CHAPTER 11 — THE BOY IN MONTREAL
The words echoed through the mansion.
“Bring us the baby… or we kill his twin.”
I looked down at the little boy in my arms.
Then at Daniel.
His face had gone completely still.
That frightened me more than shouting would have.
“Who are they?” I whispered.
Daniel looked toward the windows.
“The Castillo Board.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
Outside, boats were surrounding the island.
Men were stepping onto the docks.
Armed.
Organized.
Waiting.
Alejandro locked the mansion doors.
“We can't fight our way through all of them.”
My father shook his head.
“We don't need to.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed toward the old lighthouse.
“There is another exit.”
Daniel frowned.
“The submarine tunnel?”
My father nodded.
Alejandro stared at him.
“You built an escape route beneath the island?”
“My father did.”
“And you never told me?”
“You were never supposed to know.”
I looked at the baby.
“Then let's go.”
We ran.
But before reaching the lighthouse, a gunshot cracked through the night.
My father fell.
“Dad!”
He collapsed against the stone wall.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Daniel caught him.
“Where were you hit?”
“Shoulder.”
Alejandro looked toward the trees.
“They're inside.”
Another shot.
Daniel pulled me behind a pillar.
“Stay down.”
I held the baby against my chest.
He began crying.
I whispered:
“It's okay.”
But I wasn't sure.
Nothing was okay anymore.
My father pointed toward the lighthouse.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“Go!”
Daniel shook his head.
“I'm not leaving you.”
My father grabbed his wrist.
“If you stay, everyone dies.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he looked at me.
“Take her.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Move.”
We ran.
The lighthouse door was locked.
Alejandro entered a code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
“Damn it.”
My father shouted from behind us:
“The fourth number is your birth year!”
Alejandro froze.
He entered the code.
The door opened.
We rushed inside.
A staircase spiraled underground.
The sounds of gunfire became distant.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Beyond it was a narrow tunnel leading toward the sea.
A small submarine waited in darkness.
I stared.
“You've got to be kidding.”
Alejandro smiled bitterly.
“Welcome to the Castillo family.”
We boarded.
Daniel took the controls.
Alejandro sat beside him.
I held the baby.
My father remained behind.
I watched the island disappear through the tiny window.
Tears filled my eyes.
“Will he survive?”
Daniel looked at me.
“He's your father.”
“He's also a liar.”
“He's still your father.”
I looked away.
Then the submarine began moving.
For hours, nobody spoke.
Finally, Alejandro broke the silence.
“Montreal.”
Daniel nodded.
“We need to get there before the Board.”
Alejandro checked his phone.
“They've already landed.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
“Federal authorities.”
I frowned.
“Are they helping?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked at me.
“The Castillo Board controls them too.”
My stomach dropped.
“How powerful are these people?”
“Powerful enough to make governments look the other way.”
Daniel turned.
“Then we don't fight them legally.”
Alejandro nodded.
“We expose them.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
He held up the black box.
“With the trust.”
I remembered my name.
PRIMARY BENEFICIARY.
“What happens if I activate it?”
Alejandro answered:
“The Board loses control.”
“Over everything?”
“Everything.”
“Then why hasn't anyone done it?”
“Because the biological heir has to activate it.”
I looked at my son.
“Then we do it.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Once activated, there's no going back.”
“I don't care.”
I kissed my baby's forehead.
“They took enough from me.”
Hours later, we surfaced near the Canadian border.
A private helicopter was waiting.
Alejandro had arranged everything before leaving.
We flew toward Montreal.
As we approached the city, my phone rang.
Claire.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Her voice was shaking.
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
“I don't know if I can trust you.”
“You can.”
“You said you're his mother.”
“I am.”
“My husband thinks you're trying to steal our baby.”
“I don't want to steal him.”
“Then what do you want?”
I swallowed.
“I want to tell you the truth.”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A letter.”
“From whom?”
“I don't know.”
“What does it say?”
She began crying.
“It says the baby was placed with us because his real mother would never be allowed to raise him.”
My heart broke.
“Claire…”
“There was a name at the bottom.”
“Whose?”
She whispered:
“Victoria Castillo.”
My blood froze.
“She knew where he was.”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“St. Mary's Hospital.”
I looked at Daniel.
He heard.
“We're coming.”
Claire suddenly said:
“Emily?”
“Yes?”
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The baby has been sick.”
My heart stopped.
“How sick?”
“The doctors can't explain it.”
I felt panic rise.
“What symptoms?”
“He stops breathing sometimes.”
Daniel immediately leaned forward.
“That's impossible.”
Claire cried.
“He nearly died twice.”
My hands began trembling.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know who you were!”
She sobbed.
“I thought you were part of the people trying to take him.”
I closed my eyes.
“Listen to me.”
“Yes.”
“Keep him with you.”
“Okay.”
“Don't let anyone into the room.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who stole him are coming.”
A pause.
Then Claire whispered:
“They're already here.”
The line went dead.
I screamed:
“Claire!”
No answer.
Daniel immediately ordered the helicopter pilot:
“Faster.”
We landed outside the hospital.
Security was everywhere.
Alejandro stepped out first.
“This is wrong.”
“What?”
“There are too many guards.”
Daniel looked at the building.
“It's a trap.”
I didn't care.
“My son is inside.”
We rushed through the entrance.
A security guard tried to stop us.
Alejandro pushed past him.
“Move.”
We reached the pediatric ward.
The hallway was empty.
Too empty.
Daniel looked at me.
“Stay behind me.”
We reached Room 417.
The door was open.
Claire was lying on the floor.
Blood covered her forehead.
I screamed.
“Claire!”
Daniel checked her pulse.
“Alive.”
I looked toward the crib.
Empty.
My heart shattered.
“No.”
I rushed inside.
The crib was overturned.
A tiny blue blanket lay on the floor.
I picked it up.
It smelled like my baby.
I fell to my knees.
“No…”
Daniel crouched beside me.
“We'll find him.”
I couldn't hear him.
I couldn't breathe.
Then I saw something.
A piece of paper beneath the crib.
I picked it up.
Four words.
HE WAS NEVER YOURS.
My hands shook.
Then another message appeared on my phone.
A video.
I pressed play.
Victoria appeared.
She was sitting beside my son.
But something was different.
He was wearing a medical mask.
Victoria looked directly at the camera.
“Your son is alive.”
I swallowed.
“Give me the black box.”
The video changed.
A second room appeared.
A little boy sat on a bed.
My second child.
His eyes were terrified.
Victoria smiled.
“You have until midnight.”
Then she leaned closer.
“Choose.”
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
Two babies.
Two locations.
One impossible choice.
Daniel grabbed my shoulders.
“You're not choosing.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“We're taking both.”
“How?”
Alejandro stepped forward.
“I know where they are.”
“Where?”
He pointed at the hospital map.
“There's a private underground clinic beneath this building.”
My heart stopped.
“The Board?”
He nodded.
“They've been using it for years.”
We found the elevator.
Alejandro entered another code.
The doors opened.
We descended.
Level B7.
The doors opened.
A long white corridor stretched ahead.
Medical rooms lined both sides.
And at the end...
two glass chambers.
I saw my son.
Alive.
Then I saw his twin.
Alive.
My legs nearly collapsed.
“Elias…”
The baby moved.
His eyes found mine through the glass.
I ran toward him.
A man stepped out.
Adrian.
He raised his weapon.
“Stop.”
Daniel raised his own.
“Let them go.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Not yet.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because there is something you don't know.”
“What?”
He looked at the two children.
“They aren't twins.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Adrian smiled sadly.
“They were born minutes apart…”
He looked at me.
“…but they have different fathers.”
Daniel froze.
Adrian continued:
“Your son is Daniel's.”
He pointed at the other child.
“He is Alejandro's.”
Silence.
Alejandro looked at the boy behind the glass.
“My son.”
Adrian nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked at Daniel.
Then at Alejandro.
Then at the two children.
The truth was finally beginning to emerge.
Victoria hadn't created one heir.
She had created two.
One through Daniel.
One through Alejandro.
And she had deliberately made them appear to be twins.
Adrian lowered his weapon.
“The Board doesn't want either child.”
“Then what do they want?”
He looked at me.
“They want you.”
I froze.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian's eyes became cold.
“Because you're the only person who can expose what they did.”
Then the lights went out.
A door slammed.
And when the emergency lights came on...
Adrian was gone.
So were the two babies.
I screamed.
“NO!”
Daniel grabbed my hand.
“They took them.”
Alejandro looked toward the security monitor.
A countdown appeared.
00:14:59
Fourteen minutes.
Then a message flashed across the screen:
THE FINAL HEIR WILL BE CHOSEN TONIGHT.
I stared at the countdown.
Fourteen minutes.
Two children.
And an entire empire waiting to decide which one would survive.
But I had finally learned something.
They could steal my children.
They could erase their names.
They could forge every document.
They could manipulate an entire dynasty.
But they had forgotten one thing.
May you like
I was their mother.
And I was done playing by their rules.
