Chapter 14 - The Last HeirThomas looked at Lily.
She moved behind Avery.
I stepped between them.
“You won't touch her.”
Thomas laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Explain.”
He lowered his gun.
“Your family has been lying for generations.”
He pointed at the archive.
“This organization survives because of bloodlines.”
“Not money?”
“Money is replaceable.”
He looked at Lily.
“Names aren't.”
Robert stepped forward.
“What does Lily have?”
Thomas's smile disappeared.
“The original genetic authorization.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The mineral trust can only be transferred by a descendant of Edward Vale.”
I looked at myself.
“Then me.”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You are not recognized as the first heir.”
“Then who is?”
He looked at Lily.
Her face went white.
“Her.”
I felt something inside me snap.
“Why?”
“Because Edward created a second clause.”
Robert rushed to the archive.
He found a document.
His eyes widened.
“Clifford…”
“What?”
“This is real.”
He handed it to me.
The trust had been created to protect the mineral rights from the Vale organization.
But the final beneficiary was not the oldest child.
It was the last surviving female descendant.
Lily.
Thomas's expression became desperate.
“I spent my entire life trying to reclaim what was stolen from me.”
“You tried to kill Lily.”
“I tried to control her.”
“You kidnapped Julian.”
“Because Julian gave me leverage.”
“You destroyed Avery's life.”
Thomas looked at my daughter.
“I was trying to force you all to reveal the trust.”
Avery stepped forward.
“You ruined everything.”
Thomas looked down.
“I know.”
Then the lights flickered.
The vault doors began closing.
Robert shouted.
“We're trapped!”
Thomas looked confused.
“I didn't do that.”
A red light appeared.
A recorded voice filled the chamber.
Vivian Rook.
“Thomas, you disappoint me.”
Thomas stared at the ceiling.
“No.”
Vivian continued.
“You were never meant to inherit.”
Thomas looked at me.
“She was using me.”
The chamber doors sealed.
Gas began filling the room.
Avery grabbed Lily.
“Dad!”
I ran toward the control panel.
Robert searched the files.
Margaret shouted:
“There!”
She pointed at an old lever.
I pulled it.
Nothing.
The gas thickened.
Thomas staggered.
Then Lily walked toward the center of the room.
She touched the metal box.
A hidden panel opened.
Inside was a fingerprint scanner.
Thomas stared.
“No.”
Lily placed her hand against it.
The system activated.
The gas stopped.
The doors opened.
A screen appeared.
A message from Edward Vale.
“If you're seeing this, Lily, then the Vale organization has failed.”
Lily stared.
The recording continued.
“I knew they would come for you.”
Then Edward looked directly into the camera.
“The trust does not belong to my children.”
“It belongs to the person who refuses the throne.”
Lily began crying.
Edward smiled faintly.
“And that is why I chose you.”
The screen changed.
Bank accounts.
Property transfers.
Evidence.
Every secret account controlled by the organization.
Robert whispered:
“This is enough to bring down half the network.”
Then a final document appeared.
A list of beneficiaries.
At the very bottom was one name.
Clifford Hale.
I stared.
“What?”
Lily looked at me.
The recording continued.
“Clifford, if you survived long enough to hear this, then you are the guardian.”
I looked at Margaret.
She was crying.
“The guardian of what?”
The screen displayed the final line.
THE GUARDIAN MUST CHOOSE WHO LIVES.
Avery screamed.
“What does that mean?”
The chamber lights turned red.
A gunshot echoed.
Thomas fell.
But the gun wasn't in his hand.
Someone else was standing behind him.
Alan.
Blood on his shirt.
Gun raised.
May you like
He looked at me.
“Choose.”
