Chapter 9: The First Daughter
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Lily stared at her own reflection in the dark monitor.
Her face was pale.
Her lips trembled.
“Another daughter?”
Her mother closed her eyes.
Victor turned toward her.
“You have another daughter?”
She didn't answer.
Victor's voice hardened.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Lily felt the room tilt.
“Who is she?”
Her mother looked at her.
“Her name is Elena.”
Lily swallowed.
“Why does she look like me?”
“Because she's your twin.”
Silence.
Lily stepped backward.
“No.”
Her mother nodded.
“You were born first.”
Lily's eyes widened.
“Then why did I never know?”
“Because your father took you.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Lily laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Her voice cracked.
“Protect me from what?”
Her mother looked toward the old Blackwood patriarch.
“From them.”
The old man smiled.
“Your mother always did love dramatic explanations.”
Victor raised his gun.
“Where is Ethan?”
The old man looked at him.
“Ask your sister.”
“Which sister?”
The old man smiled.
“That's the problem.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“You're saying Elena has Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she believes Ethan belongs to her.”
Lily's face hardened.
“He's a baby.”
“Not to Elena.”
“What does she want?”
“The Black Wolf inheritance.”
Victor stared at him.
“What is that?”
The old man walked toward the center of the room.
“The Black Wolf isn't an organization.”
He looked at Lily.
“It is a title.”
Victor frowned.
“For whom?”
“For the person who controls both bloodlines.”
Lily suddenly understood.
“Ethan.”
The old man shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward her.
“You.”
Lily froze.
Victor stepped between them.
“Enough.”
The old man smiled.
“You can shoot me.”
Victor's finger tightened.
“But if you do, you'll never find Ethan.”
Victor lowered his weapon.
“Talk.”
The old man nodded.
“Fourteen years ago, your mother gave birth to twins.”
Lily listened.
“One was Lily.”
He looked at her.
“The other was Elena.”
“Why were we separated?”
“Because Elena was born with the Black Wolf mark.”
Lily touched her wrist.
There was a faint birthmark there.
A crescent surrounding a dark dot.
She had always believed it was nothing.
The old man continued.
“The mark meant she could inherit the empire.”
“And me?”
“You carried something more dangerous.”
“What?”
“The ability to activate it.”
Lily shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
He stepped closer.
“Your blood is the key.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“To what?”
“The Black Wolf vault.”
Lily's mother began crying.
“No.”
The old man smiled.
“Tell them.”
She shook her head.
“You promised never to open it.”
“I promised nothing.”
Victor looked at Lily's mother.
“What vault?”
She whispered:
“Your grandfather's hidden treasury.”
Victor frowned.
“Money?”
“No.”
She looked at Lily.
“Records.”
“Records of what?”
“Every crime.”
Victor's expression changed.
“Blackmail?”
“More than that.”
She swallowed.
“Names. Payments. Judges. Police chiefs. Politicians. Assassinations.”
Victor stared.
“Everything.”
“Yes.”
“And whoever controls the vault…”
“Controls Chicago.”
Silence.
Lily suddenly understood why everyone wanted Ethan.
Why Serena had betrayed them.
Why Damian had returned.
Why Victor's father had faked his death.
It wasn't about money.
It was about control.
The old man smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“Where is the vault?”
The old man laughed.
“Only Lily can open it.”
Lily shook her head.
“I don't know how.”
“You will.”
“How?”
“Your twin knows.”
Lily's face hardened.
“Then bring her here.”
The old man shook his head.
“She has Ethan.”
“Then take me to her.”
“No.”
Victor stepped forward.
“I'll find her myself.”
The old man smiled.
“You'll never reach her.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena wants Lily.”
Lily's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
The old man looked at her.
“She doesn't want to kill you.”
“Then what?”
“She wants to become you.”
Miles away, Ethan slept in a dark room.
Elena sat beside him.
She looked at the baby for several seconds.
Then gently touched his cheek.
“You look like him.”
She smiled sadly.
“Your father.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
Elena froze.
The baby stared at her.
Then smiled.
For a moment, her expression softened.
“I won't hurt you.”
She picked him up.
“I only need your mother.”
A door opened behind her.
Adrian entered.
“You shouldn't have brought him here.”
Elena turned.
“He's safe.”
“That's not the point.”
“He needs to stay alive.”
Adrian looked at Ethan.
“Victor is coming.”
“I know.”
“He'll find us.”
Elena smiled.
“Let him.”
Adrian frowned.
“What are you planning?”
Elena looked toward the window.
“To bring the Blackwoods together.”
“For what?”
She turned.
“For the vault.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“You can't open it.”
“No.”
She looked at Ethan.
“But Lily can.”
Back at the estate, Victor stood over an old table covered with documents.
Isabella walked toward him.
“I found something.”
Victor looked up.
“What?”
She handed him a photograph.
It showed Lily's mother holding two newborn babies.
Victor stared.
“Twins.”
“Yes.”
“Who is the father?”
Isabella hesitated.
Victor looked at her.
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Adrian.”
Victor's eyes widened.
“What?”
“Lily and Elena are Adrian's daughters.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
Adrian's face was expressionless.
“You knew.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
Victor stepped toward him.
“You're their father?”
“Yes.”
“You let Lily believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You let her suffer for fourteen years.”
Adrian's voice cracked.
“I was trying to keep her alive.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“That's what everyone says.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Adrian stared at Lily.
“Your father wasn't the only one hunted.”
Lily froze.
“What?”
Adrian continued.
“Your mother was hunted.”
“By whom?”
“Your grandfather.”
Lily's eyes widened.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew where the vault was.”
Lily's mother whispered:
“And I still know.”
Victor looked at her.
“Where?”
She pointed toward the floor.
“Under this mansion.”
Victor turned.
The old Blackwood estate.
The house where his father had lived.
The house where Lily had been taken.
The house that contained the secret everyone had killed to protect.
Victor's men began searching.
Minutes later, they found a hidden staircase beneath the library.
The door required a biometric lock.
Victor tried his hand.
Nothing.
Adrian tried.
Nothing.
Isabella tried.
Nothing.
Victor looked at Lily.
“Try.”
Lily stepped forward.
She placed her palm against the scanner.
The machine beeped.
ACCESS GRANTED.
Everyone froze.
The door opened.
A cold draft came from below.
Victor looked down.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Lily whispered:
“What is down there?”
Her mother answered:
“Everything.”
They descended.
At the bottom stood a massive steel door.
In the center was the Black Wolf symbol.
Victor examined it.
“There must be a key.”
Lily stepped forward.
She noticed a small indentation.
A crescent shape.
She removed her pendant.
It fit perfectly.
The door unlocked.
But before it opened, Lily heard something.
A whisper.
Her own voice.
Coming from behind the door.
“Lily.”
She froze.
Victor raised his weapon.
“Who's there?”
The voice answered:
“Your sister.”
The door opened.
Elena stood on the other side.
She was holding Ethan.
Victor's eyes locked onto the baby.
“Give him to me.”
Elena smiled.
“Not yet.”
Lily stared at her twin.
Up close, the resemblance was terrifying.
Elena looked like a darker version of herself.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Same crescent mark.
But her expression was cold.
“Hello, little sister.”
Lily's voice trembled.
“Why did you take him?”
Elena looked down at Ethan.
“Because he's the only thing that can bring us together.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Put my son down.”
Elena smiled.
“He isn't your son.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“I don't care.”
Elena looked at Lily.
“He's yours.”
Lily froze.
“What?”
Elena smiled.
“Not as a mother.”
She pointed toward the vault behind them.
“As the key.”
Suddenly, the steel door slammed shut behind Lily.
Victor and the others were trapped outside.
Lily turned.
“Victor!”
His voice came through the metal.
“Lily!”
Elena walked deeper into the vault.
“You have ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes for what?”
Elena looked at the rows of files surrounding them.
“To decide whether you want to save Ethan…”
She paused.
“…or finally learn why your family erased you.”
Then the vault lights came on.
Thousands of files illuminated the darkness.
And on the first file Lily saw her own name.
PROJECT BLACK WOLF: SUBJECT L-01
Underneath it was a sentence that made her blood run cold:
May you like
SUBJECT L-01 WAS NOT BORN TO PROTECT THE HEIR.
SHE WAS BORN TO CONTROL HIM.
