CHAPTER 6 — THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
CHAPTER 6 — THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Every face in the room looked back at Victor.
The countdown continued.
09:54.
Victor's eyes moved from Elena to Serena.
Then Alexander.
Then Ethan.
His son stood silently near Alexander, tears running down his cheeks.
"Daddy..."
Victor stepped forward.
"Ethan, come to me."
Alexander tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder.
"No."
Victor raised his gun.
"Let him go."
Alexander smiled.
"Before you make another mistake, listen to the recording."
Evelyn's voice filled the room again.
"The person standing beside you is the one who helped arrange my death."
Victor stopped.
The recording crackled.
"I trusted this person."
A pause.
"That's why I never suspected them."
Victor looked around.
"Who?"
Evelyn continued.
"Victor, if you've reached this point, you have probably discovered the truth about Alexander."
Victor stared at the man who looked exactly like him.
"He isn't your brother."
Alexander's smile disappeared.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
The recording continued.
"He was created to make you believe you had a brother."
Alexander stepped forward.
"Turn it off."
Victor looked at him.
"You said you were Alexander Hale."
"I am."
"No."
Victor's voice hardened.
"You're lying."
Alexander's face became cold.
"She's lying."
Evelyn's voice continued.
"His name isn't Alexander."
The countdown reached:
09:31.
"His real name is—"
Static swallowed the next words.
Victor slammed his fist against the speaker.
"Play it again."
Alexander suddenly moved.
He pulled Ethan backward.
"Enough."
Victor aimed his weapon.
"Where is my son?"
"He's safe."
"Let him go."
"You still don't understand."
Alexander pointed toward the wall.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
Victor stared.
It was an old family photograph.
His father.
His mother.
Victor as a little boy.
And another child.
A little girl.
Victor frowned.
"Who is she?"
Alexander said nothing.
Elena began crying.
Victor looked at her.
"You know her."
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Her name was Clara."
Victor stared at the photograph.
"I don't remember her."
"You weren't supposed to."
"Was she my sister?"
Elena shook her head.
"No."
"Then who?"
"She was your father's daughter."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"That makes her my sister."
"No."
Elena looked toward Alexander.
"She was his daughter."
Victor turned.
"Alexander's?"
"No."
"Then whose?"
Elena's voice broke.
"Mine."
The room went silent.
Victor stared at her.
"Clara was my daughter."
"Your daughter?"
Elena nodded.
"Your half-sister."
Victor's face hardened.
"Why was she erased?"
"Because she was the first child who could inherit the trust."
Victor looked at Ethan.
"So she was the original heir."
"Yes."
"What happened to her?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"She disappeared."
"When?"
"Twenty-three years ago."
"How?"
Elena couldn't answer.
Alexander did.
"She was murdered."
Victor looked at him.
"By whom?"
Alexander smiled.
"Your mother."
Victor stared.
"My mother?"
Alexander nodded.
"She killed Clara to make sure the trust would eventually pass to you."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
"Your mother wasn't the woman you thought she was."
Victor looked at the photograph.
His mother's face.
The woman who had raised him.
The woman he remembered as gentle.
Kind.
Protective.
Could she really have murdered a child?
Evelyn's recording suddenly interrupted.
"Victor..."
Her voice sounded frightened.
"Don't believe Alexander."
Alexander cursed.
"Stop the recording."
Victor stepped toward the speaker.
Evelyn continued:
"Clara wasn't killed by your mother."
Alexander looked at Victor.
"She's manipulating you."
"No."
Victor stared at him.
"Let the recording play."
Alexander's jaw tightened.
Evelyn whispered:
"Clara was hidden."
Victor froze.
"Hidden?"
"Your mother discovered what your father was doing."
"She tried to protect Clara."
"But she couldn't protect both children."
A pause.
"So she made a choice."
Victor's heart pounded.
"She gave Clara to someone she trusted."
Victor looked at Elena.
Elena's face was wet with tears.
Evelyn continued:
"That person was Elena."
Victor turned.
"You had Clara?"
Elena covered her mouth.
"I tried to save her."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I swear."
Victor stepped closer.
"Where is my sister?"
Elena shook her head.
"She's alive."
Victor froze.
"What?"
"Clara is alive."
Alexander suddenly lunged.
Victor reacted instantly.
He fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Alexander.
Alexander pulled Ethan behind him.
"Don't!"
Victor shouted:
"Let him go!"
Alexander backed toward the exit.
"You don't know what you're doing."
"I know enough."
"No."
Alexander smiled.
"You know nothing."
He pressed a button.
The room began shaking.
The countdown changed.
05:00.
Victor stared.
"What did you do?"
"Five minutes."
"Until what?"
"Until this entire facility fills with gas."
Ethan began crying.
"Daddy!"
Victor looked at Daniel's old control panel.
"How do I stop it?"
Alexander smiled.
"You don't."
Then the lights went out.
Victor heard footsteps.
A door slammed.
He grabbed Ethan.
"Stay with me."
"Daddy, I'm scared."
"I know."
"Please don't leave me."
"I won't."
He pulled the boy close.
A faint emergency light flickered.
Elena appeared beside them.
"Victor."
"Where's Alexander?"
"Gone."
"Serena?"
"Also gone."
Victor looked at the timer.
04:21.
"We need to find the ventilation control."
Elena pointed down the corridor.
"That way."
They ran.
The facility seemed endless.
Doors opened and closed.
Alarms screamed.
Victor held Ethan's hand.
"Keep moving."
Suddenly—
Ethan stopped.
"Daddy."
"What?"
"Look."
He pointed toward a wall.
There was a photograph.
The same woman from the family picture.
Clara.
Except she wasn't a child anymore.
She was an adult.
Standing beside Evelyn.
Victor stared.
"That's impossible."
Elena came closer.
Her face went pale.
"No."
"What?"
"That photograph..."
She touched the image.
"It was taken three months before Evelyn died."
Victor stared.
"Clara was alive."
Elena nodded.
"And she was working with Evelyn."
Victor's mind raced.
"Where is she now?"
Elena whispered:
"I don't know."
Victor noticed something written beneath the photograph.
A date.
And a location.
ROOM 17 — OCTOBER 17.
Victor's eyes widened.
"The same night Evelyn died."
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
Victor looked at Ethan.
"Do you know what Room 17 is?"
Ethan shook his head.
Then he reached into his pocket.
The gold key.
He held it up.
"The lady gave me this."
Victor stared.
"What lady?"
"The one in the photograph."
Victor's heart stopped.
"Clara?"
Ethan nodded.
"She told me to give it to Daddy."
Victor took the key.
The number engraved on it was no longer 17.
It had changed.
Now it read:
18.
Victor stared.
"That's impossible."
Elena looked terrified.
"Victor..."
"What?"
"Your mother died eighteen years ago."
Victor looked at her.
"Yes."
"Then why would the key change to eighteen?"
Before Victor could answer, the wall beside them opened.
A hidden staircase appeared.
At the bottom was a single door.
Above it:
ROOM 18.
Victor approached.
The door was already unlocked.
He pushed it open.
Inside was a bedroom.
Not a laboratory.
Not an archive.
A child's room.
Old toys.
A wooden bed.
A faded stuffed rabbit.
Victor stepped inside.
Ethan followed.
"Daddy..."
Victor looked at the bed.
There was a photograph on it.
A little girl.
Clara.
Victor picked it up.
On the back was handwriting.
He recognized it.
His mother's.
I'M SORRY I COULDN'T SAVE YOU.
Victor's heart tightened.
Then he saw another line.
BUT I SAVED HIM.
Victor frowned.
"Who?"
Elena looked over his shoulder.
She went pale.
"Victor..."
"What?"
"Look at the date."
Victor turned the photograph over.
The date was eighteen years ago.
The same date Evelyn died.
He stared.
"This was taken the night Evelyn died."
Elena nodded.
"But Clara disappeared twenty-three years ago."
Victor looked at her.
"Then how?"
Elena couldn't answer.
A noise came from the closet.
Ethan grabbed Victor's hand.
"Daddy."
"Stay behind me."
Victor opened the closet.
Empty.
Except for an old tape recorder.
He pressed play.
A woman's voice emerged.
Not Evelyn.
Not Elena.
His mother's.
"Victor..."
He froze.
"If you're hearing this, then my plan failed."
Victor's breath caught.
"I need you to know something."
A pause.
"Clara was never the heir."
Victor frowned.
"The heir was you."
Victor stared.
"I didn't know what your father had planned."
"But when I discovered the truth, I hid Clara."
"She was the only person who knew where I had taken you."
Victor's eyes widened.
"You weren't my son."
A long silence.
"You were my grandson."
Victor stopped breathing.
The recorder continued.
"Your father wasn't your father."
Victor looked at Elena.
"Then who was?"
His mother's voice whispered:
"The man you call your father was actually your uncle."
Victor's face went white.
"Your real father died before you were born."
"And your mother..."
A pause.
"...was Evelyn."
Victor dropped the recorder.
Elena covered her mouth.
"No."
Victor stared at her.
"My mother was Evelyn?"
His entire world shifted.
The memories.
The photograph.
The trust.
Ethan.
Everything.
Then the recording continued.
"Evelyn gave birth to you."
"Your father died."
"Your uncle took you."
"He erased your memories."
"And when you became an adult..."
A pause.
"...he made you believe Evelyn was your wife."
Victor staggered backward.
"No."
Ethan looked up at him.
"Daddy?"
Victor couldn't answer.
His mind screamed.
The woman he had loved.
The woman he had married.
The woman he believed was Ethan's mother.
The woman whose death had destroyed him—
might have been his own mother.
It was impossible.
It had to be.
Then the final sentence came.
"I am sorry, Victor."
"I let you believe a lie because the truth would have killed you."
The recorder clicked off.
Silence.
Victor stared at the floor.
Elena whispered:
"Victor..."
He slowly looked at her.
"Is it true?"
She couldn't speak.
"Elena."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Yes."
Victor's face collapsed.
"No."
"I'm sorry."
"No."
"You were too young to understand."
"No!"
Victor screamed.
Ethan flinched.
Victor immediately dropped to his knees.
"I'm sorry."
He pulled Ethan into his arms.
"I'm sorry."
Ethan began crying.
"Daddy, what's wrong?"
Victor held him tighter.
"I don't know."
Then—
a woman's voice came from the doorway.
"Now you know."
Victor looked up.
Clara stood there.
Alive.
Older.
Holding a gun.
Her eyes were full of tears.
Victor stared.
"You."
Clara nodded.
"My name is Clara Hale."
Victor couldn't speak.
She looked at Ethan.
Then at Victor.
"I've been waiting eighteen years for you to remember me."
Victor slowly stood.
"Why?"
"Because Evelyn asked me to."
"Where is she?"
Clara's face changed.
"She died."
"Who killed her?"
Clara looked toward Elena.
Then Victor.
"Not Serena."
"Not Alexander."
"Not Daniel."
Victor's voice shook.
"Then who?"
Clara whispered:
"The woman in the photograph."
Victor frowned.
"What woman?"
Clara raised the photograph.
The old family photograph.
His mother.
Evelyn.
Clara.
And Victor as a child.
She pointed to one person.
Evelyn.
"She wasn't your mother."
Victor froze.
"She was your aunt."
"Your real mother is the woman standing beside you."
Victor turned slowly.
Elena was crying.
Clara continued:
"And she is the one who ordered Evelyn's death."
Victor's face went blank.
Elena whispered:
"Victor..."
The facility alarm screamed.
00:42.
Clara lowered her gun.
"There's no time."
Victor stared at Elena.
"You killed her?"
Elena shook her head violently.
"No."
"Then why does Clara say you did?"
"I didn't!"
Clara shouted:
"She did!"
Ethan screamed.
"Daddy!"
The timer reached:
00:30.
Victor looked at both women.
One was crying.
One was pointing a gun.
Both claimed to know the truth.
And Victor realized something terrifying.
He couldn't trust either of them.
Then the lights went out.
A voice whispered from the darkness:
"Finally."
Victor froze.
The voice belonged to Evelyn.
"Now you're ready to hear what really happened."
00:10.
Victor grabbed Ethan.
"Who are you?"
The voice laughed softly.
"Your wife."
00:05.
Victor stared into the darkness.
"You're dead."
00:03.
The voice whispered:
"No, Victor."
00:02.
"I was never Evelyn."
00:01.
The facility exploded into darkness.
May you like
And the last thing Victor heard—
was Ethan screaming his name.
