Chapter 10 - The Heir Nobody Knew Existed
The screen continued glowing.
A single line.
A single name category.
BLUEBIRD SUCCESSOR: UNKNOWN MALE HEIR
For several seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
Because every assumption I had made was wrong.
I thought Bluebird was about Ellie.
I thought my father created everything to protect my daughter.
I thought Grant’s betrayal was about money.
But my father had hidden another person.
A male heir.
Someone connected to Bluebird.
Someone who had been erased from every record.
“Clara.”
Evelyn’s voice pulled me back.
“Are you okay?”
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
Because I wasn’t.
Not anymore.
Too many secrets.
Too many people deciding what I deserved to know.
My father.
My husband.
My family.
Everyone had protected me by hiding the truth.
And somehow…
that hurt almost as much as the betrayal itself.
I stepped closer to the computer.
“Can we access the file?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your father locked it.”
“With what?”
She looked at me.
“Your DNA.”
The room became silent.
My father.
Always one step ahead.
The system scanned me.
A small light appeared.
Then the screen changed.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
A new file opened.
The title appeared:
BLUEBIRD ORIGIN
I clicked.
The first document was dated twenty-nine years earlier.
Before I was born.
Before Ellie.
Before Grant.
A photograph appeared.
My father.
A woman I didn’t recognize.
And a baby.
My stomach tightened.
“Who is that?”
Evelyn looked closer.
Then she went pale.
“I don’t know.”
I zoomed in.
The baby was wrapped in a blue blanket.
The same symbol appeared.
The bluebird.
Then a name.
Noah Mercer.
My blood froze.
Mercer.
The same last name.
But not Grant.
Not Ellie.
Someone else.
“Who is Noah?”
Evelyn looked terrified.
“Clara…”
“What?”
“That name was erased.”
“By who?”
She looked at the screen.
“Your grandfather.”
The answer shocked me.
My grandfather?
The man who trusted me?
The man who protected my family?
Why would he erase someone?
I continued reading.
The documents explained everything.
Noah Mercer was my father’s son.
My half-brother.
A child born before my father married my mother.
A child nobody knew existed.
A child connected to Bluebird.
I stepped back.
My entire family history had just changed.
But one question remained.
“Where is he now?”
The system loaded another file.
Location.
Status.
The information appeared.
NOAH MERCER
STATUS: ACTIVE
A location followed.
My heart dropped.
Because the location was not overseas.
Not hidden.
Not impossible.
It was ten miles away.
My half-brother had been living near us all this time.
And someone had hidden him.
The screen suddenly flashed.
REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.
Evelyn looked up.
“Someone is inside the system.”
The speakers activated.
A voice filled the room.
“Clara.”
I froze.
Charles.
“You really should have stopped looking.”
I turned toward the speaker.
“Where is Ellie?”
A pause.
Then:
“She is safe.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
I hated how calm he sounded.
“You want Bluebird.”
“No.”
A pause.
“I want what Bluebird protects.”
“What?”
The answer came quietly.
“You.”
The room went cold.
“Everyone thinks the system protects assets.”
Charles continued.
“They are wrong.”
I stared at the screen.
“Then what does it protect?”
His answer came instantly.
“The person who can destroy everything.”
The call ended.
And I realized something terrifying.
Everyone had spent years searching for Bluebird.
May you like
But maybe…
Bluebird had been searching for me.
