Chapter 16 - Chloe's Last Move
“Move!”
Thomas shouted.
We ran.
The vault alarms screamed.
Red lights flashed across the corridor.
James grabbed the emergency panel.
“It's locked from outside.”
Ryan looked at him.
“Override?”
“Only from the central server.”
“Where?”
“End of the corridor.”
We ran.
Emily struggled to keep pace.
I held her hand.
“Slow down.”
“I can run.”
“You're eight months pregnant.”
“I can still run.”
Another explosion shook the building.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
We reached the server room.
The door opened.
Inside were hundreds of blinking machines.
Ryan rushed to the console.
“I'm in.”
James looked at the countdown.
03:42
“Can you stop it?”
Ryan typed.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I can redirect the system.”
“To where?”
“Outside.”
“Do it.”
Ryan connected his laptop.
The countdown froze.
03:21
He smiled.
“I bought us three minutes.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Good.”
Then someone screamed.
Elena.
We turned.
She was standing in the doorway.
A man had a gun against her head.
Vane.
He smiled.
“You thought you could hide from me.”
I raised my weapon.
“Let her go.”
“Put it down.”
“No.”
Vane looked at Emily.
“Then your wife dies.”
I lowered my weapon.
Ryan stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
Vane laughed.
“You're the original heir.”
“Yes.”
“You're worth more alive.”
“Then take me.”
Vane looked at Elena.
Then me.
Then Emily.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“I don't need any of you.”
He pulled a remote from his pocket.
“I only need the baby.”
My blood turned cold.
He pressed the button.
The screen behind him changed.
A hospital file appeared.
Emily's medical record.
Then a legal document.
TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP ORDER.
My name had been crossed out.
Emily's name had been crossed out.
The proposed guardian:
CHLOE CARTER.
I stared.
“No.”
Vane smiled.
“Your sister has already signed.”
I looked at Emily.
“She can't.”
Vane laughed.
“She can.”
A voice came from behind him.
“Actually, she did.”
Chloe stepped into the room.
My sister.
The same woman who had beaten Emily with a leather strap.
The same woman who had tried to steal Noah's trust.
She was holding a folder.
She looked at me.
“You should have listened to me.”
I couldn't believe it.
“You're working with Vane.”
Chloe shrugged.
“You think I had a choice?”
“You always have a choice.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I had fourteen million dollars of debt.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Vane loaned me the money.”
“You borrowed fourteen million?”
“Yes.”
“To steal Noah's trust.”
“To save myself.”
“You attacked my wife.”
“I was desperate.”
“You almost killed her.”
Chloe's face hardened.
“I didn't know she would fight back.”
Emily stepped forward.
“You knew exactly what you were doing.”
Chloe looked at her.
“You ruined everything.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“You did.”
Chloe's expression changed.
“I could have been rich.”
“You were rich.”
“Not enough.”
I stared at her.
“You sold your own family.”
She laughed.
“Family?”
She pointed at me.
“You're not even Michael's son.”
Silence.
Chloe's smile faded.
She hadn't expected me to know.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Michael.
“Then he told you.”
Michael nodded.
Chloe stepped backward.
“Vane never told me.”
“Because he doesn't care about you.”
Vane looked at her.
“Correct.”
Her face fell.
“You promised me protection.”
“I promised you money.”
“You said I would be part of the company.”
“You misunderstood.”
Chloe's eyes filled with rage.
“You used me.”
Vane smiled.
“Everyone is useful until they aren't.”
Chloe suddenly raised her gun.
She pointed it at Vane.
“You're not taking my inheritance.”
Vane moved faster.
One shot.
The gun flew from Chloe's hand.
She screamed.
Vane grabbed her.
I moved forward.
“Let her go.”
Vane looked at me.
“She has served her purpose.”
Chloe stared at me.
“Daniel.”
I saw fear in her eyes.
For the first time.
Real fear.
I stepped forward.
“You're not killing her.”
Vane smiled.
“Why?”
“Because she's my sister.”
Chloe started crying.
“You still…”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“You made terrible choices.”
She lowered her head.
“But you're still family.”
Vane laughed.
“How sentimental.”
Then Ryan attacked.
He slammed into Vane.
The gun went off.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Thomas grabbed Elena.
James pulled Emily away.
I tackled Vane.
We crashed into the server console.
Vane hit me across the face.
I struck back.
He reached for a knife.
I caught his wrist.
“You're finished.”
He smiled.
“No.”
Then he whispered:
“Ask your mother.”
I froze.
“What?”
He looked past me.
Margaret stood in the doorway.
Holding a gun.
Pointed at me.
My mother.
The woman who had protected Elena.
The woman who had betrayed Thomas.
The woman who had infiltrated Vane's network.
She looked at me.
Her hands trembled.
“I'm sorry.”
I couldn't move.
“Mom?”
She raised the gun.
“I have to do this.”
Emily screamed.
“Margaret, no!”
My mother looked at her.
Then at my unborn son.
“I've spent twenty-three years protecting this family.”
Her finger tightened.
“And now I have to protect it one last time.”
I stared at her.
“Protect it from what?”
She looked at Vane.
Then at me.
“From the truth.”
The gunshot exploded.
But I wasn't the one who fell.
Michael stepped in front of me.
The bullet struck him.
He collapsed.
“Dad!”
I caught him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Margaret dropped the gun.
“No…”
Vane disappeared through the emergency exit.
Ryan ran after him.
Thomas shouted:
“Don't!”
Ryan stopped.
The door slammed shut.
I knelt beside Michael.
“Stay with me.”
He looked at me.
For the first time in my life, he smiled like a father.
“I am proud of you.”
“Don't talk.”
“I should have told you.”
“Told me what?”
He struggled to breathe.
“Your mother didn't shoot at you.”
I looked at Margaret.
She was crying.
Michael continued:
“She shot the server.”
I turned.
Behind me, the bullet had struck the central computer.
The entire system was shutting down.
Files began deleting.
Michael whispered:
“She knew Vane was using it to trigger the legal transfer.”
Margaret nodded.
“I had seconds.”
I stared at her.
“You saved us.”
She collapsed against the wall.
“I failed you for twenty-three years.”
I shook my head.
“You're here now.”
Michael closed his eyes.
I panicked.
“Dad!”
His eyes opened again.
“There's one thing left.”
“What?”
He looked toward Chloe.
“She knows where Vane is going.”
Chloe looked terrified.
I turned toward her.
“Where?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“The Carter mansion.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
She swallowed.
“Vane told me the final trust isn't in the vault.”
I stared.
“Where is it?”
Chloe looked at Emily.
Then at her stomach.
“Your grandfather hid it where nobody would ever search.”
“Where?”
She whispered:
“In the nursery.”
My heart stopped.
The nursery.
The room my grandfather had prepared twenty-three years ago.
The room where my parents had kept my childhood things.
The room that had been locked since I was born.
Chloe continued:
“And Vane already has the key.”
Then every light in the underground facility went dark.
A final message appeared on the screen.
NOAH CARTER — BIRTH EVENT DETECTED.
Emily gasped.
I looked at her.
“No.”
She grabbed my arm.
“Daniel…”
Her face tightened.
Then she whispered:
“I think the baby is coming.”
The countdown restarted.
May you like
00:59
And somewhere above us, the Carter mansion exploded.
