Chapter 9 - Behind the MirrorThey returned to the mansion under heavy security.
Ethan entered his father’s old bedroom.
The room had been untouched for nine years.
Lily walked directly toward the enormous mirror.
“There.”
Ethan examined the frame.
Nothing.
Then Lily tapped the lower corner.
“Here.”
He pressed it.
A hidden section clicked.
The mirror swung open.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
Ethan stared into darkness.
They descended a staircase.
At the bottom was a room lined with filing cabinets.
Photographs covered the walls.
Judges.
Lawyers.
Executives.
Politicians.
And dozens of people connected to Whitmore Systems.
In the center was a table.
On it sat a single folder.
CLARA BENNETT.
Ethan opened it.
Inside were photographs taken sixteen years earlier.
Clara.
Grace.
Ethan’s father.
And a hospital.
A newborn baby.
Lily.
Ethan looked at Clara.
She went pale.
“There’s more.”
He turned the page.
A DNA report.
Then another document.
A payment record.
Then a contract.
Clara had been paid monthly for five years.
By someone using the name A.W.
Ethan looked at her.
“You were being paid to stay silent.”
Clara shook her head.
“I never knew.”
“You never saw these?”
“No.”
Then Lily tugged Ethan’s sleeve.
“Mr. Ethan.”
“What?”
She pointed at a photograph.
The little girl in the picture was her.
But beside Lily stood another woman.
The same woman who had been with Grace in the photograph from the hotel.
Ethan looked at Grace.
“Who is she?”
Grace looked away.
“Your aunt.”
“Where is she now?”
“Dead.”
“How?”
Grace whispered:
“She knew too much.”
Before Ethan could ask more, footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Someone was coming.
They turned off the lights.
The footsteps stopped.
Then a man spoke.
“I know you're in here.”
Ethan recognized the voice.
Andrew.
His CFO.
“Come out, Ethan.”
Ethan whispered to Grace.
“Stay here.”
He moved toward the door.
Andrew entered with two armed men.
“You're making this harder than it needs to be.”
Ethan stepped into the light.
“You betrayed me.”
Andrew laughed.
“You inherited the company without understanding what it was.”
“What was it?”
“A machine.”
“A machine for what?”
“Power.”
Andrew raised his gun.
“You were never supposed to be CEO.”
Ethan stared.
“Who was?”
Andrew smiled.
“Your father.”
Then a third voice came from behind him.
“That's enough.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
The man entered.
Older.
Gray hair.
Elegant black suit.
Alive.
Ethan knew the face instantly.
His father.
Robert Whitmore.
Ethan whispered:
“Dad.”
Robert smiled.
“I wondered when you would finally come looking.”
Grace stepped forward.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Robert looked at her.
“You should have too.”
Ethan pointed a gun at him.
“You ruined everything.”
Robert smiled.
“No.”
He looked toward Lily.
“She did.”
Lily stepped behind Clara.
Robert’s smile disappeared.
“She was never supposed to survive.”
Clara gasped.
Ethan's grip tightened.
“Touch her and I kill you.”
Robert laughed.
“That's the problem with you, Ethan.”
He raised one hand.
The room filled with armed men.
“You still think this is about money.”
He looked at Lily.
“It isn't.”
He pointed toward the little girl.
“It is about what she remembers.”
Lily's face went blank.
“What do you mean?”
Robert smiled.
“She was in the room the night your mother disappeared.”
Ethan turned to Lily.
The little girl began trembling.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“I remember.”
