Chapter 5 - THE TWO VICTORIAS
Vivian forced Adrian down the stairs.
His injured arm hung uselessly at his side.
Blood had soaked through the bandage on his shoulder.
Maya moved in front of Julian.
The real Victoria raised both hands.
“Let him go.”
Vivian laughed.
“You lost the right to call him yours years ago.”
“He is my son.”
“He called me Mother.”
“Because you lied to him.”
“Because I raised him.”
Adrian looked between the women.
His face revealed a lifetime collapsing.
“All those years,” he whispered.
Vivian pressed the gun harder against his neck.
“Do not become sentimental.”
“You knew she was alive.”
“I knew someone claimed to be her.”
“You visited the facility.”
Maya looked at Adrian.
He had discovered more than he admitted.
Vivian’s eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Last week.”
Adrian breathed painfully.
“I followed Hargrove.”
Vivian’s expression changed.
“You should have remained obedient.”
The word carried decades of control.
Adrian looked at Maya.
“I am sorry.”
“Save it,” Vivian said.
She turned toward the archive cabinets.
“Bring me Nathaniel’s recording.”
“No,” Maya replied.
Vivian smiled.
“You still think you have choices.”
“I have Julian.”
“You have a child in a sealed underground room.”
“And you have federal agents outside.”
For the first time, uncertainty crossed Vivian’s face.
Maya tapped her earring.
“The entire conversation is being transmitted.”
It was a bluff.
The concrete chamber had blocked the signal.
Vivian did not know that.
She pulled Adrian closer.
“If agents enter, he dies.”
The real Victoria stepped forward.
“Take me.”
Vivian stared at her sister.
“I already did.”
“You wanted my name.”
“I deserved your life.”
“You wanted Conrad.”
“He chose me.”
“He used you.”
Vivian’s hand shook.
“No.”
“He used your hatred to replace me.”
“You always believed you were better.”
“I believed I was free.”
Vivian’s eyes burned.
Maya understood that the sisters had spent their lives inside different prisons.
Victoria had been forced into public perfection.
Vivian had been hidden until resentment consumed her.
Conrad turned that resentment into a weapon.
But pain did not erase responsibility.
Vivian had ordered killings.
Hidden crimes.
Abused Maya.
Attempted to steal Julian.
She had chosen cruelty again and again.
A sound came through the archive speakers.
Marcus Vance.
“Maya, step away from the east wall.”
Vivian spun.
The wall exploded inward.
Tactical officers entered through a service tunnel.
Gunfire shattered the lights.
Maya dropped over Julian.
The real Victoria lunged at Vivian.
Adrian fell.
The sisters struggled over the gun.
A shot rang out.
Victoria collapsed.
Vivian ran toward the far cabinets.
Vance entered and fired once into her leg.
She fell.
Officers surrounded her.
Maya crawled toward the wounded Victoria.
Blood spread beneath her coat.
The bullet had struck her abdomen.
“Stay with me,” Maya said.
Victoria looked toward Adrian.
He had reached her.
He knelt beside the woman who had given birth to him but never raised him.
“Mother?”
The word escaped uncertainly.
Victoria smiled through the pain.
“You were four when they took me.”
Adrian touched her hand.
“I don’t remember.”
“I remember enough for both of us.”
Medics rushed in.
Vivian screamed from across the room.
“She abandoned you!”
Victoria turned her head.
“No.”
Her voice was weak.
“You stole him.”
Vivian’s face twisted.
Officers dragged her toward the stairs.
She looked at Maya.
“You think this ends with me?”
Maya held Julian against her chest.
“What does that mean?”
“Nightglass is already active.”
Vance moved toward her.
“Where?”
Vivian smiled.
“At the banquet.”
Everyone went still.
The merger celebration had gathered senators, judges, defense executives, and military officials in one place.
A perfect target.
“What did you plant?” Vance demanded.
Vivian said nothing.
He grabbed her coat.
“What is Nightglass?”
She laughed.
“A legacy.”
Vance ordered the tactical commander to evacuate the ballroom immediately.
Then the archive alarm sounded.
A red warning flashed across the wall.
BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FAILURE.
Maya looked toward Julian.
Vance’s face changed.
“Everyone out.”
A sealed canister inside the archive had begun releasing vapor.
Project Nightglass was not only a file.
May you like
It was a weapon.
And Vivian had brought them directly into its chamber.
