Chapter 14 - PROJECT BLACK TABLEProject Black Table had existed before I was born.
Before Diane.
Before Robert.
Before the Vale empire.
It was an agreement between six wealthy families.
My grandfather had been one of the six.
The purpose was simple.
Control.
Companies.
Politicians.
Banks.
Media.
Courts.
Anything that could protect their fortunes.
But one family betrayed the others.
The Vales.
They wanted everything.
So the families created a secret legal structure.
The Black Table.
Every generation, each family sent one heir.
That heir controlled their share.
My grandfather refused.
He wanted out.
That's why he created the trust.
And that's why he hid me.
Because I was the one heir who could expose everything.
I stared at Victoria.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your mother was right.”
“About what?”
“You were safer not knowing.”
I almost laughed.
“That worked brilliantly.”
Victoria looked away.
“People died.”
“My family was destroyed.”
“Yes.”
“And Diane?”
“She was recruited at nineteen.”
“To the Black Table?”
“Yes.”
“Robert?”
“Also.”
“Jonathan?”
“No.”
“That's why they hunted him.”
I understood.
Jonathan had refused to join.
That made him dangerous.
Victoria handed me another file.
Inside were names.
Senators.
Judges.
CEOs.
Foreign executives.
Police officers.
Then one name stopped me.
Ryan.
“What?”
Victoria nodded.
“He was marked twenty years ago.”
“But he was a child.”
“They planned to use him.”
I looked at the document.
Ryan had been watched since childhood.
His marriage assignment wasn't the beginning.
It was the final stage.
I closed the file.
“Where is the Black Table now?”
Victoria pointed to the second key.
“Where it began.”
“Where?”
“The original Vale estate.”
I stared.
“The one that burned?”
She nodded.
“Underneath it.”
We returned that night.
The ruins were surrounded by police tape.
Beneath the basement, we found a staircase.
At the bottom was a room.
Six chairs.
A circular table.
Six engraved family crests.
And one empty chair.
Mine.
I stared.
Victoria whispered:
“They've been waiting for you.”
“Who?”
Lights turned on.
Six screens activated.
Six faces appeared.
Diane.
Robert.
A senator.
A banker.
A judge.
And a sixth person I didn't recognize.
Then the final screen changed.
Ryan.
His face appeared.
He was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
I stepped forward.
“Ryan!”
His lips moved.
“Claire…”
Then the screen cut to black.
A countdown appeared.
I looked at Victoria.
“What is this?”
She whispered:
“They're activating the Table.”
I grabbed the silver key.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
Victoria stared at me.
“The world learns everything.”
Zero.
Every screen turned white.
Then a recording began.
My mother appeared.
She was younger.
Holding baby Claire.
And beside her was Lily.
Mother looked into the camera.
“If you're seeing this…”
She cried.
“…then I failed.”
The recording continued.
“There is one final secret.”
She looked directly at the camera.
“Claire isn't the heir.”
I froze.
“She is the bait.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
Mother whispered:
“The real heir is Lily.”
