Chapter 5 - The Second ChildThe mansion had become a fortress.
Security guards searched every corridor.
Doors were locked.
Windows were sealed.
But Victor knew none of it mattered.
Someone had entered.
Someone had controlled the lights.
Someone had watched Ethan.
And now someone had killed inside the house.
Victor found the body in the study.
The victim was the head of household security.
A single bullet.
No weapon.
No witnesses.
Lily stood behind Victor.
“He knew too much.”
Victor nodded.
“What did he know?”
She looked at the security desk.
“Maybe everything.”
Victor searched the desk.
He found a file.
Inside were birth records.
One belonged to Ethan.
Another belonged to a baby born on the same night.
The second child’s name had been blacked out.
Victor stared at the records.
“Two babies.”
Lily looked over his shoulder.
“Twins?”
“No.”
He turned the page.
The mother was Evelyn.
The father was listed as unknown.
Victor’s hands tightened around the paper.
“There was another child.”
Lily pointed to a final line.
TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE CARE IMMEDIATELY AFTER BIRTH.
Victor looked up.
“Where?”
The location had been removed.
A number remained.
WARD 17.
Lily stepped backward.
“Evelyn’s hospital.”
Victor remembered.
The private hospital where Evelyn had supposedly died.
The same hospital where Ethan had been kidnapped.
Victor suddenly understood.
The entire nightmare had begun there.
At midnight, the mansion lights flickered again.
Victor grabbed his gun.
The intercom turned on.
Serena’s voice echoed through the house.
“You’re looking for the second child.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“Where is she?”
A laugh.
“Not she.”
Victor froze.
Serena continued.
“He.”
Lily whispered:
“Another boy.”
“Exactly.”
A screen lit up.
A hospital room appeared.
A teenage boy sat on the bed.
He had Victor’s eyes.
Victor stared.
“No.”
Serena smiled through the camera.
“Meet your other son.”
Victor stepped toward the screen.
The boy looked directly into the camera.
And said:
“Dad?”
Victor couldn’t move.
Lily looked at him.
“Victor…”
The teenage boy was unmistakably related to him.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
Then the boy smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
The camera shifted.
Serena stood behind him.
But she wasn’t smiling anymore.
She looked terrified.
“Victor,” she whispered.
The boy turned toward her.
“You said he would never find me.”
Serena backed away.
Victor noticed something.
A tattoo on the boy’s wrist.
Three interlocking circles.
The same symbol was engraved on the golden key.
Victor whispered:
“What are you?”
The boy replied:
“The reason your wife was murdered.”
The screen went black.
Then every door in the mansion locked simultaneously.
A voice came through the intercom.
The boy’s voice.
“Dad…”
May you like
A pause.
“Your house is mine now.”
