The crying continued.
Soft.
Frightened.
Impossible.
Ethan stood completely still.
Nobody spoke.
Even Edmund’s expression had changed.
For the first time since Ethan had met him, the man looked afraid.
Clara whispered:
“Where is that coming from?”
Daniel stared at the floor.
“Below.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You said there were three children.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the third?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“Where is my sibling?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Dead.”
The crying stopped.
Everyone froze.
A second later, a child’s laughter echoed through the chamber.
Edmund stepped backward.
“No.”
Margaret looked at him.
“What is it?”
Edmund shook his head.
“We have to leave.”
Ethan noticed the change in his face.
“You know what that is.”
Edmund said nothing.
“You know.”
Still nothing.
Ethan stepped toward him.
“What is beneath this floor?”
Edmund finally whispered:
“The nursery.”
The Nursery
Daniel grabbed Ethan’s arm.
“Don’t go down there.”
Ethan pulled free.
“Why?”
“Because that room was sealed for a reason.”
“What reason?”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“Your mother couldn’t bear to see it again.”
Margaret’s voice came from behind them.
“Because there was nothing left to save.”
Ethan turned.
“Mom.”
Margaret looked at him.
“I lied to you.”
Ethan stared.
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t.”
She looked at Clara.
“And neither does she.”
Clara stepped forward.
“Then tell us.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“On the night you were born, three babies were delivered.”
Ethan listened.
“Ethan was healthy.”
She looked at Clara.
“Evelyn was healthy.”
Then she swallowed.
“The third child wasn’t.”
Ethan frowned.
“What was wrong?”
“Her heart.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“She had a congenital defect.”
Daniel looked away.
“She wasn’t expected to live more than a few hours.”
Ethan’s voice softened.
“What was her name?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Lillian.”
The name echoed through the chamber.
Ethan felt an inexplicable sadness.
“Where is she?”
Margaret looked toward the floor.
“She died before sunrise.”
The crying started again.
This time louder.
Clara backed away.
“But if she died…”
Margaret shook her head.
“That isn’t a real baby.”
Edmund suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned.
His fear was gone.
A strange smile had returned.
“You still believe that?”
Margaret’s face went pale.
“Edmund.”
He stepped toward the center of the chamber.
“Twenty-seven years.”
He looked around.
“Twenty-seven years of lies.”
Then he looked at Ethan.
“You really thought the third child was dead?”
Ethan’s heart pounded.
“What did you do?”
Edmund smiled.
“I saved her.”
Daniel lunged.
Edmund raised his gun.
“Don’t.”
Daniel stopped.
“You bastard.”
Edmund looked at him.
“She would have died.”
“You had no right.”
“I gave her life.”
“You stole her.”
Edmund shrugged.
“Same difference.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“What did you do to Lillian?”
Edmund looked directly at him.
“I kept her alive.”
“How?”
Edmund smiled.
A hidden section of the floor opened.
A small elevator rose.
Inside was a glass chamber.
And inside the glass chamber— a woman sat.
She looked about twenty-seven.
Thin.
Pale.
Connected to several medical machines.
Her eyes were closed.
Clara stared.
“That’s…”
Ethan couldn’t finish.
The woman opened her eyes.
She looked directly at them.
Then she smiled.
“Ethan.”
His heart stopped.
“How does she know my name?”
The woman looked at Clara.
“Clara.”
Clara stepped backward.
“How?”
The woman smiled again.
“I’ve been listening.”
“To what?”
“Everything.”
The glass door opened.
The woman slowly stepped out.
She could barely stand.
Daniel rushed toward her.
“Lillian.”
She looked at him.
“You remember me.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I could never forget you.”
She smiled.
“You tried.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Lillian looked at Margaret.
“You promised me you’d come back.”
Margaret began crying.
“I couldn’t.”
“You never came.”
“I was trying to protect the others.”
Lillian’s smile disappeared.
“That’s what everyone says.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You’re my sister.”
Lillian looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“Because they buried me.”
“Alive?”
“No.”
She touched her chest.
“Not like that.”
She looked at the medical machines.
“They buried my existence.”
The Third Heir
Lillian walked toward the table.
She picked up the black ledger.
“It was always supposed to be three.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“Three heirs.”
She opened the ledger.
“Three children.”
She pointed at Ethan.
“Vale.”
Then Clara.
“Hart.”
Then herself.
“Vale.”
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“But the trust said two.”
“It was changed.”
“By whom?”
Lillian smiled.
“Me.”
Everyone went silent.
Ethan stared.
“You changed the trust?”
“When I was sixteen.”
“How?”
“I discovered what Edmund had done.”
Edmund laughed.
“You discovered nothing.”
Lillian turned toward him.
“I discovered everything.”
She opened the ledger to the final page.
There was a handwritten clause.
NO HEIR SHALL RULE ALONE.
Below it:
THE THIRD CHILD SHALL SERVE AS THE FINAL JUDGE.
Ethan stared at the words.
“The judge.”
Lillian nodded.
“The fourth chair.”
Clara looked at her.
“Then you’re the judge.”
“Yes.”
Edmund’s face hardened.
“You don’t control anything.”
Lillian looked at him.
“I control the inheritance.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She closed the ledger.
“Because you made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You thought I was helpless.”
Edmund raised his gun.
Daniel moved.
But Lillian smiled.
The lights suddenly came on.
Every door in the chamber locked.
Edmund looked around.
“What did you do?”
Lillian answered:
“I closed the vault.”
Edmund’s face changed.
“You can’t.”
“I just did.”
The walls began vibrating.
A computerized voice echoed through the room.
THREE BLOODLINES DETECTED.
HART.
VALE.
TRUST ACTIVATION INITIATED.
Ethan looked at Clara.
“What happens now?”
Lillian looked at them both.
“You choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Who controls the inheritance.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don’t want it.”
Lillian smiled.
“That’s exactly why you should have it.”
Edmund suddenly raised his gun.
He aimed at Clara.
“Then I’ll make the choice for you.”
Bang!
Ethan moved.
Clara screamed.
But the bullet never reached her.
A figure stepped between them.
Margaret.
She collapsed.
Ethan caught her.
“Mom!”
Blood spread across her chest.
Clara dropped beside them.
“She’s been shot.”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
Her breathing was shallow.
“Listen to me.”
Ethan held her hand.
“Don’t talk.”
“I don’t have much time.”
“You’re going to be fine.”
Margaret smiled.
“You always were a terrible liar.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“Mom…”
She looked at Clara.
“Forgive me.”
Clara shook her head.
“For what?”
Margaret reached toward her.
“I took your name.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“I didn’t give you a new identity.”
Margaret coughed.
“I stole one.”
Clara’s face went pale.
“Whose?”
Margaret looked at Lillian.
Lillian closed her eyes.
Margaret whispered:
“Yours.”
Clara stared.
“But I’m Clara.”
“Yes.”
“You said I was Evelyn.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because Evelyn was the one Edmund wanted.”
Clara looked at Lillian.
“Then who is Evelyn?”
Nobody answered.
The chamber suddenly went silent.
Then the elevator at the far end opened.
A young woman stepped out.
Everyone turned.
She looked almost exactly like Clara.
Except for one difference.
A scar ran across her neck.
She looked at Ethan.
Then at Lillian.
Then at Margaret.
And finally— at Edmund.
“Hello, Uncle.”
Edmund’s face became completely white.
Ethan stared.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“Evelyn.”
Clara stepped backward.
“No.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You took my life.”
Clara shook her head.
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
Evelyn’s smile vanished.
“That isn’t why I’m here.”
Ethan looked between them.
“Then why?”
Evelyn reached into her coat.
She pulled out a photograph.
She placed it on the table.
It showed three babies.
But there was something written underneath.
ETHAN — FIRST HEIR.
CLARA — SECOND HEIR.
LILLIAN — THIRD HEIR.
And beneath them, in red ink:
EVELYN — THE HEIR THAT MUST NEVER EXIST.
Ethan looked up.
“Then who is she?”
Lillian stared at Evelyn.
“The fourth.”
Edmund whispered:
“No.”
Evelyn smiled.
“The real reason Room Zero was built.”
The vault doors suddenly opened.
And hundreds of footsteps echoed from the darkness outside.
Someone was coming.
Not one person.
Not ten.
An army.
Evelyn looked at Ethan.
“You have five minutes.”
“For what?”
“To decide whether you want to know who your real enemy is.”
She looked toward the approaching footsteps.
“Because he’s already inside the building.”