Chapter 17 - JulianThe room went silent.
Julian stared at Helena.
“What did you say?”
Helena smiled.
“Ask your father.”
Meredith turned.
Her father was on the security monitor.
He looked devastated.
Julian stepped toward the screen.
“Dad?”
His father said nothing.
Julian's expression hardened.
“You knew.”
“Julian…”
“You knew.”
His father closed his eyes.
“I tried to stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“The transformation.”
Julian shook his head.
“What transformation?”
His father finally confessed.
The original Architect had died twenty years ago.
The network needed a successor.
Adrian had been selected.
But Adrian rebelled.
So Meridian chose Julian.
They had monitored him since childhood.
Guided his education.
Shaped his business.
Influenced his relationships.
Even Genevieve.
Everything had been designed to make Julian powerful enough to become the next Architect.
Julian stumbled backward.
“No.”
His father continued.
“They believed your ambition could be controlled.”
Julian stared at Meredith.
“Was everything fake?”
Meredith shook her head.
“No.”
“I loved Genevieve.”
“You loved the person you thought she was.”
Julian looked at Meredith.
“And you?”
Meredith stepped closer.
“That part was never controlled.”
His father whispered:
“Meredith was the only variable they couldn't predict.”
Julian looked down.
His entire life had been manipulated.
Then the screen went black.
A message appeared.
JULIAN. COME ALONE.
Meredith reached for him.
“No.”
Julian shook his head.
“I have to.”
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then walked away.
Meredith watched him disappear into the darkness.
Three hours later, Adrian arrived.
Meredith confronted him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let Julian go.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because this is the only way to destroy Meridian.”
“What happens to him?”
Adrian hesitated.
“He either becomes the Architect.”
“Or?”
“He dies.”
Meredith's heart dropped.
She looked at the archive.
Then at the map.
“No.”
She closed the case.
“I'm bringing him back.”
Adrian stopped her.
“You don't understand.”
Meredith turned.
“I understand perfectly.”
She looked him in the eye.
“My family has spent thirty years letting other people decide who lives and who dies.”
May you like
Her voice became cold.
“That ends tonight.”
