CHAPTER 8 — THE FIRST HEIR
CHAPTER 8 — THE FIRST HEIR
“Subject 003 has awakened.”
The words echoed through the room.
I couldn't move.
Daniel was gone.
One second he had been standing beside me.
The next, there was nothing but empty space.
“DANIEL!”
I ran toward the door.
It didn't move.
I slammed my hands against the steel.
“Open this door!”
Edward Blackwood watched me without emotion.
“You're wasting your strength.”
I turned around.
“You took my brother.”
“No.”
“You took him!”
“I retrieved what belongs to my family.”
My mother stepped between us.
“He belongs to no one.”
Edward's expression barely changed.
“Isabella.”
My mother froze.
“You remember me.”
“I remember everyone who betrayed me.”
Her face went pale.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Edward smiled.
“That's what I wanted everyone to believe.”
Jonathan raised his gun.
Edward didn't even look at him.
“Put it down.”
Jonathan didn't move.
Edward glanced toward the ceiling.
A red light appeared.
Then a laser settled directly over Jonathan's chest.
He slowly lowered the weapon.
Edward looked back at me.
“You see?”
“You don't need to threaten people.”
“You're right.”
He smiled.
“They already know what happens if they disobey.”
I looked at Eva.
She stood several feet behind him.
Tears streamed down her face.
I whispered:
“Eva.”
She wouldn't look at me.
“Please.”
Her lips trembled.
“I tried.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
Edward turned toward her.
“Enough.”
Eva immediately became silent.
I felt something inside me crack.
“What did you do to her?”
Edward looked at me.
“Nothing.”
“She's terrified of you.”
“Fear is useful.”
“She is your granddaughter.”
“She is Subject 005.”
“She has a name.”
“Names create attachments.”
I stepped toward him.
“Then what should I call you?”
He smiled.
“Grandfather.”
I almost laughed.
“You don't deserve that.”
“No.”
His expression remained calm.
“But you deserve to know why your father hated me.”
Edward walked toward the desk.
He picked up the photograph lying beside my father's bloodstained shirt.
It showed three children.
Two girls.
One boy.
I recognized myself.
Daniel.
Eva.
But there was another child standing behind them.
A boy.
Older.
Maybe six or seven years old.
I stared.
“Who is that?”
Edward didn't answer.
My mother did.
Her voice was barely audible.
“The first heir.”
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
She swallowed.
“Before you.”
She pointed to the photograph.
“Before Daniel.”
“Before Eva.”
“There was him.”
I stepped closer.
“Who is he?”
Edward placed the photograph back on the desk.
“His name was Adrian.”
“Where is he?”
Edward's eyes hardened.
“Dead.”
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
Edward looked at her.
“You know what happened.”
“You killed him.”
“I corrected a failure.”
“What failure?”
I asked.
Edward looked at me.
“Adrian was the first child selected to inherit everything.”
“The first heir.”
“Yes.”
“Then why kill him?”
“Because he refused.”
“Refused what?”
“To become me.”
Silence.
Edward continued.
“Adrian was intelligent.”
“Strong.”
“Independent.”
“He understood what M-17 was becoming.”
“And he hated it.”
I stared at the photograph.
“What did he do?”
“He tried to expose everything.”
My mother whispered:
“He succeeded.”
Edward's expression changed for the first time.
“Partially.”
“What does that mean?”
“He sent evidence outside the organization.”
“To whom?”
“Your father.”
I looked at the bloodstained shirt.
Alexander.
My father had discovered M-17 because of Adrian.
Edward nodded.
“Your father believed he could destroy the program.”
“Could he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he misunderstood the first rule of power.”
“What rule?”
Edward looked directly into my eyes.
“People don't protect the truth.”
“They protect themselves.”
A scream came through the speakers.
“DAD!”
Daniel.
I ran toward the control panel.
“Where is he?”
Edward didn't answer.
“Where is my brother?”
“Safe.”
“Let me hear him.”
The speaker crackled.
Daniel's voice came through.
“Lena!”
“Daniel!”
“Don't trust—”
The transmission cut.
I turned toward Edward.
“If you hurt him—”
“You'll do what?”
I stared at him.
He smiled.
“That's the problem with people who have spent their entire lives believing they're powerless.”
He stepped closer.
“They always think anger is power.”
“It's not.”
“What is?”
“Choice.”
His smile disappeared.
For the first time, I saw something behind his eyes.
Recognition.
Maybe even fear.
“You sound like Adrian.”
I looked at the photograph.
“Then maybe you should have listened to him.”
Edward walked away.
“Bring her.”
Two guards entered.
I raised my weapon.
Jonathan stepped beside me.
“Don't.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because they have Daniel.”
I lowered the gun.
The guards surrounded us.
My mother reached for me.
“Lena.”
“I'll get him.”
“I know.”
She squeezed my hand.
“And when you see what is inside this tower...”
She paused.
“Remember that your father tried to destroy it.”
I nodded.
“I will.”
They took us through a corridor beneath the tower.
The walls were glass.
Behind them were rooms filled with computers.
Servers.
Medical equipment.
Rows of files.
Hundreds of photographs.
I saw children.
Adults.
Families.
Politicians.
Scientists.
Judges.
Police officers.
Doctors.
Everyone connected to M-17.
This wasn't a secret laboratory.
It was an empire.
An entire infrastructure built around controlling people.
We passed a room marked:
GENETIC ARCHIVE.
Another:
IDENTITY MANAGEMENT.
Another:
HEIR SELECTION.
I stopped.
“What's that?”
One guard pushed me forward.
I resisted.
“What is the Heir Selection program?”
No answer.
I looked at Jonathan.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Jonathan.”
Nothing.
“Tell me.”
He finally spoke.
“It determines who inherits Blackwood assets.”
“That's normal.”
“Not like this.”
“How?”
“The system doesn't simply select an heir.”
“What does it do?”
“It eliminates competitors.”
I felt sick.
“How?”
“Scandals.”
“Financial crimes.”
“Accidents.”
“Disappearances.”
“Murders.”
I stopped walking.
“Everyone on that list?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Potential heirs.”
“And Victor?”
“Victor was number one.”
I stared.
“Heir to everything.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Edward choose me?”
Jonathan looked at me.
“Because Victor refused.”
The corridor opened into a vast chamber.
Daniel was sitting alone behind a glass wall.
He looked terrified.
“Daniel!”
He looked up.
“Lena!”
I ran toward the glass.
He pressed his hands against it.
I placed mine against the other side.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded.
“I think so.”
“What did they do?”
“Nothing.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
Daniel looked behind him.
“Because of him.”
I turned.
Edward stood at the far end of the chamber.
He walked toward us.
“You've been asking the wrong questions.”
I stared at him.
“Then answer the right ones.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because you're the first heir.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don't want your empire.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“You believe inheritance is money.”
“Isn't it?”
Edward smiled.
“No.”
He pointed toward the glass.
“Daniel.”
Then toward Eva.
“Subject 005.”
Then toward me.
“Subject 001.”
“These are not experiments.”
“They are assets.”
I felt disgusted.
“We're people.”
“People are assets.”
“No.”
“That's what your father believed.”
“My father hated you.”
“And yet he spent his final years trying to become powerful enough to defeat me.”
“Because you destroyed his life.”
“No.”
Edward looked at me.
“I gave him a purpose.”
“You killed him.”
Edward paused.
Then said quietly:
“He asked me to.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He came to me three nights before his death.”
My mother shouted:
“Liar!”
Edward ignored her.
“He knew he was infected.”
“He knew Crane was closing in.”
“He knew the only way to protect you was to disappear.”
I stared at him.
“What did he ask?”
Edward's expression became almost human.
“He asked me to make you hate him.”
My heart broke.
“Why?”
“So you wouldn't look for him.”
“He knew I would.”
“Yes.”
“So he asked you to help.”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed?”
“No.”
Edward looked toward the bloodstained shirt.
“I offered him another option.”
“What option?”
“To become the next heir.”
I stared.
“He refused.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what being heir meant.”
Edward walked closer.
“He told me something that night.”
“What?”
Edward looked directly into my eyes.
“He said, ‘My daughter will never belong to you.’”
I couldn't breathe.
My father had known.
He had fought for me.
Even at the end.
Edward continued.
“So I made him a promise.”
“What promise?”
“That one day, you would come back.”
I felt cold.
“You wanted me here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the Blackwood empire is dying.”
I frowned.
“And you want me to save it?”
“No.”
Edward smiled.
“I want you to inherit it.”
The chamber doors opened.
A woman entered.
She carried a black folder.
She placed it on the table.
Edward nodded.
“Open it.”
I approached cautiously.
The cover read:
FIRST HEIR — ADRIAN BLACKWOOD
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Medical reports.
Psychological evaluations.
DNA results.
Then I found something unexpected.
A handwritten letter.
The handwriting was my father's.
I knew it immediately.
My hands trembled.
I unfolded it.
If Elena ever reads this,
then I failed.
I stopped breathing.
Adrian was the first person who tried to destroy M-17.
I thought I could finish what he started.
I was wrong.
The system is bigger than Edward.
Bigger than Victor.
Bigger than Crane.
I turned the page.
There is someone above them.
My heart raced.
Someone who has controlled every heir for decades.
I don't know his name.
But Adrian called him—
The bottom of the page was torn away.
I looked at Edward.
“Who is he?”
Edward's face was expressionless.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I don't.”
“Then why did my father write this?”
“Because Alexander was desperate.”
I turned another page.
A photograph fell onto the floor.
It showed Adrian.
Standing beside another man.
I picked it up.
The man had his back toward the camera.
But his face was reflected in a window.
I stared.
I knew him.
My blood turned cold.
“No.”
Jonathan saw the photograph.
He stepped backward.
“What?”
I held it up.
The man's face was clear.
I had seen him many times.
He had attended my father's funeral.
He had spoken at Victor's memorial.
He had even visited our house when I was a child.
The most trusted adviser in the Blackwood empire.
I whispered his name.
“Richard Hale.”
Edward's expression changed.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.
Jonathan whispered:
“He's alive?”
My mother covered her mouth.
“No.”
Edward looked toward the security cameras.
Then he said:
“Turn them off.”
Nobody moved.
“Now.”
The lights flickered.
One by one, the cameras went black.
Edward looked at me.
“Take Daniel.”
“What?”
“Get out.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard knows you're here.”
“And?”
Edward's voice dropped.
“He isn't coming for the empire.”
He looked toward Eva.
“He's coming for the heirs.”
A deafening alarm erupted.
Red lights flashed across the chamber.
Then every screen displayed the same message:
SUBJECT 000 HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING.
Daniel screamed.
My mother froze.
Jonathan whispered:
“Subject 000?”
Edward stared at the screens.
His face had gone completely white.
“No.”
A man's voice came through every speaker.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“Hello, Father.”
Edward slowly looked upward.
The voice continued.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance.”
I stared at Edward.
“Who is that?”
He didn't answer.
The voice laughed.
“You've spent thirty years pretending I was dead.”
A pause.
“Now I'm here to collect what belongs to me.”
Edward whispered:
“Adrian.”
I looked at the photograph in my hands.
The first heir.
The boy who was supposedly dead.
The boy who had started everything.
The voice returned.
“And Elena?”
I froze.
“Yes?”
“You've been searching for the wrong villain.”
The screens went black.
Then one final message appeared.
THE FIRST HEIR IS COMING FOR HIS FAMILY.
The chamber doors unlocked.
Edward looked at me.
“Now you understand.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He frowned.
“I understand one thing.”
“What?”
I picked up my father's letter.
“My father didn't fail.”
I looked toward the darkness beyond the door.
“He left me a trail.”
Then I took Daniel's hand.
“And I'm going to finish what he started.”
Behind us, Eva stepped forward.
For the first time, she wasn't crying.
She looked at me.
“I know where Adrian is.”
Everyone turned toward her.
I stared.
“Where?”
Eva's expression was cold.
“Beneath the city.”
“How do you know?”
She looked at Edward.
“Because he came for me last night.”
Edward's face changed.
Eva continued:
“And he told me something.”
“What?”
She looked directly at me.
“He said the first heir isn't coming to destroy M-17.”
A pause.
“He's coming to replace it.”
The lights went out again.
May you like
And somewhere beneath Blackwood Tower...
a man began walking toward us.
