CHAPTER 12: VICTORIA'S CHOICE
Victoria's gun was pointed directly at my mother.
Nobody moved.
Rain hammered against the chapel roof.
Ethan lay bleeding on the stone floor.
Margaret knelt beside him, pressing both hands against his wound.
Ava stood frozen near the altar.
And I stood between my mother and the woman I had just discovered was my sister.
“Victoria,” I whispered.
Her eyes met mine.
“You need to move.”
“No.”
“I said move.”
“You're going to shoot our mother.”
Victoria's jaw tightened.
“She isn't who you think she is.”
I looked at my mother.
She was trembling.
“Then tell me.”
Victoria didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“You said you wanted to protect me.”
“I do.”
“Then lower the gun.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if she reaches the altar, everything is over.”
My mother suddenly shouted:
“Don't listen to her!”
Victoria's eyes flashed.
“You still lie.”
“I was protecting them.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
My mother shook her head.
“I made one mistake.”
“One?”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You erased all four of us.”
The words stunned me.
I looked at my mother.
“Four?”
Victoria nodded.
“You, me, Emily, and Ethan.”
I glanced toward Ethan.
He was barely conscious.
Margaret looked up.
“You said Ethan was your brother.”
Victoria nodded.
“He is.”
Margaret's face went white.
“I married my brother?”
“No.”
Victoria looked at her.
“Half-brother.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
I looked at my mother.
“You let this happen?”
“I didn't know.”
Victoria's expression softened for the first time.
“She didn't know.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Margaret didn't know.”
Victoria lowered her gun slightly.
“But she knows now.”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I thought he was David's son.”
“He was raised to believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because David needed him.”
“For what?”
Victoria answered:
“To control the inheritance.”
I looked at the memory card.
“The card.”
Victoria nodded.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand that everyone wants it.”
“Because it can expose them.”
“Then why are you threatening my mother?”
“Because she knows where the original recording is.”
I looked at the altar.
Ethan had pointed there.
“You mean under the altar.”
Victoria's eyes widened.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
She lowered the gun.
For one second, I thought she was going to let us go.
Then a man stepped out of the rain behind her.
My uncle.
He was holding another gun.
“Don't touch the altar.”
I turned.
“You.”
My uncle's eyes were fixed on my mother.
“You lied to me too.”
My mother looked terrified.
“I had no choice.”
“You always say that.”
He raised his gun.
“You knew Michael was alive.”
My mother shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You saw him.”
“I saw someone who looked like him.”
My uncle laughed.
“Exactly.”
I stepped between them.
“Stop.”
My uncle looked at me.
“You're finally beginning to understand.”
“Then explain.”
He lowered his gun slightly.
“Michael never died.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
I stared.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Then where is he?”
My uncle looked toward the altar.
“Beneath this chapel.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He built a hidden room.”
Victoria whispered:
“The sanctuary.”
My uncle nodded.
“The original recording is there.”
I looked at the altar.
Then at my mother.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Michael?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked at Victoria.
“Of him.”
Victoria stiffened.
“You think Michael is dangerous?”
My mother whispered:
“You don't know what he became.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
My mother stepped backward.
“Michael wasn't killed because of the inheritance.”
“Then why?”
“Because he discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
She looked at Ethan.
Then at Victoria.
Then at me.
“He discovered that the person controlling everything wasn't David.”
I felt a chill.
“Who?”
My mother pointed toward the doorway.
At first, I thought she was pointing at my uncle.
She wasn't.
She was pointing at Margaret.
Margaret froze.
“What?”
My mother whispered:
“Your grandfather.”
Margaret stared.
“My grandfather is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
“He isn't.”
The chapel went silent.
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
My mother continued:
“He survived.”
Victoria looked at her.
“Where?”
My mother whispered:
“Under the estate.”
I felt sick.
“So the man behind everything is Margaret's grandfather?”
My mother nodded.
“He created the entire system.”
“The stolen identities.”
“The fake deaths.”
“The missing children.”
“The inheritance.”
“The necklace.”
“All of it.”
I looked at Victoria.
“Then why are you helping him?”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“I'm not.”
“Then why did you bring armed men?”
“To stop him.”
I looked toward the SUVs.
Victoria gestured.
“They're mine.”
My uncle laughed.
“Some of them.”
Victoria turned.
“Not all.”
A man stepped out of the second SUV.
Then another.
Then another.
They weren't wearing uniforms.
They weren't police.
They looked like private security.
Victoria's expression changed.
“Who are they?”
My uncle whispered:
“His men.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Margaret suddenly stood.
“What do we do?”
My uncle looked toward the altar.
“We open the sanctuary.”
“How?”
He looked at me.
“With the memory card.”
I pulled it from my pocket.
“It's not a key.”
“It is.”
“How?”
“Look at the edge.”
I examined it.
A tiny metal strip was embedded along the side.
My uncle pointed toward a slot beneath the altar.
“Insert it.”
I hesitated.
Victoria shouted:
“Don't!”
Everyone turned.
“Why?”
She looked terrified.
“Because once you open it, there's no going back.”
I stared at her.
“That's the point.”
I walked toward the altar.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“Please.”
“Mom.”
“If you open that door, you'll learn why Michael disappeared.”
“And?”
She looked into my eyes.
“You may never forgive me.”
I pulled away.
Then I inserted the card.
A click sounded.
The altar moved.
Stone shifted beneath us.
A staircase appeared.
Dark.
Cold.
Descending into the earth.
Nobody spoke.
Then a light turned on below.
One by one.
A hidden chamber had opened.
At the bottom stood a man.
He was older.
His hair was gray.
His face was thinner.
But I knew him.
I had seen his face in photographs.
I had heard his name whispered all night.
My heart stopped.
Michael.
My father.
He looked up at us.
His eyes landed on me.
Then on Victoria.
Then on my mother.
He smiled sadly.
“Finally.”
Nobody moved.
Michael stepped forward.
“Come down.”
I couldn't breathe.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“I've been waiting for you.”
My mother began crying.
Michael looked at her.
“You should have told them.”
She whispered:
“I was trying to protect them.”
Michael's expression hardened.
“You were protecting the wrong person.”
I looked between them.
“Who?”
Michael's eyes moved toward Margaret.
Margaret froze.
He said:
“Her.”
Margaret stared at him.
“Me?”
Michael nodded.
“She is the last heir.”
I frowned.
“I don't understand.”
Michael looked at me.
“Your grandfather didn't create the inheritance.”
He pointed at Margaret.
“Her mother did.”
Margaret's face went white.
Then Michael said the words that made everyone freeze:
“Margaret isn't his granddaughter.”
“She is his daughter.”
Margaret stumbled backward.
“No.”
Michael continued:
“And she was the one who ordered your mother's disappearance.”
I looked at Margaret.
She was crying.
But she wasn't denying it.
Then she slowly smiled.
And whispered:
“You finally found me.”
The chapel doors slammed shut.
Every light went out.
And from beneath the altar came a second voice.
A man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
May you like
Laughing.
“Welcome home, children.”
