Chapter 12 - They returned to the mansion before dawn.The entire building was empty.
Too empty.
Kendrick hated it.
No guards.
No staff.
No cameras.
Nothing.
Willa entered beside him.
Titan growled.
“Something's wrong,” she whispered.
Kendrick nodded.
The front doors locked behind them.
A voice came through the speakers.
“Welcome home.”
Kendrick raised his gun.
“Jonathan.”
Laughter echoed.
“You still remember my name.”
The central screen turned on.
An old man appeared.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
Kendrick's uncle.
Jonathan Ashford.
“I built everything you inherited.”
Kendrick stared.
“You killed my father.”
“He betrayed me.”
“You killed Elena.”
“No.”
Jonathan smiled.
“That was your father.”
Kendrick froze.
“What?”
“Your father was the one who ordered the massacre.”
Willa shook her head.
“You're lying.”
Jonathan looked at her.
“I watched your father burn his own house to erase the ledger.”
Kendrick glanced at Elena.
She remained silent.
Jonathan continued.
“Your mother thought she could save you.”
“She did.”
“She saved one of you.”
Willa's expression changed.
“Mara.”
“Yes.”
Jonathan smiled.
“She was the real heir.”
Kendrick frowned.
“Penny?”
“No.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“Penny is the key.”
“To what?”
“The old network.”
He pressed a button.
Images of dozens of wealthy families appeared.
Political leaders.
Businessmen.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
International crime bosses.
“Your syndicate isn't an empire.”
Jonathan said.
“It is a prison.”
Kendrick realized.
Every powerful family had been connected.
Ashford wasn't at the top.
It was in the middle.
“Then who sits above you?”
Jonathan smiled.
“You already know.”
Willa stared at the screen.
“No.”
Jonathan's gaze moved to her.
“You met him tonight.”
Willa's mind raced.
Julian.
Barrett.
Her mother.
Elena.
Kendrick.
Who?
Then the front door opened.
A man walked inside.
Kendrick froze.
Julian.
Kendrick immediately raised his weapon.
“You.”
Julian smiled.
“I told you.”
“You're working for him.”
“No.”
Jonathan's voice came from the speakers.
“Julian is working for me.”
Kendrick fired.
Julian disappeared behind the wall.
The mansion erupted into gunfire.
Willa grabbed Penny.
They ran toward the kitchen.
Elena followed.
Barrett stayed behind.
Kendrick fought his way through the hallway.
Then the lights went out.
When they returned, Jonathan's image disappeared.
But a real voice came from the staircase.
“Enough.”
Kendrick slowly turned.
Julian stood above him.
His gun lowered.
“It's time you remember.”
Julian dropped a photograph.
Kendrick picked it up.
Two boys.
One blond.
One dark-haired.
Behind them was a woman.
Willa's mother.
The darker-haired boy was not Julian.
Kendrick's face went white.
“Which one am I?”
Julian looked at him.
“You're not Kendrick.”
Silence.
Willa stared.
“What?”
Julian continued.
“The boy you knew as Kendrick died twenty years ago.”
Kendrick's gun lowered.
“No.”
“Your father replaced him.”
Willa felt dizzy.
Julian whispered:
“Your real name is Daniel.”
Kendrick looked at the mirror.
For the first time, he saw someone he had never recognized.
All his memories.
His childhood.
His father.
His brother.
His wife.
Everything might have been fabricated.
Then Penny walked toward him.
She touched his hand.
“Daddy.”
Kendrick looked down.
Penny smiled.
“I know who you are.”
He swallowed.
“Who?”
May you like
She whispered:
“The boy Mommy saved.”
