For several seconds, Ethan couldn’t move.
Three words stared back at him from the concrete floor.
ROOM ZERO OPENS.
The blood beneath the letters was still wet.
“Mom!”
His voice echoed through the factory.
Nothing.
He turned wildly.
“Mom!”
No answer.
Clara was gone.
Nathan was gone.
Margaret was gone.
Even the stranger who had shot Adrian had disappeared.
Ethan looked down.
Adrian was still breathing.
Barely.
Ethan dropped beside him.
“Stay with me.”
Adrian opened his eyes.
“Your mother…”
“I’ll find her.”
“No.”
Adrian coughed.
“You have to listen.”
Ethan pressed harder against the wound.
“You’re losing too much blood.”
“Forget me.”
“I won’t.”
“You don’t understand.”
Adrian grabbed Ethan’s wrist.
His grip was surprisingly strong.
“Your mother didn’t disappear.”
“What?”
“She went willingly.”
Ethan froze.
“Why would she do that?”
“To save Clara.”
His heart stopped.
“From Nathan?”
Adrian shook his head.
“From Edmund.”
Ethan looked toward the empty factory.
“Edmund?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Adrian’s eyes moved toward the darkness.
“He was never here.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“The man you saw wasn’t Edmund.”
Ethan went still.
“Then who was he?”
Adrian whispered:
“A decoy.”
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
“But I saw him.”
“I know.”
“Richard saw him.”
“I know.”
“Everyone saw him.”
Adrian coughed.
“That’s the point.”
Ethan looked around.
He suddenly understood.
The entire confrontation had been staged.
The factory.
The gunshot.
The disappearance.
The blood.
The accusations.
Someone had wanted all of them focused on the wrong person.
Ethan stood.
“Who was controlling the decoy?”
Adrian’s eyes closed.
“I don’t know.”
“Dad.”
Adrian opened them again.
“But your mother does.”
Clara
Clara’s wrists hurt.
Her head was spinning.
She was sitting inside a moving vehicle.
A blindfold covered her eyes.
Her hands were bound.
She could hear an engine beneath her.
Beside her, someone was breathing.
“Where are you taking me?”
No answer.
Clara tried again.
“Whoever you are, listen to me.”
Silence.
“You don’t have to do this.”
A voice finally answered.
“You’re right.”
Clara froze.
She knew that voice.
“Victoria?”
The blindfold was removed.
Victoria sat beside her.
The vehicle was moving through a dark tunnel.
Clara stared.
“You kidnapped me again?”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what is this?”
“An escape.”
“From whom?”
Victoria looked toward the driver.
“Everyone.”
Clara frowned.
“Where is Ethan?”
“Still at the factory.”
“Why did you leave him?”
“Because if I stayed, we’d all die.”
Clara stared at her.
“Start explaining.”
Victoria sighed.
“After you disappeared, Nathan took you.”
“Yes.”
“But Nathan isn’t working alone.”
“Who is?”
“Someone you haven’t met.”
Clara’s stomach tightened.
“Edmund?”
Victoria shook her head.
“Not Edmund.”
“Richard?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Your father.”
Clara went completely still.
“My father died when I was twelve.”
“I know.”
“So what are you saying?”
Victoria leaned closer.
“The man you think is your father isn’t your biological father.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
“Your real father was involved with Margaret.”
Clara shook her head.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“It will.”
Victoria reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a photograph.
Clara took it.
Her hands began trembling.
The photograph showed a young Margaret standing beside a man.
Clara knew him.
She had seen his face in old family photographs. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Her father.
But he was standing beside Margaret.
And Margaret was pregnant.
On the back was a date.
October 11, 1992.
The day before Ethan was born.
Clara looked up.
“What does this mean?”
Victoria’s expression was grim.
“Your father knew Margaret.”
“How?”
“He helped her escape Richard.”
Clara’s heart pounded.
“Then why did he never tell me?”
“Because he was murdered.”
Clara stared.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
The date hit her.
The night Ethan disappeared.
Clara’s breathing stopped.
“My father died the same night Ethan disappeared?”
Victoria nodded.
“And that wasn’t a coincidence.”
The Factory
Ethan stood over Adrian.
“Who took my mother?”
Adrian’s breathing was becoming weaker.
“The ring.”
“What about it?”
“Your mother kept the final key inside it.”
“The key to Room Zero?”
Adrian nodded.
“Richard spent twenty-seven years looking for it.”
“And Edmund?”
“He wanted something else.”
“What?”
Adrian stared at him.
“Control of you.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re not merely the heir.”
“What am I?”
Adrian hesitated.
Then whispered:
“The last Vale.”
Ethan looked confused.
“Alexander is a Vale.”
“Alexander isn’t a direct heir.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Then why me?”
Adrian looked toward the blood on the floor.
“Because your mother changed the inheritance before you were born.”
“What did she change?”
“She made the entire estate dependent on one condition.”
“What condition?”
Adrian’s voice became faint.
“You must open Room Zero yourself.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
“Because the room recognizes your blood.”
A long silence followed.
Then Ethan noticed something.
The photograph of Margaret and Adrian.
He picked it up.
There was a tiny symbol in the corner.
A circle divided by a vertical line.
He had seen it before.
On the back of the old watch Richard had given him as a child.
Ethan pulled the watch from his pocket.
He examined the engraving.
The same symbol.
His pulse quickened.
“Where did I get this?”
Adrian looked at it.
“Your father gave it to you.”
“You?”
“No.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Daniel.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“But Daniel wasn’t my father.”
“No.”
“Then why would he give me this?”
“Because he knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
Adrian looked at him.
“That you were never supposed to inherit Calloway Holdings.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“Then what was I supposed to inherit?”
Adrian whispered:
“The Vale Trust.”
Ethan stared.
“How much?”
Adrian smiled weakly.
“Enough to buy Calloway Holdings ten times.”
Ethan’s mind raced.
“So Richard didn’t raise me for Calloway.”
“No.”
“He raised me because he wanted the Vale Trust.”
“Yes.”
“And Edmund wants it too.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked toward the factory doors.
“Then where is the trust?”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Room Zero.”
The factory doors suddenly opened.
Ethan raised his head.
A figure stepped inside.
Alexander.
His coat was torn.
Blood stained his forehead.
Ethan rushed toward him.
“Where is Clara?”
Alexander didn’t answer.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan grabbed him.
“You were supposed to protect her.”
“I tried.”
“You failed.”
Alexander shoved him back.
“So did you.”
Ethan froze.
Alexander’s eyes burned.
“You keep thinking this is about you.”
“It is.”
“No.”
Alexander pointed toward the blood.
“It’s about her.”
“What?”
“Your mother isn’t the only woman they want.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Who else?”
Alexander stared at him.
“Clara.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Alexander shook his head.
“You don’t understand why.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Then tell me.”
Alexander looked around the factory.
“Because Clara isn’t just Clara.”
Silence. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“What does that mean?”
Alexander reached into his pocket.
He removed a folded document.
Ethan opened it.
At the top was a family name.
HART.
Below it were generations of names.
Then Ethan saw something that made his blood run cold.
A connection.
A line between the Vale family and the Hart family.
Alexander whispered:
“Your mother and Clara’s father were working together.”
Ethan stared.
“For what?”
“To destroy Richard.”
“Then why was Clara kept away from me?”
“Because they knew what would happen.”
“What?”
Alexander looked at him.
“They knew you would fall in love with her.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does if their plan required the two families to reunite.”
Ethan looked at the document again.
There was one final paragraph.
He read it slowly.
Then again.
His face drained of color.
“What?”
Alexander watched him.
“What does it say?”
Ethan looked up.
“The marriage.”
Alexander nodded.
“Exactly.”
Ethan’s voice became barely audible.
“Our marriage wasn’t an accident.”
“No.”
“It was arranged.”
“Not by Richard.”
Ethan’s heart hammered.
“Then who?”
Alexander looked toward the factory entrance.
“Your mother.”
Ethan stared.
“But Clara and I met naturally.”
“Did you?”
Alexander’s words landed like a stone.
Ethan remembered.
Their first meeting.
The café.
The strange coincidence.
The job interview.
The apartment that suddenly became available.
The invitation to Bellmont.
All of it.
Clara had always seemed to appear at exactly the right moment.
He had called it fate.
Now he wasn’t sure.
Alexander stepped closer.
“Your mother arranged for your paths to cross.”
Ethan’s voice shook.
“Why?”
“Because she knew Clara’s family possessed something you needed.”
“What?”
Alexander smiled sadly.
“Her blood.”
Ethan went still.
Alexander continued.
“The Vale Trust requires two bloodlines.”
“The Vales…”
“And the Harts.”
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“That’s why Clara is involved.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why they took her.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why Richard wanted her dead.”
Alexander nodded.
“And that’s why Edmund wants her alive.”
Ethan looked toward the darkness.
“Where are they taking her?”
Alexander’s face became grim.
“Under the original Calloway factory.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Room Zero.”
“No.”
Alexander shook his head.
“Room Zero is only the door.”
“Then what’s behind it?”
Alexander stared into the darkness.
“The place where your mother buried the truth.”
Ethan’s phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
Static.
Then Clara’s voice.
“Ethan.”
He froze.
“Clara?”
Her voice trembled.
“Don’t come for me.”
His heart sank.
“Where are you?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Clara, tell me where you are.”
A man’s voice interrupted.
“You have ten minutes.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
“You still haven’t figured it out.”
Ethan looked at Alexander.
Then the voice continued.
“Bring the watch.”
Ethan looked down.
The old watch was still in his hand.
“And bring no one.”
The line went dead.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Alexander stepped beside him.
“What did he want?”
Ethan looked toward the factory doors.
“The watch.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“Then we have a problem.”
“Why?”
Alexander pointed to the watch.
“That isn’t a watch.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Alexander looked at him.
“It’s the key.”
The tiny engraving on its face suddenly clicked.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a miniature photograph.
Ethan pulled it out.
He stared.
It showed Margaret.
Adrian.
Daniel.
And two children.
Ethan.
Clara.
But written beneath their names was something neither of them expected.
THE TWO HEIRS.
And beneath that:
WHEN THEY MARRY, ROOM ZERO OPENS.