CHAPTER 10 The Final Piece of Project Phoenix
The words echoed through the entrance hall.
He'll destroy everyone connected to it.
Nobody moved.
The mansion, once filled with music and celebration, had become a fortress surrounded by ghosts.
Twenty-eight years of secrets had walked through the front door.
And now the man who created those secrets was free.
Daniel immediately grabbed his radio.
"Lock down the estate."
Every security light around Hawthorne property turned on.
The gates closed.
Cameras rotated toward every entrance.
The staff members who remained inside were moved into the main hall.
Nobody left.
Nobody entered.
Not without Daniel knowing.
But Evelyn noticed something.
Alexander wasn't surprised.
He wasn't panicking.
He looked like a man who had expected this moment.
"You knew he would escape."
Alexander looked at her.
"No."
A pause.
"I knew he had planned for it."
Evelyn studied him carefully.
The man standing in front of her was a stranger.
Yet every part of him felt strangely familiar.
The eyes.
The way he tilted his head when listening.
The quiet sadness behind his expression.
She had seen those same things in Owen.
"Tell me everything."
Alexander nodded.
"I owe you that."
Owen stood nearby.
Arms crossed.
Still angry.
Still hurt.
But listening.
Because despite everything...
He needed answers.
Alexander walked into the library.
The room where secrets had been buried for decades.
He looked around.
"Thomas loved this room."
Evelyn frowned.
"How do you know?"
Alexander gave a bitter smile.
"Because I built it."
Silence.
"You?"
"I worked with the Hawthorne family before Thomas."
He touched the old wooden shelves.
"I designed the security systems."
"The financial archives."
"The private vaults."
Valerie's eyes narrowed.
"That's why."
Everyone looked at her.
"What?"
Valerie stared at Alexander.
"You're the architect."
Alexander nodded.
"Of Project Phoenix."
Evelyn looked between them.
"Someone explain."
Alexander sat down.
"Years ago, the Hawthorne empire was not built on clean money."
"Thomas's father created a hidden network."
"Fake companies."
"Illegal transfers."
"Secret accounts."
"Political favors."
Evelyn whispered,
"And Thomas inherited it."
"No."
Alexander looked at her.
"Thomas improved it."
The room fell silent.
"He didn't want to inherit his father's empire."
Alexander continued.
"He wanted to own the entire machine."
"He needed access to the Hawthorne Foundation."
"The family trusts."
"And most importantly..."
He looked at Evelyn.
"You."
Her expression hardened.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because your family controlled the one thing Thomas couldn't buy."
Alexander paused.
"Legitimacy."
Evelyn felt sick.
For twenty-eight years, she believed she had been Thomas's partner.
His equal.
His wife.
Now she wondered if she had only been a key.
A door he needed opened.
"You married me for access."
Alexander nodded.
"Yes."
The honesty hurt.
"He studied your family before he met you."
"He knew your habits."
"Your values."
"Your weaknesses."
Evelyn whispered:
"My weaknesses?"
Alexander looked at her.
"Your loyalty."
The word cut deeper than any insult.
Owen stared at Alexander.
"Why didn't you stop him?"
Alexander looked down.
"Because I tried."
"And?"
"I failed."
The answer was immediate.
No excuses.
No defense.
"I discovered what Thomas was doing after he gained control."
"I confronted him."
"He gave me a choice."
Owen stepped forward.
"What choice?"
Alexander's voice became quieter.
"Disappear..."
"...or watch people I loved suffer."
Nobody spoke.
"Your mother was pregnant."
Alexander looked at Owen.
"Thomas knew."
"He knew you existed."
Owen's face changed.
"He knew?"
"Yes."
"Then why tell you I died?"
Alexander closed his eyes.
"Because he wanted me gone."
"He arranged an accident."
"My car went off a mountain road."
Evelyn covered her mouth.
"An accident?"
Alexander nodded.
"I survived."
"But by the time I returned..."
"Thomas had already rewritten the story."
Owen looked away.
The anger inside him had nowhere to go.
His entire identity had been built around a man who had stolen someone else's place.
Someone else's life.
Someone else's son.
Suddenly...
A loud crash came from upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Daniel immediately drew his weapon.
"Stay here."
He moved toward the staircase.
The security monitors flickered.
Then went black.
One by one.
Every screen.
Every camera.
Gone.
Daniel stopped.
"That's impossible."
Alexander's expression changed.
"He found us."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Who?"
Alexander answered:
"Thomas."
The lights went out.
The mansion disappeared into darkness.
Someone screamed.
A staff member.
A guest who hadn't left.
The emergency generators should have activated.
But they didn't.
Someone had disabled them.
Someone who knew the mansion better than anyone.
Someone who had designed its security.
Daniel whispered:
"He's inside."
A faint sound came from the library doorway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Confident.
Everyone turned.
A silhouette appeared.
For one terrifying second...
Evelyn thought it was Thomas.
But the figure stopped.
Then spoke.
"You're all looking for the wrong enemy."
The voice wasn't Thomas.
It belonged to a woman.
A woman nobody recognized.
She stepped into the dim light.
Late forties.
Dark hair.
Calm expression.
Holding a small black folder.
Valerie's face changed instantly.
"No..."
The woman smiled.
"Hello, Valerie."
Nobody understood.
Except Valerie.
Because she looked like she had seen a ghost.
"You're dead."
The woman tilted her head.
"That's what Thomas wanted everyone to believe."
Evelyn looked at Valerie.
"Who is she?"
The woman smiled.
"My name is Claire Hawthorne."
The room froze.
The photograph.
The missing sister.
The woman who supposedly vanished twenty-eight years ago.
Standing alive.
In front of them.
Owen whispered:
"This is impossible."
Claire looked at him.
"No."
She smiled sadly.
"What's impossible..."
"...is how many lies one man can build before they collapse."
Thomas wasn't the only one who had returned.
The woman who started Project Phoenix had come back.
And she was holding the one thing everyone wanted.
The final piece.
The folder in her hand.
Valerie stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
Claire looked toward the dark hallway.
"From the only person who knew where it was hidden."
A pause.
"Thomas."
Everyone froze.
Evelyn stepped forward.
"Why would Thomas give you the evidence that could destroy him?"
Claire looked at her.
And whispered:
"Because he didn't give it to me."
"He begged me to save him."
Silence.
Then Claire opened the folder.
Inside was a single document.
The first line was enough to make Alexander go pale.
Because it contained a name.
Not Thomas.
Not Marissa.
Not anyone expected.
May you like
The name belonged to the person who had secretly controlled everything from the beginning.
END OF CHAPTER 10
