second message arrived.
But the person who wrote it is standing behind you.
She slowly turned.
There was no one.
May you like
Then the lights went out.
And somewhere in the darkness, a child began to laugh.
