Chapter 12 - The Six ChildrenI didn't know how long I stood there.
Six children.
One surviving.
Lily.
The room seemed to shrink around me.
“Who killed them?”
Ryan looked at Daniel's crest etched into the metal box.
“Your father.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Ryan turned toward her.
“You still don't understand.”
He explained.
Daniel had financed an illegal inheritance project.
Children were created using combinations of Mercer genetic material.
The goal was simple.
Find a child genetically compatible with the trust's biological security system.
Five failed.
Lily survived.
And Grandfather had anticipated the experiment.
He left behind evidence.
That was the reason Daniel couldn't simply kill Lily.
Too many records.
Too many hidden witnesses.
Ryan handed me a flash drive.
“Everything is on here.”
I looked at him.
“Why are you helping me?”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“Because Emily was right.”
“You loved her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you betray her?”
Ryan looked away.
“I thought I could protect Lily by cooperating.”
“You nearly got her killed.”
“I know.”
He lowered his gun.
“I'm sorry.”
Then the building shook.
An explosion erupted outside.
We fell to the floor.
Glass shattered.
Marcus shouted from the hallway.
“Move!”
Smoke filled the room.
When I stood, Victoria was gone.
Ryan was gone.
Grace was gone.
Only the metal box remained.
And the phone.
It rang.
I answered.
Daniel.
“You're almost there.”
“Where's Lily?”
“You'll see her soon.”
“Where?”
He gave me an address.
A private hospital.
The same hospital where Lily had been born.
I rushed there.
The maternity ward was empty.
Except for a single nurse.
She looked terrified.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
She handed me an envelope.
“Your father left this.”
Inside was a birth certificate.
Lily's.
Under father:
Nathan Mercer.
Under mother:
Emily Mercer.
No surprises.
Until I looked at the attending physician.
Dr. Adrian Cole.
I knew that name.
He had been my father's personal physician.
He was also the doctor who signed my father's death certificate.
I found him in the basement records room.
He looked at me.
“It's over.”
“What did you do?”
“Everything your family told me to.”
“Where's Lily?”
He closed his eyes.
“I can't tell you.”
I grabbed his collar.
“Then I'll make you.”
He finally whispered:
“She isn't in this hospital.”
“Where is she?”
“Underneath it.”
My blood turned cold.
“There is an old tunnel network beneath the original maternity wing.”
“Take me there.”
Dr. Cole shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“The tunnels aren't empty.”
He pointed toward a steel door.
“Your grandfather built them.”
I opened the door.
The darkness beyond seemed endless.
On the wall was one sentence:
ONLY THE BLOOD OF MERCER MAY ENTER.
My hand trembled as I touched the door.
It unlocked.
May you like
And from deep inside the tunnel, I heard a little girl's voice.
“Daddy?”
