Chapter 12 - Margaret pulled the trigger.Dominic shoved me down.
The bullet struck the stone altar.
Everyone scattered.
Margaret fired again.
Matteo returned fire.
She disappeared behind a pillar.
Adrian rushed toward Victor.
He was still alive.
Barely.
Margaret's voice echoed through the cathedral.
“You think this is about money?”
I looked up.
“No.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
She stepped from behind the pillar.
“It is about control.”
My mother stared at her.
“You betrayed us.”
Margaret laughed.
“You betrayed everyone first.”
I stood.
“Why did you help my father?”
“Because he promised to protect Adrian.”
She looked at him.
“And he failed.”
Adrian stared back.
“You were my mother.”
Margaret's expression softened.
“For a while.”
That shocked me.
“You're his biological mother?”
Margaret nodded.
My world twisted again.
My mother had raised Adrian.
Margaret had given birth to him.
Victor had raised him.
Samuel had fathered him?
None of it made sense.
I looked at Adrian.
“How many parents do you have?”
He almost laughed.
Apparently, he had none who knew how to love him.
Margaret continued.
“Samuel donated the genetic material.”
Samuel shouted,
“Don't.”
She ignored him.
“Victor funded the project.”
My mother covered her face.
“And Richard?”
“He designed it.”
I stared.
“Project M was never a business.”
“No.”
Margaret smiled.
“It was an experiment.”
“To create heirs who could access the network.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“Then I was selected.”
“You were born into it.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“And I?”
“You were created to be the second key.”
He stared at Margaret.
“That is why you let me suffer.”
“You were never supposed to care.”
The words broke something in him.
I looked at Dominic.
“Take her.”
Before he could move, the cathedral doors exploded inward.
Armed men flooded the entrance.
Margaret smiled.
“You're too late.”
Dominic and Matteo returned fire.
Luca pulled my mother behind a pillar.
Gabriel grabbed the evidence case.
Nico moved toward the balcony.
I looked at Adrian.
“Run.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You're hurt.”
“I've made enough decisions that hurt you.”
He took my hand.
“This one won't.”
We ran through a side corridor.
Behind us, gunfire echoed through the cathedral.
The corridor led underground.
We found a stone staircase.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Adrian looked at me.
“This wasn't on any map.”
I used the key.
The door opened.
Inside was a server room.
Hundreds of black machines hummed behind glass.
Screens lit up.
Then one displayed my face.
Another displayed Adrian's.
The system activated.
DUAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED.
I stared.
“What do we do?”
Adrian stepped closer.
A biometric panel appeared.
Two handprints.
Mine.
His.
“We put our hands down.”
I looked at him.
“What happens?”
“No idea.”
He smiled weakly.
“At this point, that's almost refreshing.”
We placed our hands on the scanners.
The machines roared.
Every screen changed.
Files began opening.
Governments.
Banks.
Corporations.
Politicians.
Military contracts.
Criminal networks.
Judges.
Law firms.
Names.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Gabriel's voice came through the radio.
“We're seeing the entire network.”
I stared.
A warning appeared.
CHOOSE SUCCESSOR.
Below it were two options.
ELENA MORETTI
ADRIAN VOSS
I looked at Adrian.
“You.”
He shook his head.
“It's yours.”
“It's ours.”
Another warning appeared.
IF NO SUCCESSOR IS SELECTED, ALL DATA WILL BE RELEASED.
I froze.
“You said the network was protection.”
“It was.”
“And now?”
“Now it's a weapon.”
I looked at the files.
If released, governments could collapse.
Companies could disappear.
People could die.
I understood why my father had hidden it.
I also understood why everyone wanted it.
I looked at Adrian.
“What would you do?”
He stared at the screens.
“Destroy it.”
My heart stopped.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Your family's secrets.”
“Yes.”
“Your proof against them.”
“Yes.”
“And the truth about my father?”
He looked at me.
“Keep that.”
The system flashed.
CONFIRM DELETION?
I placed my hand over the control panel.
Then stopped.
“No.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because someone murdered people to control this.”
I looked at the thousands of names.
“I want the truth.”
He nodded.
“Then we expose only what is criminal.”
I pressed the legal partition.
The system divided.
Evidence of crimes.
Private information.
Sensitive data.
Three separate sections.
A final prompt appeared.
AUTHORIZE PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF VERIFIED CRIMINAL RECORDS?
I selected yes.
The screens went white.
Then green.
Millions of encrypted files began transmitting.
Not to the public.
To courts.
Investigators.
Regulators.
Independent legal institutions.
Every document stamped with forensic verification.
Gabriel stared at the data flow.
“What did you do?”
I looked at him.
“Gave the truth a chain of custody.”
Then every screen froze.
A final message appeared.
EXTERNAL OVERRIDE DETECTED.
I felt cold.
“Who?”
The answer appeared.
USER: MARGARET COLE
I looked at Adrian.
“She followed us.”
Suddenly the server room doors began opening.
Slowly.
Margaret stepped inside.
Her gun was raised.
But she wasn't alone.
Behind her stood my mother.
Holding a knife against her own throat.
“Stop.”
I froze.
Margaret smiled.
“Choose.”
Her voice was calm.
“Save your mother...”
May you like
She looked at Adrian.
“Or save the system.”
