CHAPTER 5 THE MAN WHO ORDERED HARPER'S BIRTH
“Daddy!”
Harper's scream tore through the darkness.
Dominic spun around.
Nothing.
Only smoke.
Broken glass.
Bodies.
The emergency lights flickered back on.
Harper was gone.
Dominic's face changed.
“HARPER!”
His voice thundered through the mansion.
No answer.
He grabbed the nearest armed man by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know!”
Dominic struck him.
“Where?”
“I swear!”
Dominic released him.
His eyes scanned the room.
Claire was standing beside the staircase.
Nathan was on his knees.
Victor was bleeding heavily.
Elias was gone.
Mia was screaming Harper's name.
Then Dominic noticed something.
A tiny red ribbon lay on the marble floor.
Harper's ribbon.
Dominic picked it up.
His hand tightened.
Someone had taken his daughter from inside a room surrounded by armed men.
That meant the kidnapper wasn't outside.
He was still inside.
“Lock the estate.”
No one moved.
Dominic shouted:
“LOCK DOWN EVERYTHING!”
The remaining security team finally reacted.
Steel shutters slammed over the windows.
The gates closed.
Every exit sealed.
Dominic turned toward Nathan.
“You shot my father.”
Nathan looked up.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he was going to kill Mia.”
Dominic stared at him.
“You could have shot him anywhere.”
“I needed him alive.”
“Why?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Because Victor knows where they took Harper.”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
He grabbed Victor by the collar.
“Where is my daughter?”
Victor coughed blood.
“You're too late.”
Dominic slammed him against the wall.
“Where?”
Victor smiled.
“You think you're fighting for Harper.”
“I am.”
“No.”
Victor's smile widened.
“You're fighting for something you don't understand.”
Dominic punched him.
Victor fell to the floor.
Mia screamed.
“Stop!”
Dominic turned.
Mia was crying.
“He knows where she is.”
Dominic looked at Victor.
“Then talk.”
Victor slowly wiped blood from his mouth.
“Your daughter wasn't kidnapped.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“She was collected.”
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
“She belongs to them.”
Dominic's voice became deadly quiet.
“No one owns my daughter.”
Victor smiled.
“You still think she's yours.”
“She is.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“Harper is the key.”
“To what?”
“The Black Archive.”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“What is inside it?”
Victor's eyes moved toward the hidden basement.
“Everything.”
Dominic waited.
“Every payment.”
“Every murder.”
“Every political deal.”
“Every judge who was bought.”
“Every police chief who was compromised.”
“Every billionaire who built his fortune on blood.”
Victor leaned closer.
“And the names of the men who control them.”
Dominic understood.
“The Black Archive could destroy half the city.”
Victor laughed.
“Half the country.”
Silence.
Dominic looked toward Nathan.
“And Harper can open it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor's expression changed.
“Because her mother was chosen.”
Dominic looked at Mia.
“You?”
Mia shook her head.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Not Mia.”
He looked toward Claire.
“Claire.”
Dominic turned.
Claire stood completely still.
“You?”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know.”
Victor laughed.
“You knew enough.”
Dominic stepped toward her.
“You were part of this?”
Claire shook her head.
“I was forced.”
“By who?”
She looked toward Victor.
“By him.”
Victor smiled.
Dominic's face became cold.
“You knew Harper was my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Victor was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the Black Archive.”
Claire hesitated.
“Yes.”
Dominic stared at her.
“And you still agreed to marry me.”
Claire's voice cracked.
“I loved you.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“You don't know what love is.”
Claire flinched.
Then she whispered:
“I was supposed to kill you.”
The room went silent.
Dominic stared at her.
“What?”
Claire lowered her eyes.
“Four years ago, Victor gave me an order.”
“To kill me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I couldn't.”
Dominic looked at her.
“And Harper?”
Claire began crying.
“I saved her.”
“From Victor?”
“No.”
She looked toward the dark hallway.
“From someone worse.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Claire didn't answer.
Victor did.
“Her real father.”
Dominic froze.
“My father?”
Victor shook his head.
“Not you.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“You said Harper was mine.”
“She carries your blood.”
“But?”
Victor smiled.
“But Dominic Vale isn't her biological father.”
Mia suddenly screamed.
“That's a lie!”
Victor turned toward her.
“Is it?”
Mia moved in front of Dominic.
“Harper is his daughter.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You were paid to say that.”
Mia shook her head.
“No.”
“You know the truth.”
“I know what happened.”
“Then tell him.”
Mia looked at Dominic.
Tears streamed down her face.
“Harper was born from an embryo.”
Dominic stared.
Mia continued.
“Four years ago, I was working at a private medical facility.”
“What facility?”
“The Vale Foundation.”
Dominic's eyes widened.
“My foundation?”
“Yes.”
“What happened there?”
Mia swallowed.
“They told me the baby belonged to you.”
Dominic's breathing became shallow.
“But the embryo wasn't created naturally.”
Victor smiled.
“Now you're getting somewhere.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Whose DNA?”
Victor didn't answer.
Mia did.
“Yours.”
Dominic frowned.
“Then she's mine.”
Mia shook her head.
“Half of her DNA is yours.”
Dominic went still.
“And the other half?”
Mia's voice trembled.
“Your brother's.”
Silence.
Dominic slowly turned toward Elias.
But Elias wasn't there.
Dominic looked around.
“Where is Elias?”
No one answered.
Then every screen in the mansion suddenly switched on.
A video appeared.
Elias was sitting in a dark room.
Harper was beside him.
Alive.
Terrified.
Dominic stepped toward the screen.
“Elias.”
Elias looked directly into the camera.
“Dominic.”
“Let her go.”
“I can't.”
“Then I'll find you.”
“I know.”
Dominic stared at his brother.
“You're the one who took her.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Elias looked at Harper.
Then back at Dominic.
“I'm trying to save her.”
Dominic's voice became furious.
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I rescued her.”
“From who?”
Elias didn't answer.
Then the camera moved.
Someone stepped behind Harper.
A tall man in a black suit.
Dominic couldn't see his face.
But he recognized the voice.
The same voice from the speakers.
“Hello, Dominic.”
Dominic's blood turned cold.
The man placed one hand on Harper's shoulder.
“You've been searching for me for years.”
Dominic stared.
“I don't know you.”
The man laughed.
“You do.”
He stepped into the light.
Dominic's face went completely pale.
It was a face he had seen every day of his childhood.
A face he believed belonged to a dead man.
His grandfather.
Alexander Vale.
Dominic whispered:
“You died thirty-two years ago.”
Alexander smiled.
“Apparently, the Vale family has a habit of disappointing death.”
Harper began crying.
Alexander leaned closer to her.
“Tell your father goodbye.”
Dominic stepped toward the screen.
“Touch her and I will destroy everything you built.”
Alexander smiled.
“You still don't understand, Dominic.”
“What?”
“I don't want your empire.”
A pause.
“I want your blood.”
The screen went black.
Dominic stood frozen.
Then a message appeared across every monitor.
MIDNIGHT.
THE CHAPEL.
COME ALONE.
Underneath it was one final sentence:
BRING THE KEY YOUR MOTHER HID FROM YOU.
Dominic looked toward the chapel outside the estate.
Then at Victor.
Then Nathan.
Then Claire.
Finally, he looked at Mia.
“Where is the key?”
Mia's face went pale.
“You don't have it.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
Mia whispered:
“Your mother never hid the key in her grave.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Then where?”
Mia looked toward the fireplace.
“The key was inside the house.”
Dominic followed her gaze.
A small crack had appeared behind the old fireplace.
Inside it was a hidden compartment.
And within that compartment...
A black envelope.
Dominic opened it.
There was only one sentence.
Written in his mother's handwriting.
IF YOU EVER FIND THIS, DON'T TRUST THE MAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF YOUR FATHER.
Dominic slowly looked toward Victor.
May you like
Victor smiled.
And then the clock struck midnight.
