Chapter 12 — The Trap Set for Victor
Chapter 12 — The Trap Set for Victor
The words appeared on every screen at once.
WELCOME, GUARDIANS.
Victor stared at them.
Then the second line appeared.
LET THE FINAL GAME BEGIN.
The mansion fell silent.
No alarms.
No gunshots.
No footsteps.
That was what frightened Victor most.
Richard wanted them to see the message.
He wanted them to know he was inside their system.
And he wanted Victor to understand that every move they made from this moment forward had already been anticipated.
Harris rushed into the room.
“Sir, we've lost all external communications.”
“Cell phones?”
“Blocked.”
“Internet?”
“Dead.”
“Security?”
“Compromised.”
Victor looked at the monitors.
“How long?”
“Less than thirty seconds.”
Adrian walked toward the screens.
“He's not attacking the house.”
Victor looked at him.
“What?”
Adrian pointed.
“He doesn't need to.”
The screen changed.
A live image appeared.
Victor's office.
Then the nursery.
Then the underground vault.
Then the guest room where Elena had been staying.
Every room in the mansion.
Every camera was active.
Richard was watching them.
Victor's jaw tightened.
“He wants us to panic.”
Adrian nodded.
“He wants you to leave.”
Victor understood immediately.
“Saint Mercy's.”
“Yes.”
The image changed again.
A little girl appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in a dark room.
Her face was calm.
Too calm.
Victor stepped toward the monitor.
“Who is with her?”
No answer.
Then the camera zoomed out.
Ethan appeared in the frame.
Victor's heart stopped.
His son was sitting beside the girl.
Both children were unharmed.
A message appeared.
COME ALONE, VICTOR.
Then another.
OR THEY BOTH DIE.
Lily grabbed Victor's arm.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“I have to go.”
“You heard him. It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't walk into it.”
Victor looked at Ethan.
“That's exactly what Richard expects.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“I'll go.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“He expects you.”
“Exactly.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You'll die.”
“Maybe.”
Victor picked up his coat.
“But if he expects me to come alone, he won't expect you to come another way.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“For once, we're thinking alike.”
The plan took six minutes.
Victor would enter through the front.
Adrian would enter through an underground service tunnel.
Harris would establish a perimeter.
Lily would remain with Elena and the children if they were recovered.
Mrs. Collins would stay in the mansion.
No one trusted the security network anymore.
Every device could be compromised.
Every camera could be false.
Every message could be bait.
Victor checked his weapon.
Then looked at Adrian.
“If something happens to me—”
“I know.”
“No.”
Adrian interrupted.
“You don't get to give me instructions like you're dying.”
Victor looked at him.
Adrian's expression softened.
“You're my brother.”
Victor said nothing.
Adrian continued.
“Come back.”
Victor nodded.
“I will.”
Lily stepped forward.
“Victor.”
He turned.
She hugged him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she whispered:
“Bring them home.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I promise.”
Saint Mercy's Home stood at the edge of the city.
The building looked abandoned.
Broken windows.
Cracked brick.
Dead vines climbing the walls.
A rusted sign hung above the entrance.
ST. MERCY'S CHILDREN'S HOME
Victor parked across the street.
No security.
No vehicles.
No lights.
He stepped out.
His phone vibrated.
One message.
INSIDE.
Victor crossed the street.
The front door opened before he touched it.
He entered.
The smell hit him first.
Dust.
Mold.
Old wood.
Then something else.
Hospital disinfectant.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
This place wasn't abandoned.
It had been cleaned recently.
He walked down the corridor.
Children's drawings covered the walls.
Flowers.
Houses.
Families.
One drawing stopped him.
Two little children standing beside a man.
The boy had dark hair.
The girl had dark hair.
Above them was written:
THE GUARDIAN FAMILY.
Victor touched the paper.
Someone had written another sentence underneath.
ONE WILL CHOOSE.
Victor heard a sound behind him.
He turned.
Nothing.
Then the lights came on.
A speaker crackled.
Richard's voice filled the hallway.
“Welcome, Victor.”
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
“You wanted me here.”
“Yes.”
“Where are my children?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
A monitor lit up.
Ethan.
The little girl.
Both sitting on a couch.
Victor watched carefully.
No visible injuries.
No restraints.
But something felt wrong.
“What did you do to them?”
“Nothing.”
“Why are they so calm?”
Richard laughed.
“Because they understand more than you think.”
Victor's expression changed.
“Put them on the phone.”
A pause.
Then Ethan's voice came through.
“Daddy?”
Victor's heart tightened.
“Ethan.”
“I'm okay.”
“Where's your sister?”
A small girl's voice answered.
“I'm here.”
Victor froze.
He had never heard her speak.
She sounded almost exactly like Ethan.
“What's your name?”
Silence.
Then:
“Emma.”
Victor's heart stopped.
Emma.
His daughter.
The name he had never known.
“Emma…”
“Yes.”
“Daddy?”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Are you coming?”
“I am.”
Richard interrupted.
“Very touching.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“What do you want?”
“Your choice.”
“I told you I'm not choosing.”
“You will.”
“Between what?”
Richard's voice became colder.
“Your brother.”
Victor frowned.
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“What does he have to do with this?”
“Everything.”
The monitor changed.
Adrian appeared on another screen.
He was moving through the underground tunnels.
Victor's eyes widened.
Richard continued.
“Your brother has always wanted what you had.”
“He doesn't want the children.”
“No.”
“He wants the inheritance.”
“No.”
Richard laughed.
“He wants you.”
Victor went still.
“What?”
“He wants your position.”
“No.”
“He wants the Guardian title.”
Victor shook his head.
“You're lying.”
“Ask him.”
Adrian entered the lower level.
The corridor was dark.
He moved carefully.
A door opened.
Inside was a room filled with old files.
Adrian stopped.
A photograph sat on the table.
Himself.
As a child.
Victor beside him.
Both boys were wearing identical shirts.
Adrian stared.
He had never seen the photograph.
He picked it up.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
THEY WERE BOTH SUPPOSED TO DIE.
Adrian's breathing stopped.
A second photograph.
Their mother holding both boys.
A third.
Charles standing beside Richard.
Then a fourth.
A newborn Ethan.
Adrian stared.
There was another photograph beneath it.
A newborn girl.
Emma.
He whispered:
“Four heirs.”
A voice answered behind him.
“Five.”
Adrian turned.
Richard stood in the doorway.
Adrian raised his weapon.
Richard smiled.
“Don't.”
“You lied to me.”
“I told you what you needed to hear.”
“You said Victor stole my inheritance.”
“He did.”
“No.”
Adrian's voice hardened.
“You did.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“You've become inconvenient.”
“Where are the children?”
“Safe.”
“Let me see them.”
“No.”
Adrian raised his gun.
Richard didn't move.
“You won't shoot me.”
“Try me.”
“You still don't understand.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Your father never chose Victor.”
Adrian frowned.
“He chose both of you.”
“Then why separate us?”
“To create Guardians.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“What?”
“Every generation needs one.”
“Then why are there two?”
Richard smiled.
“Because your grandfather discovered something.”
“What?”
“Two Guardians are stronger than one.”
Adrian stared.
“So why did you want us to hate each other?”
“Because divided brothers are easier to control.”
Adrian lowered the gun slightly.
Richard's voice softened.
“You were never the spare son.”
Adrian stared.
“You were the first Guardian.”
Richard pointed toward the ceiling.
“Victor was the second.”
Adrian's face changed.
“And Ethan?”
“The heir.”
“Emma?”
“The second heir.”
Richard smiled.
“And together they can destroy everything.”
Adrian finally understood.
Richard hadn't been trying to steal the inheritance.
He had been trying to prevent the two brothers from joining forces.
Because if Victor and Adrian stood together, the children could inherit the system and destroy it.
Richard's entire plan depended on one thing.
Division.
Adrian raised his weapon again.
“You failed.”
Richard smiled.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
A door slammed shut behind Adrian.
Gas began filling the room.
Adrian coughed.
Richard walked away.
“You're still alone.”
Victor heard the gunshot through the speaker.
Then silence.
“Adrian?”
Nothing.
Victor's heart raced.
“Richard!”
Richard's voice returned.
“Your brother has made his choice.”
“What did you do?”
“He chose himself.”
Victor looked at the screen.
“Show me Adrian.”
The monitor displayed him lying unconscious.
Victor's expression changed.
“You said no one would get hurt.”
“I said your children were safe.”
Victor stepped closer to the camera.
“If you kill my brother, I'll destroy everything.”
Richard laughed.
“You don't have that power.”
Victor's voice became cold.
“I do.”
“How?”
Victor smiled.
“Because you're watching the wrong system.”
Richard went silent.
Victor continued.
“You've been watching my house.”
“The cameras.”
“The phones.”
“The security.”
“But you forgot something.”
“What?”
Victor looked at the monitor.
“I don't need the Blackwood system.”
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
Harris had given it to him before he left.
A separate encrypted transmitter.
Not connected to the Blackwood network.
Victor pressed the button.
Across the city, dozens of independent systems activated.
Bank accounts.
Legal trusts.
Private investigators.
Government notifications.
Everything Victor had prepared over the previous twenty-four hours.
Richard's face appeared on the screen.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“What did you do?”
Victor smiled.
“I made sure that if I disappear, the Blackwood empire disappears with me.”
Richard stared.
“You wouldn't.”
“I would.”
“You'd destroy your family's legacy?”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Gladly.”
The building shook.
Security alarms erupted.
Richard cursed.
Victor moved through the corridor.
He heard footsteps.
Men were approaching.
He took cover.
Three armed guards appeared.
Victor fired.
One fell.
The others scattered.
Victor ran toward the children's room.
A door stood ahead.
He opened it.
Empty.
The couch was overturned.
The children were gone.
Victor's heart dropped.
“Ethan!”
No answer.
Then he saw something on the floor.
A stuffed rabbit.
Ethan's favorite.
Victor picked it up.
A tiny red light blinked beneath its ear.
He ripped it open.
Inside was a recording device.
Richard's voice played.
“You should have stayed home.”
Victor stared.
The voice continued.
“You thought the trap was this building.”
A pause.
“It isn't.”
Victor's phone rang.
Elena.
He answered.
“Mom?”
Her voice was frantic.
“Victor, listen to me.”
“Where are you?”
“The mansion.”
“Where's Lily?”
Silence.
Victor's blood went cold.
“Mom?”
“She took Ethan.”
“Who?”
“Serena.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
“She came back.”
Victor's entire body went cold.
“Where is Emma?”
“I don't know.”
Then the line went dead.
Victor immediately called Harris.
No answer.
He called Lily.
No answer.
He called Mrs. Collins.
Nothing.
The entire mansion had gone silent.
Victor realized the truth.
Saint Mercy's had never been the trap.
It had been a distraction.
Richard had wanted Victor out of the house.
He had wanted Adrian isolated.
He had wanted everyone looking in the wrong direction.
And while they were gone—
Serena had returned to the mansion.
Victor ran.
He didn't remember leaving the building.
He didn't remember getting into the car.
He only remembered driving.
Too fast.
Too far.
His phone rang again.
Richard.
Victor answered.
“Where are they?”
Richard's voice was calm.
“Who?”
“My children.”
“Safe.”
“My wife.”
“Safe.”
“My mother.”
“Safe.”
“Then why did Serena take Ethan?”
Richard laughed.
“Because Serena isn't working for me.”
Victor's grip tightened.
“Then who?”
A pause.
“The woman you should have suspected from the beginning.”
Victor's stomach dropped.
“Elena?”
Richard laughed.
“No.”
Victor's mind raced.
“Then who?”
Richard whispered:
“Lily.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
“Your wife knows more than you think.”
“No.”
“She has been lying to you since before Ethan was born.”
Victor couldn't breathe.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
The call ended.
Victor stared at the road.
Lily.
The woman who had protected Ethan.
The woman who had been attacked by Serena.
The woman who had stood beside him through everything.
Could she really have been part of the conspiracy?
No.
Victor refused to believe it.
Then his phone received a photograph.
Lily.
Standing beside Richard.
Victor stared.
The image looked real.
Lily was smiling.
Beside her stood a pregnant woman.
Victor recognized her.
Ethan's biological mother?
No.
He looked closer.
The woman was Lily.
The photograph was dated two years before Victor met her.
Victor's heart stopped.
Another message appeared.
YOU NEVER KNEW WHO YOUR WIFE REALLY WAS.
Victor slammed the brakes.
The car stopped in the middle of the road.
He stared at the photograph.
His entire marriage suddenly felt like a lie.
Then another message arrived.
COME HOME.
Victor's hands trembled.
He didn't know what frightened him more.
The possibility that Richard was lying.
Or the possibility that he wasn't.
When Victor finally reached the mansion, the front door was open.
No guards.
No lights.
No sound.
He entered slowly.
“Lily?”
Nothing.
He walked through the hall.
A broken vase.
Blood on the floor.
A child's blanket.
Then he saw someone sitting in the living room.
Elena.
Her hands were tied.
Victor rushed toward her.
“Mom!”
She looked up.
“Victor.”
“Where are they?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is Lily?”
Elena began crying.
“I'm sorry.”
Victor froze.
“Why?”
“Because you trusted me.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you apologizing?”
Elena looked toward the staircase.
“Because I should have told you the truth years ago.”
Victor stared.
“What truth?”
Elena whispered:
“Lily isn't Ethan's mother.”
Victor's face went blank.
“What?”
“She isn't.”
“Then who is?”
Elena's voice broke.
“I am.”
Victor couldn't speak.
The house suddenly felt enormous.
Every wall seemed to hold another secret.
Every person he loved had become a question.
His mother.
His brother.
His wife.
His father.
His son.
His daughter.
And somewhere in the darkness, Richard was still watching.
Victor slowly turned toward the security monitor.
One screen flickered on.
Richard appeared.
He smiled.
“Now you're ready.”
Victor stared.
“Ready for what?”
Richard leaned closer.
“To learn why Lily chose you.”
The screen changed.
A hospital photograph appeared.
A newborn Ethan.
A young Lily standing beside the bed.
And behind her—
Charles.
Elena.
Richard.
And a fourth person.
Victor stared at the photograph.
He recognized the fourth person immediately.
It was Serena.
Richard's voice whispered:
“Your wife didn't enter your life by accident.”
The screen went black.
Victor stood alone.
Then, from somewhere upstairs, he heard a child's cry.
“Daddy!”
Ethan.
Victor ran toward the sound.
But before he reached the stairs, the lights came on.
Lily stood at the top.
Holding Ethan.
Her face was covered in tears.
Victor stopped.
“Lily…”
She looked at him.
“I can explain.”
Victor stared at her.
“Are you working for Richard?”
“No.”
“Were you sent to me?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Is Ethan really my son?”
Lily's face crumpled.
“Yes.”
“Then what are you hiding?”
She looked toward Ethan.
Then back at Victor.
“The truth about his birth.”
Victor's heart pounded.
“What truth?”
Lily whispered:
“Ethan wasn't born in a hospital.”
Victor froze.
“He was born in the Blackwood laboratory.”
Silence.
Lily continued:
“And I wasn't the woman who was supposed to raise him.”
Victor stared.
“Then who were you?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“I was the woman who was supposed to kill him.”
Victor's face went white.
Before he could respond, the front doors exploded inward.
Armed men stormed the mansion.
Lily screamed.
Victor reached for his weapon.
And in the chaos, a figure appeared behind the soldiers.
Adrian.
Bloodied.
Barely standing.
He looked directly at Victor.
“Don't trust anyone.”
Victor stared.
Adrian pointed toward Lily.
“Especially her.”
Then he collapsed.
And for the first time, Victor understood that the trap wasn't designed to kill him.
It was designed to make him doubt the one person who had always been standing beside him.
His wife.
And as Victor looked at Lily holding Ethan, one terrible question filled his mind:
May you like
If Lily had once been ordered to kill his son—
why had she chosen to save him instead?
