Chapter 9 - The Child Who RememberedNobody moved.
I stared at Ava.
“Sweetheart?”
She looked frightened.
“I don't know him.”
Charles smiled.
“You don't remember yet.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“She will.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Stay where you are.”
Charles laughed.
“You don't understand the situation, Daniel.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
Charles pointed toward Ava.
“She remembers Saint Mary's.”
Ava began shaking.
Images flashed through her mind.
Smoke.
A hallway.
A woman singing.
A red door.
A man screaming.
She grabbed her head.
“Mom!”
I pulled her close.
“What do you remember?”
“The room.”
“What room?”
“The red room.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“The nursery.”
Charles's expression changed.
Ava continued.
“There was another little girl.”
Silence.
Eleanor took a step backward.
“What did you say?”
“There were two babies.”
I looked at her.
“Two?”
Ava nodded.
“She looked like me.”
My mother whispered:
“Yes.”
The truth finally surfaced.
Ava wasn't an unrelated child.
She had a twin.
A twin who had been hidden.
And the child had inherited the trust.
But there was something else.
Ava looked at Daniel.
“You came.”
He froze.
“What?”
“You came to the red room.”
His face went pale.
“I carried you.”
Daniel's memories returned.
A child.
A fire.
Two babies.
And a promise.
He looked at Charles.
“You separated them.”
Charles smiled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“One child carried the bloodline.”
“And the other?”
Charles looked at me.
“She was the insurance policy.”
I realized what he meant.
Me.
I wasn't the heir.
I was the protection.
My mother had hidden the real heir inside another family line.
But Charles had found her.
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Give us the girl.”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“No!”
Daniel fired.
The room exploded into chaos.
Security attacked Charles's men.
My mother opened the cell.
I grabbed Ava and Ethan.
We ran.
Then Daniel appeared.
“Go!”
“What about you?”
“Go!”
We reached the tunnel.
Behind us, gunshots echoed.
Then a blast.
The tunnel shook.
Rubble fell.
Daniel disappeared behind it.
“Daniel!”
I screamed.
No answer.
We ran.
Outside, dawn was breaking over the desert.
Police sirens approached.
For one second, I thought we had survived.
Then Eleanor stepped from another vehicle.
She held Ethan.
A gun against his head.
I froze.
“Mom!”
Ethan cried.
Eleanor smiled.
“Drop the phone.”
I obeyed.
“Now walk toward me.”
I couldn't breathe.
She looked at Ava.
“The heir comes with me.”
I took one step.
Then another.
Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers.
“Put the gun down.”
Eleanor turned.
Daniel stood behind her.
Blood covered his shirt.
He was alive.
He held a gun to Charles.
“It's over.”
Charles smiled.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
May you like
Every vehicle around us exploded.
And the desert disappeared into fire.
