CHAPTER 11 THE SISTER WHO NEVER DIED
Dominic Vale stared at the woman standing at the end of the Archive.
For the first time in his life, he had no idea what to say.
She looked like him.
Not similar.
Not vaguely related.
She had his eyes.
His mother's face.
His father's jaw.
Even the small scar above her eyebrow.
Eleanor began to cry.
“Isabella…”
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Mother.”
Dominic slowly turned toward Eleanor.
“You knew.”
Eleanor couldn't answer.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me believe I was an only child.”
“I had no choice.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
He looked at Isabella.
“Why?”
She stepped forward.
“Because Alexander made sure no one could reach me.”
Alexander was still on the floor.
He looked at her with something between fear and hatred.
“You were supposed to die.”
Isabella smiled.
“I know.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Start talking.”
Isabella stopped.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
She glanced toward the Archive.
“You really want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“You may hate your family after you hear it.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“I already do.”
Isabella's smile disappeared.
“Then let's begin.”
She walked toward the central table.
On it sat a black folder.
She opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Dominic recognized his father.
Victor.
Eleanor.
Alexander.
And two infants.
He stared.
“That's me.”
Isabella nodded.
“And that's me.”
Dominic pointed at the second baby.
“Why was I never told?”
“Because Alexander believed one heir was enough.”
Eleanor whispered:
“He wanted you to inherit the public empire.”
“And her?”
“Something else.”
Dominic looked at Isabella.
“What?”
“The Black Archive.”
Dominic frowned.
“Why her?”
Isabella smiled.
“Because I was born with something you weren't.”
“What?”
“Perfect memory.”
Dominic stared.
“You remember everything?”
“Every sound.”
“Every face.”
“Every word.”
“Every lie.”
She looked toward Alexander.
“Especially his.”
Alexander's face hardened.
Isabella continued.
“When I was three, Alexander discovered what I could do.”
“What happened?”
“He took me.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Dominic looked at her.
“You let him?”
“I fought.”
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor's voice broke.
“I failed.”
Isabella looked at her mother.
“You tried.”
Then she turned toward Dominic.
“Alexander raised me beneath the estate.”
Dominic looked around.
“You've been here all this time?”
“Yes.”
“You built the Archive.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“I inherited it.”
“From who?”
She pointed toward the oldest shelves.
“Your great-grandfather.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“He started it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To record everything.”
“For power?”
“For survival.”
Dominic frowned.
Isabella continued.
“Our family discovered that every empire eventually collapses.”
“So they created a record.”
“Exactly.”
“A record of what?”
“Who betrayed them.”
Dominic looked at the endless shelves.
“And then it became a weapon.”
“Yes.”
Isabella closed the folder.
“Alexander turned the Archive into something else.”
“What?”
“A blackmail machine.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“Politicians.”
“Judges.”
“Police.”
“Businessmen.”
“Everyone.”
Isabella nodded.
“Everyone.”
Dominic looked toward Harper.
“And Harper?”
Isabella's expression softened.
“She was created to destroy it.”
Dominic stared.
“Why?”
“Because I couldn't.”
“Why not?”
Isabella touched her temple.
“Because the Archive is connected to me.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't just remember the information.”
She looked toward the servers.
“I remember the people.”
Dominic didn't understand.
“Explain.”
“I can access memories stored in the Archive.”
Elias stepped forward.
“That shouldn't be possible.”
Isabella looked at him.
“You're still trying to understand science with rules.”
She smiled faintly.
“That's why you lost.”
Elias's expression hardened.
“What do you mean?”
Isabella turned toward him.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Elias froze.
“Alexander ordered your death.”
Dominic looked at him.
“But Nathan saved him.”
“Yes.”
Isabella nodded.
“Nathan was the only person who disobeyed.”
Dominic looked toward Nathan.
Nathan lowered his eyes.
“I couldn't kill a fifteen-year-old.”
Dominic's voice softened slightly.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
Dominic stared at him.
“I thought you were betraying me.”
Nathan shook his head.
“I was protecting you.”
Isabella interrupted.
“And you almost destroyed everything.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“Your marriage.”
“Claire?”
Isabella nodded.
“She wasn't sent to kill you.”
Dominic stared.
“Then why?”
“To watch you.”
“By Alexander?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever betray me?”
Isabella looked toward Claire.
“No.”
Claire began crying.
“I tried to warn you.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You could have told me.”
“If I did, Alexander would have killed Harper.”
Dominic looked away.
The pieces were finally connecting.
Nathan.
Claire.
Mia.
Elias.
All of them had been trapped in a game created long before Dominic understood he was playing.
Then Isabella said:
“There is one thing you still don't know.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“The man who ordered Harper's creation wasn't Alexander.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Then who?”
Isabella looked toward Victor.
The old man's face went pale.
Victor whispered:
“Don't.”
Isabella walked toward him.
“You owe him the truth.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Dominic turned toward his father.
“What did you do?”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I made a deal.”
“With who?”
“The people who controlled the Archive.”
Dominic's voice became colder.
“What did they want?”
Victor whispered:
“An heir.”
Dominic looked at Harper.
“They wanted Harper.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“Because she was the only child who could destroy the Archive.”
Dominic froze.
“Then why would they create her?”
Victor looked toward Isabella.
“Because they needed someone capable of destroying it.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“They didn't want Harper to destroy the Archive.”
“Then what?”
“They wanted her to unlock it.”
Dominic's face went cold.
“And then?”
Isabella looked toward Harper.
“They planned to transfer the Archive into her memory.”
Mia screamed:
“No!”
Isabella nodded.
“Every secret.”
“Every murder.”
“Every name.”
“Every memory.”
“All of it.”
Dominic looked at Harper.
His daughter was staring at him.
Terrified.
Dominic stepped toward her.
“No one is putting anything inside my daughter.”
Isabella smiled.
“That's why I brought you here.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“I couldn't stop the transfer alone.”
“What transfer?”
“The Archive has already begun.”
Dominic looked toward the monitors.
Numbers were appearing.
TRANSFER INITIALIZATION
SUBJECT: HARPER CARTER
STATUS: 7%
Dominic's face went pale.
“What the hell?”
Elias rushed to the controls.
“I can't stop it.”
Dominic grabbed Isabella.
“You said you could.”
“I can.”
“Then do it!”
“I need you.”
“For what?”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“Your blood.”
Dominic froze.
“Why?”
“Because the Archive recognizes you as the primary heir.”
“Then use me.”
Isabella shook her head.
“It won't accept you.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't have perfect memory.”
Dominic stared.
“Then what do you need?”
Isabella pointed toward Harper.
“Her.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You said she was the key.”
“She is.”
“To destroy it?”
Isabella shook her head.
“To choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Which memories survive.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
TRANSFER: 19%
Harper suddenly screamed.
“Daddy!”
Dominic ran toward her.
She was clutching her head.
“Make it stop!”
Dominic pulled her into his arms.
“I'm here.”
“I can hear them.”
“Who?”
“All of them.”
“What are they saying?”
Harper sobbed.
“They're angry.”
Dominic looked at Isabella.
“Stop this.”
“I can't.”
“Then who can?”
Isabella looked toward the far end of the Archive.
A hidden door slowly opened.
Behind it stood a man.
Dominic recognized him instantly.
Alexander.
But he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood another woman.
Older.
Cold.
Carrying a black folder.
Alexander smiled.
“It's time.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“Who is she?”
The woman looked directly at Harper.
Then at Dominic.
“My name is Rebecca Vale.”
Eleanor's face went white.
Dominic stared.
“Another Vale?”
Rebecca smiled.
“No.”
She opened the folder.
“I am the woman who raised Alexander.”
A pause.
“And I am the one who ordered your mother's murder.”
Dominic's finger tightened around the trigger.
Rebecca smiled.
“Go ahead.”
Then she looked at Harper.
“But if you shoot me…”
The transfer jumped to:
May you like
47%
“…your daughter dies with me.”
