CHAPTER 10 THE BLOODLINE THAT SHOULD HAVE DIED
“Victor Kane.”
The name echoed through the underground chamber.
Gavin stared at Samuel Bell.
Then at Victor.
Then at Richard.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
It was as if the entire room had forgotten how.
Finally, Gavin laughed.
A short, broken sound.
“No.”
Samuel tilted his head.
“You've been told so many versions of your own life that I understand why you don't believe me.”
Gavin raised his gun.
“Put it down.”
Samuel smiled.
“You've inherited your mother's courage.”
“Put the gun down.”
Victor slowly lowered his weapon.
Gavin looked at him.
“You're my father?”
Victor said nothing.
“Answer me.”
Victor's eyes met his.
“Yes.”
Gavin's finger tightened around the trigger.
For twenty years, he had imagined what his biological father might look like.
He had wondered whether the man had been kind.
Whether he had abandoned him.
Whether he had died.
He had never imagined this.
The man standing ten feet away was responsible for the bloodshed surrounding him.
The man who had chased him through the harbor.
The man who had ordered armed men to hunt Taylor.
His father.
Gavin's voice became hollow.
“Did you know who I was?”
Victor nodded.
“From the beginning.”
“Did you know I was raised by Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know my mother was Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Taylor was my sister?”
Victor hesitated.
“Yes.”
Gavin's face hardened.
“Then why did you let all of this happen?”
Victor looked toward Samuel.
“Because I was trying to stop him.”
Samuel laughed.
“Still blaming me.”
Victor turned.
“You murdered Richard.”
Samuel's smile disappeared.
“I didn't.”
“You ordered the hit.”
“No.”
“You destroyed Evelyn's life.”
“No.”
“You manipulated Gavin.”
“No.”
Samuel looked directly at Gavin.
“I did something much worse.”
Gavin stared.
“What?”
Samuel stepped forward.
“I created the lie that became your entire life.”
The words hit harder than a bullet.
Gavin looked at Richard.
“Is that true?”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Gavin's voice cracked.
“Why?”
Richard swallowed.
“Because you were a baby.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
“Victor wanted you.”
Victor's expression changed.
“I wanted my son.”
Richard shook his head.
“You wanted revenge.”
“I wanted my child.”
“You wanted to use him against Samuel.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
Gavin looked between them.
“Stop.”
Both men went silent.
“Stop talking about me like I'm an object.”
Gavin stepped forward.
“I am standing right here.”
The room became still.
Gavin looked at Victor.
“You knew I was your son.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me grow up?”
“Yes.”
“You watched Richard raise me?”
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come for me?”
Victor looked away.
“Because every time I tried…”
He stopped.
“Every time you tried what?”
Victor's voice broke.
“…someone died.”
Gavin stared at him.
Victor continued.
“Your first nanny.”
Gavin froze.
“What?”
“She knew who I was.”
Gavin remembered her.
A woman named Margaret.
He had been six.
She had disappeared suddenly.
His grandfather told him she had returned to England.
“She was killed?”
Victor nodded.
“Your second nanny knew.”
Gavin's breathing slowed.
“She was killed too.”
“Who?”
Victor looked toward Samuel.
“Him.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Lies.”
Victor continued.
“Your school principal.”
Gavin remembered him.
A kind old man who had mysteriously resigned.
“Your father's lawyer.”
Gavin thought of the man who had died inside the vault.
“Your mother's closest friend.”
Gavin's face went pale.
One by one, memories he had never questioned began changing shape.
People who had vanished.
People who had suddenly moved away.
People who had died in supposed accidents.
They had all been pieces of the same secret.
Gavin looked at Samuel.
“How many?”
Samuel smiled.
“Enough.”
Gavin raised his gun.
“You're going to tell me everything.”
Samuel nodded.
“Of course.”
He gestured toward the wall.
“Because the truth is much more interesting than the story you've been given.”
Samuel walked to an old metal cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside were dozens of files.
Each one had a name.
RICHARD ROBERSON.
EVELYN ROBERSON.
VICTOR KANE.
DANIEL ROBERSON.
NORA BELL.
And finally:
GAVIN ROBERSON.
Gavin stared at the last file.
Samuel removed it.
“This is the file that matters.”
Gavin reached for it.
Samuel pulled it away.
“Not yet.”
Gavin glared.
“Why?”
“Because once you read it, you can never go back.”
Gavin laughed bitterly.
“There is nowhere to go back to.”
Samuel smiled.
“Exactly.”
He opened the file.
The first page was a birth certificate.
Gavin looked at it.
His name wasn't there.
Instead, it said:
MALE INFANT.
No name.
No father.
Mother:
EVELYN ROBERSON.
Gavin's chest tightened.
He grabbed the document.
“This is mine.”
“Yes.”
“My biological mother.”
“Yes.”
He turned the page.
The father's name had been blacked out.
Gavin looked at Samuel.
“Who?”
Samuel didn't answer.
Victor did.
“Me.”
Gavin closed his eyes.
The next document was a DNA report.
VICTOR KANE: BIOLOGICAL FATHER.
No ambiguity.
No missing pages.
No deception.
The result was definitive.
Gavin stared at the paper.
Then he noticed something.
The date.
The DNA test had been performed twenty-two years ago.
Before Gavin was old enough to understand anything.
He looked at Victor.
“You tested me?”
Victor nodded.
“I needed to know.”
“And you knew all these years.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Victor looked at him.
“Because you were safe.”
Gavin laughed bitterly.
“Safe?”
“You were protected inside the Roberson family.”
“Protected?”
Gavin pointed toward Taylor.
“Look at what happened tonight.”
Victor's eyes moved toward the little girl.
His expression softened.
“I know.”
“You knew armed men were coming for her.”
“Yes.”
“You let them.”
“No.”
“You said you were protecting us.”
“I was trying.”
Gavin shook his head.
“You failed.”
Victor accepted the words without defending himself.
Then Samuel spoke.
“Because Victor never understood the real threat.”
Gavin turned.
“What threat?”
Samuel's expression became serious.
“The trust.”
Gavin frowned.
“The forty-two percent?”
“No.”
Samuel shook his head.
“The trust is only the visible part.”
He opened another document.
“The real asset is something else.”
Gavin looked at it.
It contained a list of names.
Hundreds.
Politicians.
Judges.
Bankers.
Police officials.
Business leaders.
Celebrities.
Every name had a payment beside it.
Millions of dollars.
Gavin stared.
“What is this?”
“Leverage.”
“Blackmail?”
Samuel nodded.
“Your grandfather didn't build Roberson Holdings with money.”
He smiled.
“He built it with secrets.”
Gavin looked at the list.
“Then why does Taylor matter?”
Samuel turned toward the little girl.
“Because she inherited the master key.”
Gavin frowned.
“What master key?”
“The original trust.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Samuel…”
“Let him hear it.”
Samuel pointed at Taylor.
“Her father created a trust that can only be accessed by his biological descendants.”
Gavin looked at Taylor.
“She can access it.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if she does?”
Samuel's smile disappeared.
“She gains control of everything.”
“Everything?”
“The companies.”
“The accounts.”
“The evidence.”
“The names.”
Gavin's eyes widened.
“The blackmail files.”
“Yes.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Enough information to destroy governments.”
Silence.
Taylor looked confused.
“Why does everybody want my papers?”
Gavin crouched beside her.
“They don't want your papers.”
He looked at Samuel.
“They want what your blood gives them access to.”
Taylor frowned.
“I don't understand.”
Gavin gently took her hand.
“You don't need to.”
Samuel watched them.
Then he said something that made Gavin's blood freeze.
“Unfortunately, she does.”
Gavin stood.
“What does that mean?”
Samuel nodded toward the door.
“Because Taylor isn't the only heir.”
Gavin frowned.
“What?”
Samuel's expression became almost amused.
“There is another child.”
Gavin stared.
“Another?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Samuel opened another file.
He handed it to Gavin.
Gavin looked down.
A photograph.
A little boy.
Around five years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A familiar scar near the eyebrow.
Gavin's breath caught.
The boy looked exactly like him.
Samuel said quietly:
“That is the original Gavin Roberson.”
Gavin stared at the photograph.
“The real heir.”
“Yes.”
“But I was the replacement.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Samuel didn't answer.
Gavin's voice sharpened.
“Where is he?”
Samuel looked toward Victor.
Victor's face had become completely pale.
Gavin noticed.
“Victor.”
Victor said nothing.
“Where is the boy?”
Victor finally spoke.
“He's dead.”
Samuel smiled.
“No.”
Victor turned.
“Don't.”
Samuel looked at Gavin.
“The boy is alive.”
Gavin's heart stopped.
“Where?”
Samuel pointed toward the locked chamber behind them.
Gavin turned.
A heavy steel door stood at the far end of the vault.
He had never noticed it.
Samuel walked toward it.
“The boy has been here for three years.”
Gavin's face went white.
“Three years?”
Samuel inserted a key.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a small room.
A bed.
A desk.
A lamp.
And a boy sitting silently by the window.
He slowly turned.
Gavin stared at him.
The boy stared back.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then the boy whispered:
“Are you Gavin?”
Gavin couldn't answer.
The boy stood.
He looked directly at Taylor.
Then at Victor.
Then at Richard.
Finally, his eyes returned to Gavin.
“I've been waiting for you.”
Gavin took a step forward.
“Who are you?”
The boy smiled sadly.
“My name is Gavin Roberson.”
Gavin's blood ran cold.
Then the boy added:
“And you're the reason they stole my life.”
The room fell silent.
But before Gavin could respond, Taylor suddenly screamed.
Everyone turned.
A red laser dot appeared on the little girl's chest.
A sniper.
Inside the vault.
Someone had already infiltrated the room.
Victor lunged toward Taylor.
Gavin grabbed her.
A shot exploded.
The bullet struck the wall.
Samuel shouted:
“DOWN!”
Everyone dropped.
Another shot.
Then another.
The lights shattered.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Gavin held Taylor against his chest.
“Stay with me.”
Then he heard a child's voice beside him.
The original Gavin.
“Mr. Roberson…”
Gavin turned.
The boy was standing in the darkness.
He whispered:
“They're not trying to kill Taylor.”
Gavin's heart stopped.
“Then what do they want?”
The boy looked toward the ceiling.
“They're trying to wake someone up.”
Gavin frowned.
“Who?”
A deep mechanical rumble suddenly shook the vault.
The floor began vibrating.
Samuel's face went white.
“No.”
Richard stared at him.
“What is it?”
Samuel whispered:
“The third vault.”
The entire chamber shook.
A hidden wall began opening.
Behind it was a massive underground facility.
Machines powered on.
Monitors flickered.
One screen displayed a single sentence:
PROJECT HEIR: ACTIVE.
Then another line appeared.
SUBJECT GAVIN ROBERSON: LOCATED.
Gavin stared at the screen.
His stomach dropped.
The system wasn't searching for the original heir.
It wasn't searching for Taylor.
It was searching for him.
And then the final line appeared:
REPLACEMENT SUBJECT: READY FOR EXTRACTION.
Gavin slowly turned toward Samuel.
“What does that mean?”
Samuel didn't answer.
Victor did.
His face was filled with horror.
“It means…”
May you like
He stared at Gavin.
“…they never intended to let you live past tonight.”
