Chapter 14 - MIDNIGHT AT CALDER TOWERAt 11:47 p.m., I entered the tower.
Alone.
Or so everyone believed.
Mercer had recovered enough to help.
My father and mother were hidden on the lower levels.
The tower had been evacuated.
Elias wanted me isolated.
He had no idea how much I had learned.
The elevator rose.
Forty floors.
Forty-one.
Forty-two.
Then the doors opened.
The top floor was empty.
Except for a single chair.
Kyle was tied to it.
His face was bruised.
Alive.
Barely.
I ran toward him.
“Stop.”
Elias appeared behind the glass wall.
“You came.”
“Release him.”
“Soon.”
I looked around.
“Where is Project Eve?”
Elias smiled.
“You're standing in it.”
The entire floor lit up.
Computers appeared from the walls.
Servers.
Screens.
Financial networks.
Government databases.
Shipping systems.
Everything connected.
“You built this?”
“My family built it.”
“And you want to control the world.”
“No.”
He approached.
“I want to prevent it from collapsing.”
“You call this prevention?”
“Markets create wars.”
He pointed to the screens.
“Governments destroy currencies.”
“People suffer.”
“I can stop that.”
“By controlling everyone?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I'm prepared.”
He placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder.
“Your husband understands.”
Kyle struggled.
“He's lying.”
Elias frowned.
“Still rebellious.”
I looked at Kyle.
“Where is the drive?”
Kyle looked confused.
“I don't have it.”
“Thalia took it.”
Elias smiled.
“She did.”
He turned toward the screen.
A camera feed appeared.
Thalia entered Calder Tower.
She was carrying the drive.
Elias had expected that.
Thalia entered the room.
“You promised me my child would be safe.”
Elias smiled.
“He will be.”
“You said that before.”
“And I mean it.”
She handed him the drive.
Elias opened it.
His expression changed.
“What is this?”
Thalia smiled through tears.
“A trap.”
The screens suddenly went black.
Then every server disconnected.
A message appeared.
PROJECT EVE LOCKDOWN.
Elias stared.
“Who did this?”
My father stepped into the room.
Victor.
Weapon raised.
“Your daughter.”
Elias turned toward me.
“What?”
I smiled.
“You taught me something.”
“What?”
“Never trust the first plan.”
The drive Thalia gave him wasn't the real drive.
It contained a virus.
The system began deleting itself.
Elias screamed.
“No!”
He attacked the console.
My father moved closer.
“It's over.”
Elias turned.
“You think destroying the system saves you?”
“No.”
My father looked at me.
“She does.”
Elias raised a weapon.
I moved.
A gunshot.
My father fell.
“Dad!”
I ran toward him.
He was bleeding.
Elias grabbed Kyle.
“Choose.”
I froze.
“Your husband or your father.”
Eleanor's voice suddenly came from the hallway.
“Neither.”
She stepped into the room.
Alive.
Elias turned.
“You.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You always thought you were the mastermind.”
She pointed a gun at him.
“You were the decoy.”
Elias stared.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
She looked at me.
“And now I want the key.”
My mother entered behind her.
“No.”
Eleanor turned.
“Mara.”
My mother raised her weapon.
“You're finished.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You've been running for twenty years.”
She fired.
My mother dropped.
“Mom!”
Everything stopped.
I heard nothing.
I saw nothing.
Then my father shouted.
“Bella!”
I looked up.
Eleanor was moving toward me.
She raised the weapon.
“You were always the key.”
I reached for the console.
The final screen appeared.
AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.
I touched it.
A message appeared.
WELCOME, ISABELLA CALDER.
Then another.
ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS GRANTED.
The entire tower went silent.
Every screen turned blue.
Eleanor stared.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You wanted control?”
The building lights flickered.
“I'll give you something better.”
The system locked Eleanor's access.
Her phone died.
Her accounts froze.
Across the world, emergency alerts triggered.
Then one final message appeared.
PROJECT EVE TRANSFERRED TO ISABELLA CALDER.
Eleanor looked horrified.
“You don't understand what you've done.”
I stepped forward.
“I understand perfectly.”
Police flooded the floor.
Elias was arrested.
Eleanor was surrounded.
My father was alive.
My mother was alive.
Kyle was alive.
But before Eleanor was taken away, she leaned toward me.
“You think this is over?”
I stared.
She whispered:
“You still haven't learned who ordered your husband's first attack.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
She smiled.
Then she was led away.
I turned toward Kyle.
His face was pale.
My father looked at me.
My mother closed her eyes.
Because all three of them knew.
The first blow had never been about Thalia.
May you like
It had been planned.
And someone had ordered Kyle to strike me.
