Chapter 18 - THE FIRST CHILDVictor's world tilted.
His mother had another child.
A first child.
No one had ever mentioned him.
Edward looked terrified.
Thomas looked amused.
Amelia looked devastated.
Victor demanded:
“Who?”
Edward finally answered.
“Samuel.”
Victor frowned.
“Samuel Hart?”
The old attorney.
The man who had helped them.
Edward nodded.
“He wasn't an attorney.”
Victor stared.
“What was he?”
“Your mother's first son.”
Victor felt sick.
Samuel had been inside the conspiracy from the beginning.
And he had raised Daniel.
Victor suddenly understood why Samuel knew everything.
“He's Chloe's uncle.”
Amelia nodded.
“And he controls the original system.”
Victor turned toward Richard.
“Where is he?”
Richard looked at the screen.
A single message had appeared.
COME HOME.
Victor looked at the broken windows.
“What does that mean?”
Amelia whispered:
“The old mansion.”
They returned to the Blackwood estate.
The house was empty.
No guards.
No employees.
No cameras.
Silence.
Victor entered the great hall.
The piano stood exactly where Chloe had first played.
A recording began automatically.
Samuel's voice.
“Victor.”
Victor stopped.
“You've spent your entire life believing wealth was the secret.”
The lights turned on.
“But wealth was never the point.”
Victor stared.
“The Blackwood family was built around one idea.”
The screen showed old documents.
“Knowledge is power.”
“Music is memory.”
“And blood remembers what people forget.”
A hidden door opened.
Inside was an old nursery.
Two cribs.
Victor froze.
One crib had Chloe's name.
The other had another name.
Daniel.
Amelia covered her mouth.
Samuel had taken Daniel as an infant.
But why?
The recording continued.
“Daniel was never kidnapped.”
Victor stared.
“He was chosen.”
Samuel stepped into the room.
Daniel stood beside him.
“You took my grandson.”
Samuel shook his head.
“I saved him.”
“From what?”
“From you.”
Victor's face hardened.
Samuel looked at Chloe.
“The Blackwood system requires two heirs.”
“Why?”
“Because one inherits power.”
“And the other controls it.”
Victor looked at Daniel.
Samuel smiled.
“Chloe is the heir.”
“Daniel is the controller.”
Victor suddenly understood why they had been separated.
The system had been built around them.
Two children.
Two roles.
One empire.
Samuel continued:
“But there is one final condition.”
Victor demanded:
“What?”
“One must choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Power or family.”
Victor looked at Chloe.
Daniel stepped forward.
“We don't have to play.”
Samuel smiled.
“You already did.”
Every screen activated.
A countdown appeared.
10:00
Victor's heart stopped.
“What happens in ten minutes?”
Samuel answered:
“The system will select which child survives.”
Amelia screamed.
“No!”
Samuel walked away.
The doors locked.
Chloe grabbed Daniel's hand.
Victor searched the room for a way out.
Nine minutes.
Eight.
Seven.
Then Daniel whispered:
“I know how to stop it.”
Victor looked at him.
“How?”
Daniel pointed toward Chloe.
“She has to play the song differently.”
“What song?”
“The first one.”
Winter's Promise.
Victor looked at the piano.
But the piano had no keys.
Daniel smiled.
“That's why they needed both of us.”
May you like
The timer reached six minutes.
And every wall in the mansion began closing.
