CHAPTER 14 — THE LAST NIGHT AT THE MANSION
CHAPTER 14 — THE LAST NIGHT AT THE MANSION
00:57
The number burned red above them.
Victor stared at the screen.
Then at Edward.
His father stood on the other side of the chamber with a gun pressed against Serena's temple.
For years, Victor had imagined what the final betrayal would look like.
He had imagined Adrian.
Michael.
Serena.
Even Isabella.
But not Edward.
Never Edward.
"You."
Edward smiled sadly.
"I told you the truth eventually."
Victor raised his weapon.
"Let her go."
Edward shook his head.
"You still don't understand."
"I understand enough."
"No."
Edward's voice became almost gentle.
"That's the problem with you, Victor."
"You always think the person holding the gun is the most dangerous person in the room."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Then who is?"
Edward looked at Ethan.
"The person who knows how to use the gun."
Ethan stood beside Victor, trembling.
Victor immediately moved in front of him.
Edward smiled.
"There."
"That's exactly what I expected."
"What?"
"Your first instinct."
"Protect the boy."
Victor's voice became cold.
"He's my son."
Edward shook his head.
"He's your weakness."
"No."
"He is the reason you can be controlled."
Victor's grip tightened.
"You don't know me."
Edward's expression changed.
"I know you better than anyone."
He looked at the glowing symbol on Victor's palm.
"I created the man you call Victor."
Victor froze.
Edward continued.
"I gave you the name."
"I gave you the memories."
"I gave you the family."
"I gave you the empire."
"And I gave you the illusion that you were free."
Victor stared at him.
"Why?"
Edward answered:
"Because freedom makes people unpredictable."
He pointed toward the machine.
"The Trust requires obedience."
Victor shook his head.
"You built this entire system."
"Yes."
"Your brother Michael."
"An instrument."
"Adrian."
"A technician."
"Serena."
"A replacement."
"Evelyn."
"A mistake."
Victor's face hardened.
"And Isabella?"
Edward's eyes darkened.
"She was the only person I ever feared."
Victor looked at his mother.
Her body still lay motionless near the chamber entrance.
"You killed her."
Edward didn't answer.
Victor understood.
"You killed my mother."
Edward sighed.
"She refused to obey."
"She was protecting me."
"She was destroying the system."
"She was my mother."
"And I was your father."
Victor stepped forward.
"You're nothing."
Edward's smile vanished.
"You will understand."
"No."
Victor raised his weapon.
"I already do."
00:43
Serena suddenly drove her elbow backward.
Edward lost his grip.
She twisted.
The gun went off.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Victor fired.
Edward ducked.
Evelyn pulled Serena toward the wall.
"Run!"
They moved.
Victor grabbed Ethan.
"Stay behind me."
The chamber erupted into gunfire.
Michael fired toward the soldiers entering through the upper passage.
Clara shut down one section of the system.
Adrian appeared from behind the machinery.
For a moment, the old enemies stood together.
Victor looked at him.
"Why are you helping us?"
Adrian lowered his weapon.
"Because I finally realized something."
"What?"
"I spent thirty years protecting the wrong man."
Michael looked at him.
"You betrayed me."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"I finally betrayed you."
Michael smiled.
"Then die with them."
He raised his weapon.
Adrian fired first.
Michael fell backward.
Victor stared.
"Is he dead?"
Adrian shook his head.
"Not yet."
Edward shouted:
"Enough!"
Everyone turned.
Edward stood beside the main control panel.
His hand was pressed against a biometric scanner.
The entire chamber began shaking.
The countdown changed.
00:30
Victor looked at the screen.
"Thirty seconds."
Edward smiled.
"The Trust will erase itself."
Victor frowned.
"And everyone inside?"
"Everyone connected to it."
"Meaning?"
Edward looked directly at him.
"You."
Victor's face hardened.
"Why?"
"Because you are the final record."
Victor understood.
The Trust wasn't just data.
It was stored in people.
In memories.
In conditioned identities.
In blood.
If the system destroyed itself, it would destroy every person carrying its secrets.
Including Victor.
Edward had designed the entire system around one final contingency.
If he couldn't control Victor—
he would erase him.
Victor looked at Ethan.
"Get him out."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
Victor turned.
"You heard him."
"I did."
"Then take Ethan."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to."
"No."
"Evelyn."
She stepped closer.
"You may not remember me."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"But I remember you."
Victor stared at her.
She whispered:
"And I'm not losing you twice."
00:21
Edward activated the final sequence.
The chamber walls began to crack.
A deep mechanical roar filled the mansion.
Above them, windows shattered.
The grand staircase collapsed.
The mansion began dying around them.
Victor looked at Edward.
"Why?"
Edward stared at him.
"Because I wanted to build something that would outlive us."
"You built a prison."
"I built immortality."
"You destroyed your family."
"I preserved it."
"You murdered Isabella."
"She chose her fate."
"You destroyed Evelyn."
"I protected the Trust."
"You destroyed me."
Edward's eyes narrowed.
"I made you."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Ethan.
"He made me a father."
Then at Evelyn.
"She taught me what love was."
Then at Serena.
"She showed me what fear can make people become."
Then at Michael.
"He showed me what power does when it has no conscience."
Finally, Victor looked back at Edward.
"And you?"
Edward waited.
Victor said:
"You taught me what I never want to become."
Edward's face hardened.
The countdown reached:
00:12
Edward raised his weapon.
Victor raised his.
Two men.
Father and son.
For the first time, neither one was pretending.
Edward fired.
Victor fired.
Both bullets struck.
Edward staggered.
Victor dropped to one knee.
Ethan screamed.
"Daddy!"
Evelyn rushed toward Victor.
"I'm okay."
Blood spread across Victor's shirt.
Evelyn looked terrified.
"You're hurt."
"It's nothing."
The countdown:
00:08
Edward crawled toward the control panel.
Victor saw him.
He understood.
If Edward reached it, everyone would die.
Victor forced himself up.
He ran.
Edward reached the panel.
Victor tackled him.
They crashed through the glass barrier.
The control system sparked.
Edward grabbed Victor's throat.
"You ungrateful boy."
Victor struggled.
"You don't own me."
"You are mine."
"No."
Victor slammed Edward against the floor.
"I'm nobody's."
00:05
Edward reached for the control switch.
Victor grabbed his wrist.
00:04
"Let go."
"No."
00:03
Edward smiled.
"You can't stop it."
Victor looked at the glowing symbol on his palm.
Then at Ethan.
Then at the second symbol on Ethan's hand.
He understood.
The Trust required two signatures.
Guardian.
Heir.
Victor grabbed Ethan's hand.
The symbols connected.
00:02
A blinding light filled the chamber.
Edward screamed.
"No!"
00:01
Victor shouted:
"Ethan!"
The boy pressed his hand against the control panel.
The system stopped.
Silence.
The countdown disappeared.
Every light went out.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then—
the system displayed:
TRUST TERMINATED.
Victor stared.
The machine shut down.
One by one, every monitor went black.
The walls stopped shaking.
The mansion became silent.
The last night of the Trust was over.
But the mansion itself was still collapsing.
Victor looked around.
"Everyone out."
They ran.
They reached the main hall.
Smoke filled the air.
Pieces of the ceiling were falling.
Victor carried Ethan.
Evelyn supported Serena.
Adrian helped Clara.
Michael was nowhere to be seen.
Edward remained behind.
Victor stopped.
"Ethan, go."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Victor?"
"Take him."
He turned toward the burning corridor.
Edward stood alone beneath the chandelier.
He was bleeding heavily.
Victor walked toward him.
"Come with us."
Edward laughed.
"Why?"
"Because you're my father."
Edward looked surprised.
"You still call me that?"
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
"Even after everything?"
Victor looked at him.
"You're still my father."
Edward's eyes filled with tears.
"But I don't forgive you."
Edward smiled faintly.
"I never expected you to."
Victor turned.
"Come on."
Edward didn't move.
Victor looked back.
"Father."
Edward whispered:
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because the mansion was built around me."
Victor frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Edward looked upward.
"The foundation."
Then the floor beneath him cracked.
Victor stepped forward.
"Move!"
Edward shook his head.
"No."
"Come with me."
Edward smiled.
"For once..."
He looked at Victor.
"...let me choose my own ending."
The floor collapsed.
Victor lunged.
Too late.
Edward disappeared into the darkness.
Victor stood motionless.
Then Ethan grabbed his hand.
"Daddy."
Victor looked down.
"We have to go."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
They ran.
Behind them, the mansion began to collapse.
The great windows shattered.
The roof folded inward.
The tower fell.
The house that had contained decades of secrets disappeared into fire and dust.
Victor stood outside with Ethan in his arms.
Evelyn beside him.
Serena and Clara behind them.
The mansion burned against the night sky.
Ethan whispered:
"Is it over?"
Victor looked at the flames.
"I think so."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
Victor looked at her.
She pointed toward the ground.
A small black case had survived the collapse.
Victor picked it up.
On its lid was a single symbol.
The Hale mark.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Victor.
Ethan.
Evelyn.
Isabella.
Edward.
Michael.
And one more person.
A woman Victor didn't recognize.
On the back was written:
THE TRUST WAS ONLY THE FIRST PROJECT.
Victor stared.
His blood ran cold.
"What is this?"
Evelyn looked at the photograph.
Her face went pale.
"I know her."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Your biological mother."
Victor froze.
"Maria?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Evelyn turned the photograph over again.
There was another line.
PROJECT TWO BEGINS WHEN PROJECT ONE ENDS.
Victor looked toward the burning mansion.
A figure appeared on the hill behind the smoke.
Michael.
Alive.
Watching them.
Victor raised his weapon.
Michael didn't attack.
He simply smiled.
Then he turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Ethan pulled on Victor's coat.
"Daddy."
Victor looked down.
"What?"
"Are we safe now?"
Victor stared into the darkness.
He wanted to say yes.
But for the first time, he refused to lie to his son.
"No."
Ethan's eyes widened.
Victor knelt.
"But we are together."
He pulled Ethan into his arms.
"And as long as we're together..."
Victor looked toward Evelyn.
"...we'll face whatever comes next."
Sirens approached in the distance.
The mansion burned behind them.
And somewhere far beyond the hills—
a phone rang.
Michael answered.
A woman's voice spoke.
"Did Victor survive?"
Michael smiled.
"Yes."
"Good."
"Should we begin?"
The woman paused.
Then answered:
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because Victor still believes he won."
Michael looked back toward the burning mansion.
"Let him."
The woman laughed softly.
"Tomorrow, he'll learn the truth."
Michael's smile disappeared.
"What truth?"
The woman answered:
"Victor Hale was never our target."
A pause.
"Ethan was."
The call ended.
Michael stared at the burning mansion.
May you like
For the first time—
even he looked afraid.
