Chapter 12 - THE MAN ABOVE THE EMPIREWe escaped through an underground tunnel.
The facility collapsed behind us.
My mother survived.
Mercer survived.
Eleanor disappeared.
Nathan was missing.
And my father looked more frightened than I'd ever seen him.
“Who activated Project Eve?”
He didn't answer.
“Dad.”
“Not here.”
We reached a secure bunker beneath Calder Tower.
My mother sat across from me.
I stared at her.
Twenty years of questions crowded my mind.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
“Because people were watching you.”
“Who?”
“The Council.”
“What council?”
My mother looked at Victor.
He answered.
“The Sovereign Circle.”
I frowned.
“They control governments?”
“Influence them.”
“Banks?”
“Yes.”
“Media?”
“Yes.”
“Security companies?”
“Yes.”
“Who leads them?”
My mother said:
“Your grandfather.”
I stared.
“My grandfather?”
She nodded.
“Elias Calder.”
I had never heard the name.
My father had told me my grandfather died before I was born.
That was another lie.
Victor finally confessed.
“My father was the founder of the Sovereign Circle.”
“And you?”
“I was his heir.”
“Then why did you leave?”
“Because he wanted control of you.”
I turned to my mother.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You both lied.”
“Yes.”
“To protect me?”
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You protected me so well that I married my own cousin.”
Silence.
My mother lowered her eyes.
“That's why I never wanted you to marry Kyle.”
I looked at her.
“You knew?”
“We tried to stop the marriage.”
“But Kyle didn't know.”
“No.”
Then the bunker doors opened.
A guard stepped in.
“Mr. Calder.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
He handed over a tablet.
A live broadcast.
Elias Calder appeared on every channel.
An old man.
White hair.
Perfect suit.
Sharp eyes.
He looked directly into the camera.
“My granddaughter.”
I felt frozen.
“Isabella.”
He smiled.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
My father moved toward the screen.
“Leave her out of this.”
Elias laughed.
“You still think you can protect her.”
He continued.
“The Sovereign Circle now controls thirty-seven financial institutions.”
My father said:
“Lies.”
“Check the markets.”
We did.
Banks began freezing.
Stock markets collapsed.
Currency prices moved violently.
Elias continued.
“By midnight, Calder Dominion will cease to exist.”
My father looked at the screens.
“I thought you died.”
“So did everyone.”
Elias smiled.
“I've been building an empire.”
Then the camera changed.
A photograph appeared.
Kyle.
Alive.
Standing beside Nathan.
My blood ran cold.
Elias spoke.
“Your husband has accepted an offer.”
I stared.
“No.”
“He will become the next chairman of Whitmore Holdings.”
I turned toward my mother.
“Kyle.”
She looked stunned.
Elias smiled.
“Isabella, you should know something.”
“What?”
“Your father didn't rescue you from Kyle.”
Silence.
“He placed you with him.”
I looked at Victor.
“What?”
Elias continued.
“Victor needed to know whether you had inherited the Project Eve gene.”
My heart stopped.
My father said nothing.
Elias laughed.
“And now he knows.”
The broadcast ended.
I turned toward my father.
“Is it true?”
He swallowed.
“Partly.”
“Partly?”
“We needed to know if the system recognized you.”
“You used my marriage as an experiment.”
“I thought it would be harmless.”
I stepped back.
“Kyle hit me.”
“I never expected that.”
“But you still knew he was dangerous.”
Silence.
I walked away.
My mother tried to stop me.
“Isabella.”
“No.”
I opened the bunker door.
“I need air.”
The hallway was empty.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Kyle.
Meet me alone.
Another followed.
I know the truth about your father.
Then another.
And if you don't come, I'll tell the world what Project Eve was really designed to do.
I stared at the messages.
For the first time, I couldn't tell who was betraying me.
My father.
My mother.
Kyle.
Nathan.
Elias.
May you like
Everyone had lied.
And somewhere above us, an empire was burning.
