Chapter 6 - The Locked Room Under Vale HouseEveryone dropped to the floor.
Another shot struck the wall.
Adrian pulled Clara behind a cabinet.
Victoria grabbed Mia.
Mr. Cross crawled toward the exit.
“Don't open that door!”
Adrian stopped him.
“You said they found us.”
“They did.”
“Who?”
Mr. Cross's eyes were filled with fear.
“The people who have been waiting for you to remember.”
The gunfire stopped.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then the ballroom lights went out.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Elena grabbed Adrian's arm.
“There's no time.”
She pulled him toward the corridor.
“Where are we going?”
“To Vale House.”
“The estate burned down.”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“Everyone was told it burned down.”
They escaped through a service tunnel beneath the wedding hall.
The passage was narrow.
Dust covered the walls.
Adrian carried Mia.
Clara held Elena's hand.
Victoria followed.
At the tunnel's end was an old iron door.
Elena used a key.
Behind it was an underground garage.
A black sedan waited.
Within minutes, they were speeding away.
No one spoke.
Finally Adrian asked:
“Why bring us to Vale House?”
Elena stared through the windshield.
“Because the fire was never the end.”
Hours later, they reached the mountains.
Vale House stood beneath the trees.
It was intact.
Adrian stared at the building.
“I was told it burned.”
“It did.”
“What?”
“Only the west wing.”
They entered through a hidden door.
Inside, the mansion smelled of dust and old wood.
Elena led them downstairs.
She stopped before a stone wall.
Then pressed a small metal plate.
The wall opened.
Behind it was a room.
A laboratory.
Adrian stared.
Old monitors.
Medical equipment.
Dozens of files.
Photographs.
Baby bracelets.
Seven metal boxes.
Each box had a number.
Adrian's stomach twisted.
“What is this?”
Elena looked at him.
“The clinic records.”
She opened box three.
Inside was Jonah's hospital bracelet.
Adrian picked it up.
Jonah Vale.
His hands trembled.
Then he noticed another item beneath it.
A photograph.
A newborn baby.
The baby had a small birthmark near the left ear.
Adrian touched the image.
“He was beautiful.”
Elena looked away.
“I couldn't save him.”
Adrian turned sharply.
“You said he was alive.”
“I said he had been alive.”
Adrian stared.
“What are you saying?”
Elena began crying.
“Jonah disappeared six days after birth.”
“Who took him?”
“I don't know.”
“You're my mother. You knew everything.”
“I knew enough to be afraid.”
She opened box seven.
Inside was a file labeled:
SUBJECT J-7
Adrian read the first page.
Genetic compatibility: 99.98%.
He froze.
“J-7?”
Elena nodded.
“Jonah was only one of seven.”
Adrian looked at the other boxes.
“Then the seven children…”
“Were not seven unrelated children.”
“What were they?”
Elena whispered:
“Copies.”
Adrian felt sick.
“Copies of what?”
“Your father believed he could create a perfect heir.”
Adrian stepped back.
“Using my DNA?”
“Yes.”
“Then Clara and Mia…”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“They weren't created by the clinic.”
“Then who are they?”
Elena stared at the girls.
“They are exactly why the clinic failed.”
She opened another file.
Inside were photographs of Clara and Mia.
Taken years before their births.
Adrian's face drained of color.
“That can't be.”
Elena spoke softly.
“Someone knew they would be born before Evelyn even became pregnant.”
“How?”
Elena pointed to a final document.
At the bottom was one name.
VICTORIA MERCER.
Adrian slowly turned.
Victoria stood in the doorway.
Her face was unreadable.
Elena whispered:
“She was there the night Jonah vanished.”
Victoria said nothing.
Adrian looked at her.
“You knew.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Then the door slammed shut behind her.
A mechanical lock clicked.
They were trapped.
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And someone began turning on the laboratory lights.
One by one.
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