PART 4 — THE NIGHT MY BROTHER REALLY DIED
I stared at Adrian as the words settled over me.
Nathan’s blood.
Aaron’s car.
The morning after the Halcyon fire.
For one impossible second, every sound in Melanie’s townhouse disappeared.
The alarm.
The broken glass.
The footsteps above us.
Everything.
All I could hear was my own heartbeat.
“No.”
My voice barely existed.
Adrian didn’t move.
“Alyssa—”
“No.”
I shook my head harder.
“You don’t get to say that and expect me to believe you.”
“I don’t expect you to believe me.”
“Good.”
“I expect you to verify it.”
I held the encrypted drive so tightly the edges cut into my palm.
Behind us, something creaked upstairs.
Adrian’s expression changed instantly.
He raised one finger to his lips.
Melanie clutched my arm.
The three of us crouched behind the kitchen island.
Then we heard it.
A slow footstep.
Then another.
Someone was moving toward the stairs.
Adrian whispered, “Back door.”
I didn’t move.
“Not until you tell me what happened to Nathan.”
“If we stay here, you may not live long enough to hear it.”
“I’ve been lied to for nine years.”
“Alyssa.”
“I’m done running from the truth.”
He stared at me for one hard second.
Then the ceiling above us exploded.
Plaster and wood crashed down.
Melanie screamed.
Adrian shoved both of us toward the hallway.
“MOVE!”
We ran.
A second impact shattered the wall behind us.
I didn’t look back.
We reached the laundry room.
Adrian kicked open the rear door.
Cold air hit my face.
A black sedan was parked in the alley.
“Whose car?” I demanded.
“Mine.”
“You expect me to get into your car after telling me you may have been involved in my brother’s death?”
“Yes.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Melanie grabbed my shoulders.
“Alyssa, whoever is inside my house is not here to talk.”
Another crash came from behind us.
Fine.
We ran to the sedan.
Adrian jumped behind the wheel.
Melanie took the passenger seat.
I slid into the back.
The second my door shut, Adrian accelerated.
The car shot down the alley.
I turned around.
Two men in dark clothing emerged through Melanie’s back door.
One raised something.
A crack split the air.
The rear window shattered.
I ducked.
“Are they shooting at us?”
Melanie screamed.
Adrian swerved violently.
“You wanted proof this was serious.”
“This is your idea of proof?”
“No.”
He glanced in the mirror.
“This is someone getting desperate.”
The car tore onto the main road.
Traffic swallowed us.
For several minutes, no one spoke.
My hands were shaking now.
Not from fear.
From everything.
Nathan.
My father.
Aaron.
Adrian.
The drive.
The fire.
Every truth in my life seemed to have another truth buried underneath it.
I looked at the back of Adrian’s head.
“Start talking.”
“Not yet.”
“Now.”
“We’re being followed.”
I turned.
A gray SUV had entered the road three cars behind us.
“How do you know?”
“Because it was outside Melanie’s house yesterday.”
Melanie turned toward him.
“Yesterday?”
Adrian said nothing.
“You knew someone was watching me?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I needed to know who they were watching.”
Melanie stared at him.
“Me?”
“No.”
His eyes moved to the rearview mirror.
“Alyssa.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because you activated the Whitmore audit.”
“That happened this morning.”
“They were watching before that.”
I went still.
“Then why were they watching me?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Adrian.”
“I don’t know.”
“Liar.”
“I have theories.”
“Give me one.”
He took a hard right.
The SUV followed.
“They were waiting for you to discover something.”
“What?”
“The Halcyon connection.”
“Why would anyone want me to discover it?”
“To force your family to act.”
My father.
My mother.
Whitmore.
The patents.
The pieces were moving, but I still couldn’t see the board.
“Where are we going?”
“A secure location.”
“No.”
Adrian glanced at me.
“No?”
“Take me to Aaron.”
Melanie twisted around.
“Are you insane?”
“I need his answer.”
“Alyssa—”
“If Nathan’s blood was in his car, I’m looking him in the eyes when he explains it.”
Adrian gripped the steering wheel.
“You cannot trust him.”
“I don’t trust you either.”
“Fair.”
“Take me to him.”
“No.”
“Then stop the car.”
He didn’t.
I reached for the door.
“Alyssa!”
“Stop.”
“We’re doing eighty.”
“Then I suggest slowing down.”
Adrian cursed.
He pulled into an underground parking entrance two blocks later and slammed the brakes.
I opened the door.
He caught my wrist.
“Listen to me before you do something stupid.”
I looked down at his hand.
He released me.
“Fine.”
He turned in his seat.
“The Halcyon fire happened eight years ago.”
“I know.”
“No. You know the public version.”
“Then give me yours.”
He looked at Melanie.
Then back at me.
“Halcyon was developing a self-learning infrastructure system called Project Helix.”
“What kind of system?”
“Predictive computation. Autonomous optimization. Adaptive security. At the time, nothing else came close.”
“And the patents were pieces of Helix.”
“Yes.”
“Who created it?”
“Victor Shaw, Nathan Whitmore and me.”
My breath caught.
“Nathan worked there?”
“Secretly.”
“Why secretly?”
“Because your father didn’t want Whitmore tied to the project.”
“Why?”
“Defense applications.”
I stared at him.
“My father knew.”
“Yes.”
“Did Aaron?”
“Not at first.”
“How did he get involved?”
“He worked in corporate strategy.”
“That’s not engineering.”
“No.”
Adrian’s mouth tightened.
“But Aaron knew how to sell.”
I almost laughed bitterly.
That sounded like him.
“He saw what Helix could become.”
“And wanted it.”
“He wanted everything.”
My chest tightened.
“What happened the night of the fire?”
Adrian looked away.
“That part is complicated.”
“Everything is apparently complicated right before someone lies to me.”
He met my eyes.
“Nathan discovered Halcyon was planning to sell Helix to a private military contractor.”
My stomach twisted.
“He tried to stop it.”
“Yes.”
“Did my father know?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said he knew about the project.”
“He knew the project existed. I don’t know whether he knew about the sale.”
“What did Nathan do?”
“He copied the core research.”
“To steal it?”
“To protect it.”
“Where did he take it?”
Adrian looked at the encrypted drive in my hand.
My fingers tightened.
“This?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what is this?”
“A map.”
“A map to what?”
“The original Helix archive.”
I stared at him.
“You’re saying it still exists.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what good is the map?”
“Nathan split the archive into multiple encrypted fragments.”
“Why?”
“So no single person could control it.”
“How many fragments?”
“Three.”
“Who had them?”
Adrian paused.
“Me.”
I waited.
“Victor.”
The dead Victor.
“And Nathan.”
My pulse quickened.
“What happened to Victor’s fragment?”
“Gone.”
“With him?”
“We assumed so.”
“And yours?”
“Stolen.”
“By Aaron?”
Adrian looked at me.
“That is what I believed for years.”
“And now?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What about Nathan’s?”
“That’s the reason he was still alive after your family thought he was dead.”
My skin prickled.
“Explain.”
Adrian leaned back.
“The highway accident was staged.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
I felt something crack inside me.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“Nathan asked him to.”
That stopped me.
“What?”
“Nathan knew people were hunting him.”
“Who?”
“We never knew exactly.”
“He asked Dad to fake his death?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because the fewer people who knew, the safer you were.”
That sentence again.
Safe.
Protected.
Hidden.
I was beginning to hate every version of it.
“So Nathan lived in hiding for eleven months.”
“Yes.”
“And then Halcyon burned.”
“Yes.”
“Why was he there?”
“To destroy the last live access point to Helix.”
“Did he succeed?”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“No.”
“What happened?”
“The fire started before we finished.”
“Who started it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“I was in the lower lab.”
“Where was Nathan?”
“Archive floor.”
“And Aaron?”
Adrian went silent.
I leaned forward.
“Where was my husband?”
“The parking structure.”
“With Nathan?”
“Yes.”
My pulse became a roar.
“Why?”
“Because Nathan trusted him.”
I stared.
“You just told me Aaron wanted Helix.”
“He did.”
“Then why would Nathan trust him?”
“Because Aaron told us he wanted to expose the sale.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At the time.”
“What changed?”
“After the fire, Nathan disappeared.”
“Again?”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“This time for real.”
My throat tightened.
“And Aaron?”
“He showed up the next morning with blood in his car.”
I felt sick.
“Did you ask him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That Nathan was injured and he drove him away from the building.”
“Where?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Why?”
“He said Nathan made him promise.”
I stared at him.
“And you believed that?”
“For two days.”
“What happened after two days?”
“Aaron filed incorporation documents for Prescott Technologies.”
The words landed like stones.
“He used Helix.”
“Pieces of it.”
“And you joined him?”
“I needed to stay close.”
“For eight years?”
“I was trying to find out what happened to Nathan.”
“You took Victor’s identity.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian Vale was officially wanted for the Halcyon fire.”
My eyes widened.
“You were blamed.”
“I was framed.”
“By Aaron?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because unlike everyone else in your life, I’m not going to pretend certainty where I don’t have it.”
That silenced me.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
Signal restored.
Twenty-seven missed calls.
Aaron.
Dad.
Laura.
Richard.
Then one message from an unknown number.
COME TO PRESCOTT TOWER. ALONE. IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE HALCYON SECURITY FOOTAGE.
I stared at it.
Melanie noticed my face.
“What?”
I showed them.
Adrian grabbed the phone.
“No.”
“Give it back.”
“This is bait.”
“Probably.”
“Then we’re not going.”
“I am.”
“Alyssa.”
I took the phone back.
“Someone has footage.”
“Or they want you to believe they do.”
“Either way, they know I’m asking questions.”
“That makes you a target.”
“I became a target the second I married Aaron.”
Adrian looked furious.
“Your confidence is going to get you killed.”
“My obedience nearly got me destroyed.”
Neither of us spoke.
Then another message arrived.
4:00 PM. BOARDROOM 61. ASK AARON WHY CAMERA 14 WAS DELETED.
My stomach tightened.
Four o’clock.
The emergency board meeting.
They wanted me at Prescott Tower.
Not alone in an empty building.
In a room full of executives.
Interesting.
I looked at Adrian.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“And you’re coming.”
He blinked.
“You said alone.”
“The message said alone.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t say I planned to obey.”
For the first time, something almost like approval crossed his face.
Melanie whispered, “What about me?”
I looked at her.
That question hurt more than I expected.
“You’re coming too.”
Her eyes widened.
“Alyssa—”
“No more secrets.”
She looked down.
“There are things you still don’t know.”
“Then today seems like the perfect day to stop that.”
We reached Prescott Tower at 3:42.
I had spent four years walking through those doors as Aaron’s wife.
That afternoon, everything felt different.
Employees stared.
Whispers moved through the lobby.
Security stepped forward.
“Mrs. Prescott.”
“Move.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but Mr. Prescott left instructions that—”
I held up my phone.
“Call Richard Hale.”
The guard hesitated.
“Now.”
Thirty seconds later, the elevator doors opened.
Richard himself stepped out.
He looked twenty years older than he had that morning.
“Alyssa.”
“Richard.”
His eyes moved to Adrian.
“Victor.”
Adrian said nothing.
Richard frowned.
Then he noticed Melanie.
“What is going on?”
“That is what I intend to find out.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“Aaron doesn’t want you upstairs.”
“Then Aaron can come down and explain my brother’s blood.”
Richard went pale.
He stared at me.
“What did you just say?”
Interesting.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You reacted.”
“Alyssa, not here.”
“Where?”
He glanced around.
“Come with me.”
We took a private elevator to the fifty-eighth floor.
Not the boardroom.
Richard led us into a conference room and locked the door.
“Tell me what you know,” I said.
Richard rubbed both hands over his face.
“I knew there was something strange about Halcyon.”
“How?”
“Because four years ago, during due diligence, I found an old insurance file.”
My pulse quickened.
“What file?”
“A vehicle claim.”
“Aaron’s car.”
Richard stared at me.
“You know.”
“Keep going.”
“The report noted biological contamination.”
“Blood.”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
“The name was redacted.”
“Nathan’s?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask Aaron?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Richard swallowed.
“He told me never to mention Halcyon again.”
I laughed without humor.
“And you listened.”
“He was my CEO.”
“And I was your largest hidden source of capital.”
Richard’s face changed.
“You really funded the rescue.”
“Yes.”
He sat down slowly.
“My God.”
“Richard.”
“Yes?”
“Was Aaron involved in the missing two hundred and eighty-seven million?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bad answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Did you authorize transfers?”
“No.”
“Did Victor?”
Richard looked at Adrian.
“No.”
Adrian’s expression sharpened.
“What?”
Richard stood.
“The account showed Victor approvals, but they weren’t his credentials.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“How do you know?”
“Because I built the dual-authentication log myself.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then whose credentials were used?”
Richard looked at me.
That look told me I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Aaron’s.”
Silence.
Adrian whispered, “No.”
Richard nodded.
“The transfers required two approvals.”
“Melanie’s account and Aaron’s credentials,” I said.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
So Aaron had known.
At least something.
“Why move the money?”
“I never found out.”
“Did you confront him?”
“Six months ago.”
Six months.
The affair.
Jasmine.
Everything seemed to begin six months ago.
“What did Aaron say?”
“He said the money was buying insurance.”
“What kind?”
Richard’s eyes moved to Adrian.
“Against Victor.”
Adrian went still.
“He said Victor had become dangerous.”
“What did he mean?”
“He wouldn’t explain.”
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
CAMERA 14. BASEMENT ARCHIVE. BEFORE 4:00.
I checked the time.
3:51.
Nine minutes.
I showed Adrian.
He swore.
Richard looked confused.
“What is camera fourteen?”
I looked at him.
“You tell me.”
He thought.
Then his face changed.
“Halcyon archive footage.”
My heartbeat jumped.
“You have it here?”
“Prescott acquired old Halcyon servers three years ago.”
“Where?”
“Basement evidence storage.”
“Take me.”
“Alyssa, the board meeting—”
“Take me now.”
We moved fast.
Down sixty floors.
Through security corridors.
Into a restricted storage level beneath the building.
Richard used a key card.
The door clicked open.
Rows of servers and archive cabinets stretched into darkness.
“Camera fourteen should be in the legacy system.”
Richard sat at a terminal.
His hands moved across the keyboard.
I watched the clock.
3:55.
“Found it.”
A list appeared.
CAMERA 10.
CAMERA 11.
CAMERA 12.
CAMERA 13.
CAMERA 15.
No fourteen.
“Deleted,” I whispered.
Richard nodded.
“Years ago.”
“Can you recover it?”
“Maybe.”
“Do it.”
He opened restoration software.
Adrian paced.
Melanie stood near the door.
I noticed she was crying again.
“Melanie.”
She looked at me.
“What?”
“What are you not telling me?”
“Not now.”
“Now.”
“Alyssa.”
“Six months ago, everything changed.”
She flinched.
“Aaron started sleeping with Jasmine.”
Richard discovered the transfers.
Melanie had confronted Aaron.
Victor’s hidden identity began unraveling.
“Why six months ago?”
Melanie closed her eyes.
“Because someone contacted Aaron.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
“I don’t know their name.”
“What did they want?”
“The third fragment.”
The room went still.
Adrian turned sharply.
“What?”
Melanie wiped her tears.
“They told Aaron Nathan’s fragment still existed.”
Adrian crossed the room.
“How do you know this?”
“Because I heard him arguing with Jasmine.”
My head snapped toward her.
“Jasmine knows about Helix?”
“Yes.”
Of course she did.
The secretary.
The mistress.
The woman everyone had dismissed as ambitious and shallow.
“What exactly did you hear?”
Melanie swallowed.
“Aaron said, ‘Tell your father I don’t have it.’”
My blood chilled.
“Her father?”
“Yes.”
“Who is Jasmine’s father?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian did.
I saw it on his face.
“Adrian.”
He said nothing.
“Who is he?”
His jaw tightened.
“Marcus Vane.”
Richard whispered, “Jesus.”
I looked between them.
“Who is Marcus Vane?”
Adrian answered.
“The man who owned the contractor that tried to buy Helix.”
My stomach dropped.
Jasmine hadn’t simply stumbled into Aaron’s life.
She had been placed there.
“Her father was behind Halcyon?”
“He financed the acquisition attempt.”
“Did he order the fire?”
“I never proved it.”
Richard turned from the terminal.
“I have something.”
We rushed toward the screen.
A recovered video file appeared.
CAM14_RECOVERY_87%.
“Open it.”
“It’s incomplete.”
“Open it.”
Richard clicked.
The footage was grainy.
Black and white.
A parking structure.
Timestamp: 2:14 AM.
The night of the Halcyon fire.
My hands began to shake.
A car entered the frame.
Aaron’s old black sedan.
The driver’s door opened.
Aaron stepped out.
Younger.
Thinner.
But unmistakably him.
Then the passenger door opened.
A man stumbled out.
Tall.
Blood covering one side of his shirt.
I stopped breathing.
Nathan.
My brother.
Alive.
Really alive.
I moved closer to the monitor.
Nathan grabbed Aaron’s jacket.
There was no sound.
They argued.
Nathan pointed toward the building.
Aaron shook his head.
Then another person entered frame.
Adrian.
My eyes moved toward him.
He looked sick.
On the footage, Adrian ran toward them.
Nathan pulled something from inside his coat.
A small metal case.
He handed it to Aaron.
“The fragment,” Adrian whispered.
Nathan had given Aaron his piece of Helix.
My knees almost gave out.
Then headlights flooded the camera.
A second vehicle arrived.
The image distorted.
A woman stepped out.
I leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Adrian whispered, “No.”
“What?”
“No.”
The woman walked into clearer view.
I recognized her immediately.
Not because I had seen her recently.
Because her face was in photographs throughout my childhood.
My mother.
Elizabeth Whitmore.
I stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
No one spoke.
My mother approached Nathan.
They argued.
Nathan shoved the metal case toward her.
She refused it.
Aaron stepped between them.
Then another figure appeared behind my mother.
My father.
My entire body went numb.
Both my parents had been at Halcyon.
Both.
My father had lied.
Not by omission.
Completely.
On screen, Nathan pointed furiously toward the building.
Dad grabbed his arm.
Nathan pulled away.
Then a flash illuminated the background.
The first explosion.
Everyone turned.
Smoke poured from the building.
My mother grabbed Nathan.
He pushed her away.
Then the video skipped.
Static.
When the picture returned, it was chaos.
Nathan was on the ground.
Aaron kneeling beside him.
Blood everywhere.
My father standing several feet away.
My mother screaming.
Adrian running toward the building.
Then something happened that made my blood stop.
Aaron lifted Nathan into the car.
Exactly as Adrian had said.
But before Aaron got into the driver’s seat, Nathan reached through the open window.
He gave my mother something.
A necklace.
I knew that necklace.
A silver locket shaped like a small compass.
I had seen it a thousand times.
My mother wore it every day.
Even now.
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Then the final recovered frame appeared.
Timestamp: 3:02 AM.
Aaron’s car leaving Halcyon.
Nathan inside.
Alive.
My voice broke.
“He survived the fire.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then where did Aaron take him?”
“I never knew.”
I turned to Richard.
“Find more cameras.”
“I’m trying.”
The overhead lights suddenly turned off.
Darkness swallowed us.
Melanie gasped.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Then the security door locked automatically.
Richard cursed.
“What happened?”
I looked at my phone.
No signal.
Adrian moved toward the door.
“We’ve been locked in.”
A speaker crackled above us.
Then Aaron’s voice filled the room.
“Alyssa.”
I froze.
“Aaron?”
“I know you’re in the archive.”
“Open the door.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because someone else controls the building.”
My blood went cold.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not.”
“You knew about Nathan.”
Silence.
“Yes.”
That one word shattered me more than anything else.
“You knew he survived.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my family lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing for four years.”
“I promised him.”
“Who?”
“Nathan.”
My breath caught.
“You spoke to him?”
Aaron’s voice cracked.
“I was the last person who saw him alive.”
I closed my eyes.
“What happened?”
“Not over the speaker.”
“Tell me.”
“Alyssa.”
“Tell me what happened to my brother.”
Aaron exhaled.
“I drove him to a private clinic.”
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
“Was he dying?”
“Yes.”
My eyes burned.
“What did he say?”
Aaron was silent.
“Aaron.”
“He made me promise three things.”
“What?”
“To protect you.”
I almost laughed from the pain of it.
“Everyone apparently failed at that.”
“He told me never to tell you he survived.”
“Second?”
“To keep the Helix fragment away from Marcus Vane.”
“And third?”
A long silence.
“To never trust your father.”
My stomach dropped.
I looked toward the dark screen.
“Why?”
“Because Nathan believed your father was the reason Halcyon burned.”
“No.”
“That’s what he believed.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
The speaker crackled.
Then Aaron’s answer came.
“He said your father made a deal with Marcus Vane.”
Adrian whispered, “That makes no sense.”
Aaron continued.
“Nathan discovered Whitmore had secretly agreed to sell the completed Helix system after the acquisition.”
I felt sick.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Dad help fake Nathan’s death?”
“Because Nathan threatened to expose him.”
I shook my head even though Aaron couldn’t see me.
“No.”
“Alyssa, I didn’t believe him either.”
“What happened at the clinic?”
“He died before sunrise.”
My chest broke open.
For years, I had imagined Nathan dying alone on a highway.
Now I pictured him bleeding in some hidden clinic with my future husband beside him.
“Were you with him?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say my name?”
Aaron’s voice softened.
“Yes.”
The tears came before I could stop them.
“What did he say?”
“He said you would always believe the best in people.”
I closed my eyes.
“And he was afraid one day someone would use that against you.”
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
Aaron continued.
“He made me promise I wouldn’t.”
The sadness inside me hardened.
“And then you did.”
Silence.
“I know.”
“Jasmine.”
“I know.”
“The lies.”
“I know.”
“You stood on that plane this morning and told me to remember my place.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Aaron’s voice cracked.
“Because I became exactly the man Nathan warned me not to become.”
For one second, I hated that his pain sounded real.
I hated that some part of me still recognized the man I once loved.
Then a warning siren sounded.
Richard looked at the server terminal.
“Oh no.”
“What?”
“Someone is wiping the archive.”
Progress bars appeared.
Files began disappearing.
Adrian rushed toward the terminal.
“Disconnect it.”
Richard yanked cables.
Too late.
Folders vanished.
Camera footage.
Insurance records.
Halcyon acquisition files.
All of it.
I shouted toward the speaker.
“Aaron, stop this!”
“It’s not me.”
“Then who?”
“I’m trying to find out.”
Suddenly Melanie spoke.
“Jasmine.”
We all turned.
“What?”
“She has executive systems access.”
Richard shook his head.
“Not to archive infrastructure.”
“She does if Aaron gave her his emergency token.”
Aaron went silent.
I stared at the speaker.
“You gave your mistress root access to your company?”
“Alyssa—”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Brilliant.”
Aaron shouted, “I thought she was helping me track Victor.”
Adrian yelled back, “You were sleeping with the enemy’s daughter!”
“I DIDN’T KNOW WHO HER FATHER WAS.”
Melanie whispered, “I did.”
Everyone turned.
The room went still.
I stared at my best friend.
“What did you say?”
She began crying.
“I knew.”
“How long?”
“Three months.”
“You knew Jasmine was Marcus Vane’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of Marcus.”
“Why?”
She hugged herself.
“Because he owns the accounts in my name.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“The two hundred and eighty-seven million.”
“Yes.”
“You worked for him.”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
She looked at Adrian.
Then at me.
“Your miscarriage.”
My entire body froze.
“What?”
Melanie’s face collapsed.
“Alyssa, I’m so sorry.”
The room seemed to shrink around me.
“What does my miscarriage have to do with Marcus Vane?”
No one answered.
“Melanie.”
She started sobbing.
“Tell me.”
“You weren’t supposed to lose the baby.”
I stopped breathing.
Those words did not make sense.
“What does that mean?”
“It was supposed to make you sick.”
My blood turned to ice.
“What was?”
She covered her mouth.
I stepped toward her.
“What was supposed to make me sick?”
“The medication.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“What medication?”
“At the hospital.”
“No.”
“I didn’t know what they were planning.”
“No.”
“Alyssa—”
“NO.”
Memories crashed through me.
The fever.
The cramps.
The blood.
The doctor telling me there was nothing anyone could have done.
Aaron in Tokyo.
Melanie sitting beside my bed.
My best friend holding my hand.
“You knew.”
“Not then.”
“You knew something happened.”
“I found out later.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“Marcus said if I did, he would destroy everyone.”
“Who gave me the medication?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who?”
“I SWEAR I DON’T KNOW.”
My hands shook so badly I could barely hold the drive.
Aaron’s voice came through the speaker.
“What is she talking about?”
He sounded terrified.
Melanie stared upward.
“You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Aaron…”
“What happened to the baby?”
Melanie looked at me.
Then whispered, “Someone tampered with Alyssa’s treatment.”
Silence.
Then Aaron’s voice changed.
Not anger.
Something darker.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“WHO?”
The speaker distorted from the force of his shout.
Adrian grabbed the terminal.
“Richard, can you recover hospital payments from the shell accounts?”
Richard typed rapidly.
“Maybe.”
I stood completely still.
My grief from two years ago was reopening in a new shape.
It had never been random.
Someone had touched my life.
My body.
My child.
For what?
“Why?” I whispered.
Melanie wiped her tears.
“I think they wanted to control Aaron.”
I stared at her.
“Through me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“They wanted him desperate.”
“Desperate for what?”
“The Helix fragment.”
Aaron suddenly spoke.
“No.”
We all looked toward the speaker.
“What?” I said.
“I didn’t have the fragment.”
“You said Nathan gave it to you.”
“He did.”
“Then where is it?”
“I gave it away.”
“To whom?”
Aaron went silent.
“Aaron.”
“To your mother.”
My stomach dropped.
The locket.
The parking garage.
Nathan giving something to Mom.
“You gave Mom the fragment?”
“Not directly.”
“Then how?”
“Nathan had hidden it inside something.”
I looked at the frozen last frame on the monitor.
“The necklace.”
“Yes.”
My pulse pounded.
“The compass locket.”
“Yes.”
My mother had worn it for eight years.
The third Helix fragment had been hanging around her neck the entire time.
Adrian whispered, “My God.”
The lights flickered.
Then suddenly the archive door unlocked.
Aaron’s voice came fast.
“Get out now.”
“Why?”
“Because Jasmine is missing.”
“Missing from where?”
“The boardroom.”
“What does that have to do with us?”
“Alyssa.”
His breathing was heavy.
“She went to your parents’ house.”
My heart stopped.
The locket.
“Mom.”
I ran.
We exploded out of the archive and into the elevator.
Richard pressed the lobby button.
Adrian grabbed my arm.
“Call your mother.”
I did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Dad.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then my phone rang.
Mom.
I answered.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then a woman laughed softly.
Jasmine.
My blood froze.
“Hello, Alyssa.”
“Where is my mother?”
“She’s here.”
“Put her on.”
“You’ve had a very dramatic day.”
“Jasmine.”
“You grounded my plane.”
“Your plane?”
She laughed.
“Still focused on ownership.”
“Put my mother on the phone.”
“You know what I always admired about you?”
“Nothing.”
“You never understood how useful you were.”
My jaw tightened.
“What do you want?”
“The drive Adrian gave you.”
I looked at him.
He went pale.
“How do you know about that?”
“Give me the drive and your mother stays alive.”
The elevator seemed to stop moving even though it didn’t.
“Where is my father?”
Jasmine laughed again.
“That is a much more interesting question.”
“Where is he?”
“He isn’t here.”
“Then where?”
“Ask Adrian.”
I looked at him.
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Jasmine continued.
“You still trust the wrong people, Alyssa.”
“You have ten seconds to let me speak to my mother.”
“Fine.”
Rustling.
Then my mother’s voice.
“Alyssa?”
“Mom.”
Her breathing was shaky.
“Don’t come here.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where is Dad?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“He left this morning.”
“With whom?”
She hesitated.
“Marcus Vane.”
The elevator went silent.
My father had left with Marcus.
Voluntarily.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom, the locket.”
Silence.
“Do you still have Nathan’s compass locket?”
Her breathing changed.
“Alyssa, how do you know about that?”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to your father last night.”
No.
No.
No.
Jasmine came back on the phone.
“Now you understand.”
My father had the third fragment.
And he had gone to meet Marcus Vane.
“Was Dad working with him?”
I asked.
Jasmine laughed.
“You should really stop assuming your father is being manipulated.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Marcus Vane didn’t build this plan.”
“Who did?”
She paused.
Then said the name I least wanted to hear.
“Thomas Whitmore.”
My father.
“No.”
“Your father financed the first Helix acquisition.”
“No.”
“He buried Halcyon.”
“No.”
“He staged Nathan’s death.”
“To protect him.”
“Is that what he told you?”
I couldn’t speak.
“And when Nathan refused to surrender his fragment, your father made a new plan.”
My hand began shaking.
“What plan?”
Jasmine’s voice softened.
“He let Aaron believe Marcus was the enemy.”
Adrian stared at the phone.
She continued.
“He let Adrian believe Aaron had betrayed Halcyon.”
“No.”
“He let Melanie carry dirty accounts.”
“Stop.”
“And he let you marry the one man who could lead him back to the missing fragment.”
The elevator doors opened.
I didn’t move.
“You’re lying.”
“Then ask yourself one question.”
“What?”
“Why did your father welcome you back so quickly this morning?”
I felt sick.
“He loves me.”
“I’m sure he does.”
Her voice sharpened.
“But he also knew that the second Aaron broke your heart, you would activate the Whitmore audit.”
The pieces clicked together.
The audit.
The transfers.
Halcyon.
The shell companies.
Everything surfaced only after I made one phone call.
“Dad knew.”
“Yes.”
“He wanted the audit triggered.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To flush out Adrian.”
Adrian went white.
“And to locate Nathan’s fragment.”
I leaned against the elevator wall.
My own father had been moving pieces around me for years.
Then Jasmine whispered, “And Alyssa?”
“What?”
“The affair was never part of the plan.”
My heart clenched.
“That was just Aaron being Aaron.”
Cruel laughter almost escaped me.
Of course.
The conspiracy hadn’t made my husband cheat.
That betrayal belonged entirely to him.
“Where do I bring the drive?”
“Whitmore Tower.”
Not my parents’ house.
My family headquarters.
“Top floor.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“And my mother?”
“She comes home if you bring it.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
“You don’t.”
The call ended.
Aaron called immediately.
I answered.
“Do not go,” he said.
“You heard?”
“Richard patched me in.”
“My father is involved.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Do you believe Jasmine?”
“Partly.”
“Which part?”
“Your father wanted Adrian found.”
Adrian looked at me.
“How do you know?” I asked.
Aaron hesitated.
“Because six months ago your father offered me a deal.”
There it was.
Another secret.
“What deal?”
“He told me Victor was not Victor.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched.
“And?”
“He said if I helped expose him, Whitmore would permanently transfer the patents to Prescott.”
My stomach turned.
“You agreed.”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you gave Jasmine access?”
“Yes.”
“You thought she was helping you investigate Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“And you slept with her.”
Silence.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
There was no conspiracy big enough to excuse that.
“Did my father know she was Marcus Vane’s daughter?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Do you know where Dad is?”
“No.”
I looked down at the drive.
“Then I’m going to Whitmore Tower.”
“Alyssa, don’t.”
“My mother is being held.”
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“Alyssa.”
“What?”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“I already failed Nathan.”
His voice broke.
“I’m not failing you.”
I said nothing.
Then I ended the call.
Forty minutes later, I walked into Whitmore Tower.
Alone.
At least that was what anyone watching believed.
Aaron was three floors below.
Adrian was in the service stairwell.
Richard was connected to the security network remotely.
Melanie had stayed with police.
I carried the encrypted drive in my handbag.
But it wasn’t the original.
Adrian had swapped it.
The real drive was hidden somewhere no one but he knew.
The elevator carried me to the top floor.
Ding.
The doors opened.
My father’s private executive suite stretched before me.
Dark.
Silent.
I stepped out.
“Jasmine?”
Nothing.
“Mom?”
No answer.
Then the office lights came on.
My father sat behind his desk.
Alone.
My breath stopped.
“Dad.”
He looked exhausted.
But not surprised.
“You came.”
“Where is Mom?”
“Safe.”
“Where is Jasmine?”
“Gone.”
“What?”
“She never had your mother.”
My stomach dropped.
“But I heard Mom.”
“A recording.”
“No.”
“She left the house before Jasmine arrived.”
I stared at him.
“Then where is she?”
“With security.”
I felt relief for half a second.
Then anger replaced it.
“You let me believe she was being held.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make sure you came.”
I looked at the man I had spent years avoiding because I thought he judged my marriage.
Now I barely recognized him.
“Did you work with Marcus Vane?”
“Yes.”
The directness shocked me.
“Did you finance Halcyon?”
“Yes.”
“Did you stage Nathan’s death?”
“Yes.”
“Did you order the fire?”
He stood slowly.
“No.”
“Did you cause it?”
“No.”
“Did you kill Nathan?”
His face changed.
Pain.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He looked at my handbag.
“Give me the drive first.”
I laughed.
“No.”
“Alyssa.”
“Not another word until you tell me what happened to my brother.”
He stared at me.
Then he reached into his desk drawer.
Aaron’s voice exploded through the hidden earpiece in my ear.
“ALYSSA, MOVE.”
I stepped back.
But Dad didn’t pull out a weapon.
He pulled out a photograph.
He placed it on the desk.
“Nathan was alive for eleven months after we staged the accident.”
“I know.”
“He contacted me three days before Halcyon burned.”
“What did he want?”
“To make a deal.”
“What deal?”
“He wanted me to destroy Helix.”
“Did you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then why wasn’t it destroyed?”
“Because Nathan changed his mind.”
“Why?”
Dad’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because of you.”
I froze.
“Me?”
“He believed Helix could be used for medical prediction.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Disease modeling. Early diagnosis. Drug development.”
My throat tightened.
“Nathan thought it could save lives.”
“Yes.”
“So he didn’t want it destroyed.”
“He wanted it hidden until the technology could be controlled.”
“Then why did Halcyon burn?”
Dad closed his eyes.
“Marcus panicked.”
“So Marcus started the fire.”
“Yes.”
“Adrian said he couldn’t prove it.”
“Because Marcus never touched the building.”
“Who did?”
My father looked directly at me.
“Victor Shaw.”
The real Victor.
“The man who died?”
“Yes.”
I stared.
“Victor started the fire?”
“Marcus paid him.”
“And Adrian survived.”
“Yes.”
“And Nathan?”
“Escaped.”
“With Aaron.”
“Yes.”
“Then who killed Nathan?”
My father looked toward the windows.
“It wasn’t Aaron.”
Relief tried to enter me.
I refused to let it.
“Who?”
“Nathan died at the clinic.”
“From the fire?”
“No.”
The room became colder.
“What do you mean?”
“His injuries were survivable.”
My heart stopped.
“Then how did he die?”
Dad’s voice cracked.
“Someone poisoned him.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
“We never knew.”
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
“You buried him.”
“Yes.”
“You hid everything.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me for nine years.”
“Yes.”
“Then why should I believe you now?”
“You shouldn’t.”
That answer stunned me.
He stepped around the desk.
“You should believe evidence.”
He opened a folder.
Inside was a hospital toxicology report.
Nathan Whitmore.
Time of death: 5:41 AM.
Cause: cardiac arrest secondary to acute toxin exposure.
My hands went numb.
Dad placed another page down.
A visitor log.
Three names.
Aaron Prescott.
Thomas Whitmore.
And…
Elizabeth Whitmore.
My mother.
I stopped breathing.
“Mom was at the clinic.”
“Yes.”
“She told me she never saw Nathan after the accident.”
“She lied.”
“Why?”
Dad looked destroyed.
“Because she was the last person alone with him before he died.”
The room tilted.
“No.”
“Alyssa.”
“No.”
“She brought Nathan medication.”
“No.”
“She said a doctor gave it to her.”
“No.”
“Twenty minutes later, he coded.”
I backed away.
“Are you saying Mom killed him?”
“I’m saying I never proved she didn’t.”
The office doors suddenly opened.
My mother walked in.
I turned.
She looked at the documents on the desk.
Then at Dad.
“You promised me.”
Dad whispered, “She deserves the truth.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears.
“Alyssa.”
I could barely speak.
“Did you poison Nathan?”
“No.”
“Did you give him the medication?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know what was in it?”
“No.”
“Who gave it to you?”
She stared at me.
For several seconds, she seemed unable to answer.
Then she whispered, “Aaron.”
My heart stopped.
In my ear, Aaron shouted, “THAT IS A LIE.”
I ripped out the earpiece.
Dad stared at Mom.
“What did you say?”
Mom was crying now.
“Aaron gave me the vial.”
My father went pale.
“You never told me that.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of what you would do.”
I felt sick.
“Aaron poisoned Nathan.”
Mom shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You just said he gave you the medication.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said Nathan needed it for pain.”
I backed away.
Then the office doors opened again.
Aaron walked in.
Adrian behind him.
Aaron’s face was white.
“She’s lying.”
Mom stared at him.
“No.”
“You came to me for medication.”
“You handed me the vial.”
“Because the doctor gave it to me.”
“What doctor?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
Dad stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Aaron looked at me.
“Alyssa, I did not kill Nathan.”
I wanted to believe him.
That was the worst part.
I wanted to believe the man who cheated on me.
Humiliated me.
Lied to me.
And kept my brother’s final hours secret.
But wanting truth and knowing truth were different things.
Adrian suddenly spoke.
“There was one camera at the clinic.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Dad asked.
“I installed it.”
My father stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because by then I trusted no one.”
My pulse jumped.
“Do you have the footage?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Yes.”
Dad stepped forward.
“Where?”
“On the original drive.”
Everyone’s eyes moved to my handbag.
I almost laughed.
So this was what the entire day had become.
Everyone chasing one small piece of metal because it held all the things they had spent years burying.
I took out the fake drive.
Dad looked at it.
Aaron looked at it.
Mom looked terrified.
Then another voice came from behind us.
“Thank you.”
Jasmine.
I turned.
She stood in the doorway.
A man beside her.
Late sixties.
Gray hair.
Elegant black suit.
Marcus Vane.
He smiled at my father.
“Thomas.”
Dad went completely still.
“Marcus.”
Jasmine held a small pistol.
Not pointed at me.
At my mother.
“Put the drive on the desk,” Marcus said.
I looked at him.
“So you’re the monster everyone has been blaming.”
He smiled.
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Did you start the Halcyon fire?”
“Yes.”
The casual answer chilled me.
“Did you poison Nathan?”
“No.”
“Did Jasmine tamper with my hospital medication?”
His smile faded slightly.
“No.”
I turned toward Jasmine.
She looked annoyed.
“Then who did?”
Marcus looked around the room.
“That is the interesting part.”
Aaron stepped toward him.
Jasmine raised the gun.
“Don’t.”
Aaron stopped.
Marcus looked at me.
“You’ve spent all day believing this is a story about men fighting over technology.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Family.”
He looked toward my parents.
“Helix was never the real secret.”
Dad whispered, “Marcus.”
“Enough.”
Marcus smiled.
“Your daughter deserves to know why Nathan hid the third fragment.”
I looked at Dad.
“What is he talking about?”
Dad said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“Nathan wasn’t afraid Helix would be weaponized.”
“Then what was he afraid of?”
“That Helix had already discovered something.”
I felt cold.
“What?”
Marcus’s eyes settled on me.
“A genetic anomaly.”
I frowned.
“In who?”
Nobody answered.
Then my mother started crying.
“Mom?”
She covered her mouth.
Marcus whispered, “In you.”
My entire body went still.
“What are you talking about?”
“Helix analyzed Whitmore family medical data during its early modeling.”
Dad shouted, “Stop.”
Marcus ignored him.
“It identified a hereditary condition.”
“What condition?”
My mother sobbed.
Aaron looked completely confused.
Adrian looked horrified.
Marcus continued.
“One that Nathan believed would eventually kill you.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“That’s why he wanted Helix preserved.”
“No.”
“He believed the system could help develop a treatment.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask your father.”
I looked at Dad.
He could not meet my eyes.
“Dad?”
Silence.
“Is this true?”
He whispered, “Partly.”
The word struck me like a slap.
“What part?”
“You were tested when you were seventeen.”
“For what?”
“A rare inherited cardiac disorder.”
My stomach dropped.
“Do I have it?”
“No.”
Relief came too quickly.
Dad continued.
“You carry the mutation.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means there was a possibility you could pass it to a child.”
Everything stopped.
My miscarriage.
I looked at Mom.
Then Dad.
Then Marcus.
“No.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Not smugness now.
Something almost like pity.
“No.”
I backed away.
“My baby.”
Mom whispered, “Alyssa…”
“What did you do?”
“No.”
“What did you do to my baby?”
“We did nothing.”
“Then why is everyone suddenly talking about my pregnancy?”
Dad moved toward me.
I stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
He stopped.
“Alyssa, your prenatal test showed the mutation.”
My lungs stopped working.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Aaron knew?”
“No.”
“Melanie?”
“No.”
“Mom?”
She nodded through tears.
I stared at her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And then I lost the baby.”
Mom broke.
“We were trying to save you.”
There it was again.
Protect.
Save.
Hide.
“What does that mean?”
She shook her head.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
The exact same words Melanie had said.
I felt something inside me turn to ice.
“Mom.”
“Alyssa, please.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?”
She collapsed into a chair.
My father looked like he was about to be sick.
Then my mother whispered the sentence that destroyed the last piece of the world I thought I understood.
“The medication wasn’t meant to end the pregnancy.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“It was meant to make the doctors intervene.”
“Why?”
“Because the pregnancy was putting stress on your heart.”
“I was healthy.”
“You were beginning to show arrhythmias.”
“You never told me.”
“We were terrified.”
“So you drugged me?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Mom looked at Dad.
Dad looked at Marcus.
Marcus looked at Aaron.
And Aaron…
Aaron looked at Jasmine.
Jasmine smiled.
Not sweetly.
Not nervously.
Triumphantly.
I understood before she spoke.
“No.”
She tilted her head.
“You always were slow to see what was right in front of you.”
Aaron lunged.
Marcus blocked him.
I stared at Jasmine.
“You tampered with it.”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
The room disappeared.
“Why?”
“Because your child mattered.”
My voice cracked.
“She was a baby.”
Aaron stared at her.
“She?”
I looked at him.
I had never told him.
I hadn’t known until after the miscarriage.
Jasmine continued.
“A daughter carrying both Whitmore and Prescott genetics.”
“What does that have to do with Helix?”
“Everything.”
Marcus turned toward her.
“Enough, Jasmine.”
She ignored him.
“The system wasn’t only predicting disease.”
My heart pounded.
“What else?”
“It was predicting inheritance.”
Dad whispered, “Stop.”
“Traits. Cognition markers. biological resilience.”
Aaron’s face twisted with disgust.
“You experimented on Alyssa?”
Jasmine laughed.
“Not me.”
Then she looked at Marcus.
His face went cold.
Jasmine’s smile disappeared.
I saw it.
A crack.
She wasn’t fully in control.
“Who?” I asked.
No one answered.
“WHO USED ME?”
Then Adrian whispered, “Thomas.”
I turned toward my father.
He looked broken.
“Dad?”
Marcus smiled.
“There it is.”
“No.”
My father closed his eyes.
“I authorized the prenatal Helix analysis.”
I felt my heart break in a completely new way.
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
I laughed.
It came out like a sob.
“You people keep destroying me and calling it protection.”
“I never authorized anyone to harm you.”
“But you opened the door.”
Silence.
“You used my pregnancy as data.”
“No.”
“You ran my unborn child through a system you had spent years hiding.”
“I was trying to understand the risk.”
“And Jasmine got access.”
Dad looked at Marcus.
“Through him.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Dad’s face changed.
“What?”
“I didn’t give her access.”
Everyone looked at Jasmine.
Marcus stared at his daughter.
“Who did?”
Jasmine began backing toward the door.
Aaron noticed.
“Jasmine.”
She raised the gun higher.
“Don’t.”
Marcus’s voice became hard.
“Answer him.”
She looked at her father.
And for the first time, she seemed afraid.
Then she smiled.
“You all still think I work for someone else.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
She reached into her jacket and pulled out a small black device.
Adrian’s face changed.
“The original Helix key.”
Marcus whispered, “Where did you get that?”
Jasmine smiled.
“From Nathan.”
The room froze.
Dad shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“He died before you were even involved.”
“Did he?”
I stopped breathing.
Aaron whispered, “What?”
Jasmine looked directly at me.
“You’ve all spent nine years fighting over how Nathan died.”
She smiled.
“But none of you ever asked the more important question.”
My throat tightened.
“What question?”
She pressed a button on the device.
The television behind my father’s desk flickered on.
Static.
Then an image appeared.
A hospital room.
Old footage.
Timestamped eight years ago.
Nathan lay in a bed.
Weak.
Pale.
Alive.
Aaron sat beside him.
My mother entered.
She gave him the vial.
Aaron left.
Mom left.
Nathan was alone.
Then someone else entered.
A woman.
She leaned over him.
Nathan opened his eyes.
He smiled.
He knew her.
The footage cleared.
My knees nearly failed.
Because the woman beside my brother’s deathbed was not Jasmine.
It was not my mother.
It was not anyone in the room.
It was me.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same hair.
Only older than I had been at the time.
I stared at the screen.
“That’s impossible.”
Nobody spoke.
The woman on the footage leaned down and whispered something into Nathan’s ear.
He began crying.
Then he handed her a small black device.
The Helix key.
The woman kissed his forehead.
And walked out.
Three minutes later, Nathan’s heart monitor flatlined.
I could not move.
“That isn’t me.”
Jasmine smiled.
“No.”
“Who is she?”
My mother made a sound behind me.
A broken gasp.
I turned.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Mom?”
She whispered one word.
A name I had never heard before.
“Amelia.”
My father staggered backward.
“No.”
Aaron looked between them.
“Who is Amelia?”
My mother stared at me as tears ran down her face.
Then she said the truth that shattered every secret that had come before it.
“Your sister.”
I stopped breathing.
“I don’t have a sister.”
My mother sobbed.
“Yes, Alyssa.”
She looked at the woman frozen on the screen.
“You do.”
My father whispered, “Elizabeth, don’t.”
But Mom kept looking at me.
“She was born seven minutes before you.”
My entire world went silent.
A twin.
A sister.
A woman with my face.
A woman who had been with Nathan when he died.
A woman who had taken the original Helix key.
A woman my parents had erased so completely that I had never known she existed.
I stared at my mother.
“Where is she?”
My mother’s lips trembled.
“We thought she was dead.”
Jasmine laughed softly.
“No.”
Then every light in Whitmore Tower went dark.
The screen changed.
A live video feed appeared.
A woman sat in a black room.
My face.
Older.
Colder.
A thin scar across her left cheek.
She looked directly into the camera.
Directly at me.
Then she smiled.
“Hello, Alyssa.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“My name is Amelia.”
Everyone in the office froze.
She leaned closer to the camera.
“And if you want to know who killed Nathan, who caused your miscarriage, and who has been controlling Aaron’s company from the shadows…”
Her smile disappeared.
“…stop listening to them.”
She looked straight into my eyes.
“Because I did.”
TO BE CONTINUED — PART 5: THE SISTER THEY ERASED
Here is PART 5 — FINAL PART
