CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 12
THE FINAL CONFESSION
For a moment, nobody breathed.
Thomas Vale stood beneath the broken archway with one hand resting on the stone wall.
Adrian Black stood beside him.
Two men who were supposed to be dead.
Two men who had spent decades hiding behind other names.
And between them, Victor was kneeling beside Eleanor.
His mother.
Alive.
Bleeding.
Clara had pulled Ethan behind her, but the little boy kept looking over her shoulder.
“Daddy?”
Victor didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on Thomas.
“My father.”
Thomas smiled.
“You finally know.”
Victor slowly stood.
“You're my father.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan is your grandson.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“Then what are you?”
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“Your uncle.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“You stole my identity.”
Adrian shrugged.
“Your grandfather did.”
“You murdered Eleanor.”
“No.”
“Then who shot her?”
Thomas stepped forward.
“I did.”
Victor's eyes widened.
Thomas looked almost relieved.
“I've spent twenty-three years waiting to say that.”
Clara pulled Ethan farther away.
Victor's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Eleanor.
“Because she was going to tell you everything.”
“She was my mother.”
“She was going to destroy the only thing keeping this family alive.”
Victor shook his head.
“You call this alive?”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“No.”
He looked around the underground chamber.
“This is what survival looks like when everyone is afraid of the truth.”
Victor moved toward him.
“What truth?”
Thomas sighed.
“The truth about the night Eleanor supposedly died.”
Adrian interrupted.
“You don't have to tell him.”
Thomas turned.
“I'm done protecting you.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“You know what happens if you confess.”
Thomas smiled.
“I know.”
Victor looked between them.
“What are you afraid of?”
Thomas answered:
“Each other.”
Victor frowned.
“Explain.”
Thomas looked at Eleanor.
“She was never meant to survive that night.”
Victor glanced at his mother.
“What happened?”
Thomas began speaking.
“Twenty-three years ago, Eleanor discovered that Augustus had been keeping records of every child born into the family.”
Victor listened.
“She found the underground rooms.”
“Yes.”
“She found Clara.”
“Yes.”
“She found Evan.”
Thomas nodded.
“And she found you.”
Victor froze.
“Me?”
“You were three months old.”
Victor's expression changed.
“You said I was taken.”
“You were.”
“By Augustus?”
“No.”
Victor stared.
“Then who?”
Thomas looked at him.
“I took you.”
Silence.
Victor's face went blank.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Augustus wanted to kill you.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“So you kidnapped me to save me?”
“Yes.”
“And then you disappeared.”
“I was hunted.”
“By whom?”
“Everyone.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You left me with the man who destroyed my life.”
Thomas's eyes filled with regret.
“I believed Augustus would protect you.”
“You were wrong.”
“Yes.”
“You were wrong for twenty-three years.”
“Yes.”
Victor's voice cracked.
“And my mother?”
Thomas looked down.
“She came after you.”
“What happened?”
“She found me.”
“And then?”
“She begged me to return you.”
Victor swallowed.
“Did you?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Why?”
“Because by then Augustus knew about Ethan.”
Victor froze.
“Ethan wasn't born yet.”
“He was conceived.”
Thomas continued:
“Eleanor was pregnant.”
Victor stared.
“With Ethan.”
“Yes.”
“Who was the father?”
Thomas looked at him.
“You.”
Victor's face tightened.
“I know that.”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You don't.”
Victor frowned.
Thomas's voice became quiet.
“Ethan was conceived using your blood.”
Victor stared.
“What?”
“Augustus had already taken a blood sample from you.”
“Why?”
“To create an heir.”
Victor's expression changed to horror.
“You're saying Ethan was planned?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Augustus.”
Victor looked at Eleanor.
She was barely conscious.
Thomas continued:
“Augustus wanted a child carrying the blood of every powerful branch of the family.”
Victor shook his head.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“Eleanor wasn't married to Adrian.”
“No.”
“She wasn't with Thomas.”
“No.”
“Then how did Ethan—”
“Your blood was used.”
Victor stepped backward.
“That's impossible.”
Thomas looked at Adrian.
“Tell him.”
Adrian remained silent.
“Tell him.”
Adrian finally spoke.
“Your grandfather had access to experimental reproductive technology.”
Victor stared.
“Experimental?”
“Genetic selection.”
Clara's face hardened.
“You made a child for inheritance.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
Clara's voice trembled.
“And when Eleanor refused?”
“She became a liability.”
Victor turned toward Adrian.
“You killed her.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Thomas did.”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
Victor stared.
“Then why is she alive?”
Thomas looked toward Eleanor.
“Because I couldn't finish it.”
The room fell silent.
“I shot her,” Thomas continued, “but I didn't kill her.”
Victor's eyes filled with anger.
“What did you do?”
“I took her to the hospital.”
“You told everyone she was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Augustus was watching.”
Victor looked at Eleanor.
“And then?”
“She disappeared.”
“Where?”
“She escaped.”
Victor's voice broke.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For twenty-three years.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“I was afraid.”
Victor laughed.
“Afraid of what?”
“That you'd choose Augustus over me.”
Victor stared at him.
“I was a child.”
“I know.”
“You made me hate my mother.”
“I know.”
“You made me believe she abandoned me.”
“I know.”
Victor's voice became a whisper.
“I spent my whole life thinking she didn't love me.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“She loved you more than anyone.”
Victor looked at Eleanor.
“Then why didn't she come back?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Because she was protecting Ethan.”
Victor stopped.
“What?”
“Augustus had Ethan.”
Victor's face changed.
“No.”
“He took him from the hospital.”
“What happened to him?”
Thomas looked toward Clara.
“She found him.”
Victor looked at Clara.
“You?”
Clara nodded.
“I was there.”
“How?”
“Eleanor had hidden me with the nurses.”
“You were a child.”
“I was twelve.”
Victor stared.
“You saved Ethan?”
Clara smiled sadly.
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“I switched the babies.”
Victor froze.
“Babies?”
Clara nodded.
“There were two.”
Ethan looked up.
Victor's eyes widened.
“The other child.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Clara's face changed.
“Dead.”
Victor stared.
“Who killed him?”
“Augustus.”
Thomas interrupted:
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Thomas looked at Adrian.
“Adrian killed him.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“That isn't true.”
Thomas smiled.
“You've lied for twenty-three years.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Thomas laughed.
“I have nothing left to lose.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“Did you kill the other baby?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Victor's voice rose.
“Did you?”
Adrian finally said:
“Yes.”
Clara closed her eyes.
Victor's face went cold.
“Why?”
“Because Augustus ordered me.”
“You killed an infant.”
Adrian looked away.
“I did what I was told.”
Victor stared.
“And you expect me to believe you had no choice?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Victor raised his gun.
Eleanor suddenly whispered:
“Victor.”
He looked back.
Her eyes were open.
“Don't become them.”
Victor lowered the gun.
Adrian smiled.
Then Thomas said something that erased the smile from his face.
“Tell him about the first room.”
Adrian went still.
Victor turned.
“What first room?”
Adrian shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Thomas laughed.
“The room beneath the room.”
Victor stared at him.
“What is there?”
Thomas looked at Eleanor.
She nodded weakly.
“Show him.”
Adrian backed away.
“No.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Show me.”
“I won't.”
“Then I will find it.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“You don't understand what is down there.”
Victor's voice hardened.
“I've spent my entire life not understanding.”
He moved toward the hidden passage.
“I think I've earned the truth.”
The passage descended farther than the others.
The walls became older.
Stone replaced concrete.
At the bottom was a door.
A small metal plate was attached to it.
ROOM 1.
Victor stopped.
“What is this?”
Thomas answered:
“The beginning.”
Victor opened the door.
Inside was a single chair.
A table.
A camera.
And a wall covered with photographs.
Hundreds.
Children.
Adults.
Families.
Some photographs were decades old.
Others recent.
Victor walked slowly.
Then stopped.
His own photograph was there.
Taken when he was an infant.
Beside it was Eleanor.
And beside Eleanor—
Augustus.
Victor stared.
Then he saw another photograph.
Ethan.
Taken the day he was born.
And beneath it:
PROJECT HEIR.
Victor's hands began shaking.
“No.”
Clara walked beside him.
“This is what your family was protecting.”
Victor looked at the files.
There were medical records.
Genetic reports.
Birth certificates.
Death certificates.
Everything.
A complete history.
He opened the first file.
The first page was dated thirty-seven years earlier.
SUBJECT: VICTOR ADRIAN BLACK
He turned the page.
The next:
SUBJECT: EVAN THOMAS VALE
Then:
SUBJECT: CLARA ADRIAN VALE
Then:
SUBJECT: ETHAN VICTOR BLACKWOOD
Victor stopped.
“He planned Ethan before I even met Eleanor.”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
Victor looked at the last page.
A handwritten note appeared:
The final heir must carry all three bloodlines.
Victor whispered:
“All three.”
Thomas nodded.
“Black.”
“Vale.”
“Blackwood.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at Ethan.
The boy was sleeping against Clara's shoulder.
Victor finally understood.
“My son wasn't an accident.”
“No.”
“He was the final experiment.”
“Yes.”
Victor's voice became bitter.
“And everyone who tried to protect him became disposable.”
Thomas nodded.
“Exactly.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“Why did you help him?”
Adrian's eyes filled with anger.
“Because I thought I could control it.”
“You created it.”
“No.”
“You helped build this.”
“I was trying to destroy Augustus from within.”
Victor laughed.
“You murdered children.”
Adrian looked at him.
“I made terrible choices.”
“You made them repeatedly.”
Adrian lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Victor turned away.
Then he noticed something.
A final photograph.
It showed three people.
Augustus.
Adrian.
And a woman Victor had never seen before.
The woman was holding a newborn.
On the back was a name.
MARA.
Victor looked at Thomas.
“Who is Mara?”
Thomas's expression changed.
“Your sister.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
“Your father's daughter.”
“I don't have a sister.”
“You do.”
“Where is she?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Victor stepped closer.
“Where is Mara?”
Thomas whispered:
“She's the one who has been running the estate.”
Victor's face went pale.
“The woman who controls the company?”
“Yes.”
“The woman nobody has ever seen?”
“Yes.”
Victor stared at the photograph.
“She's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Thomas looked at Adrian.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Then the lights went out.
A woman's voice came through the speaker.
“Right here.”
Victor spun around.
A screen flickered on.
A woman's face appeared.
Elegant.
Cold.
Composed.
She looked directly into the camera.
“My name is Mara Blackwood.”
Victor stared.
She smiled.
“And I have been listening to all of you.”
Mara continued.
“Victor, you have spent your entire life believing you were the victim.”
Victor stepped toward the screen.
“You are.”
She smiled.
“No.”
“Then what am I?”
“The final mistake.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“What do you want?”
“Ethan.”
“You'll never have him.”
“I already do.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
The screen changed.
A live video appeared.
Ethan was sitting in a room.
Alone.
His purple elephant beside him.
Victor's face went white.
“Where is he?”
Mara smiled.
“Somewhere you will never find without me.”
Clara stepped forward.
“You won't hurt him.”
Mara looked at her.
“Clara.”
Clara froze.
“You remember me.”
“Of course.”
“You took my family.”
Mara's expression remained calm.
“No.”
“You ordered them killed.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Mara leaned closer to the camera.
“You're still asking the wrong question.”
Victor stared.
“What question?”
Mara smiled.
“Who is Ethan's real father?”
Victor frowned.
“I am.”
Mara laughed softly.
“No.”
Victor's face went pale.
“You're lying.”
“I have the DNA report.”
“Show me.”
“I will.”
The screen changed.
A laboratory report appeared.
Three names.
Victor Black.
Thomas Vale.
Adrian Black.
And beneath them:
PATERNITY EXCLUDED: VICTOR BLACK.
Victor stopped breathing.
The next line:
PATERNITY CONFIRMED: THOMAS VALE.
Thomas went pale.
Clara stared.
Victor turned toward him.
“You.”
Thomas whispered:
“I didn't know.”
Victor stepped backward.
Ethan's entire identity had just collapsed again.
Mara's voice came through the speaker.
“Ethan isn't your son.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“He is your brother's son.”
Victor stared at Thomas.
“My father.”
Thomas looked devastated.
“I didn't know.”
Mara smiled.
“And now you know why everyone wanted him.”
Victor looked at the screen.
“Why?”
Mara's answer was quiet.
“Because Ethan is the only living person who can inherit everything.”
The screen went black.
Then a final message appeared.
BRING THE WILL TO THE BLACKWOOD TOWER.
COME ALONE.
OR ETHAN DIES.
Victor stared at the words.
Clara whispered:
“She wants the will.”
Thomas nodded.
Victor looked at Eleanor.
His mother was barely conscious.
Then he looked at Ethan.
His little boy.
His family.
Everything he had left.
He picked up the will.
“I'll go.”
Clara grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“If I don't, Ethan dies.”
Thomas shook his head.
“She expects you to come alone.”
Victor nodded.
“I won't.”
He looked at Clara.
“I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“Take Ethan.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere but here.”
Clara hesitated.
Victor's eyes hardened.
“And if I don't come back…”
Clara nodded.
“I'll protect him.”
Victor turned toward the exit.
Thomas stepped beside him.
“You aren't going alone.”
Victor looked at him.
“You're my father.”
Thomas nodded.
“And I'm done running.”
Behind them, Eleanor opened her eyes.
“Victor.”
He turned.
She whispered:
“One last thing.”
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“The woman on the screen…”
Victor waited.
“She isn't Mara.”
He froze.
Eleanor continued:
“Mara died twenty years ago.”
Victor's face went cold.
“Then who is she?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“The woman who took her place.”
Victor looked at Thomas.
Thomas whispered:
“Oh God.”
A final sound came from the darkness.
A telephone ringing.
Victor answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“You have ten minutes.”
Victor asked:
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed.
Then she said:
“The woman who was in the first room when Eleanor died.”
The call ended.
Victor stared at the phone.
Thomas looked at him.
“Who was it?”
Victor shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Eleanor whispered from behind them:
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
She looked directly at Victor.
“It was me.”
The room went silent.
Victor stared at his mother.
“You?”
Eleanor nodded.
“I killed Eleanor.”
Victor's face went completely white.
Clara whispered:
“But you're Eleanor.”
The woman on the bed smiled sadly.
“No.”
She closed her eyes.
May you like
“My name is Mara.”
And somewhere above us, Ethan screamed.
