Chapter 6 - THE HOSPITAL UNDER THE CITY
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The hospital was beneath an abandoned church.
Of course it was.
My family had spent generations hiding underground.
We reached it with minutes left on the countdown.
Eleanor had already entered.
Clara was beside her.
My mother lay unconscious behind glass.
The sight shattered me.
She looked fragile.
Older.
But unmistakably herself.
Clara cried.
“Mom.”
Eleanor grabbed her shoulder.
“Open the final archive.”
“First let me see her.”
“No.”
“She has been waiting for me.”
“Then you should cooperate.”
Clara turned toward me.
“Gabriel.”
“I know.”
I held up the signet ring.
“The archive opens only when all three keys are present.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Then you'll open it.”
“What happens after?”
“You'll be free.”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“You are protecting criminals.”
“I am protecting my family.”
She looked toward Maya.
“That child is not your family.”
I looked at the little girl.
“She is the reason I found them.”
Maya clutched the baby's blanket.
“She belongs with us.”
Eleanor sneered.
“Sentiment.”
“No.”
I looked at my unconscious mother.
“Family.”
Then Clara stepped forward.
She held the locket.
Maya stood beside her.
I touched the signet ring.
The medical monitor beside my mother suddenly changed.
A hidden panel opened.
A biometric screen appeared.
KEYS REQUIRED: THREE.
My ring.
Clara's locket.
The newborn's blood.
Eleanor smiled.
“You see?”
I looked at the screen.
“What exactly are you asking me to do?”
“Complete the transfer.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
“What do you gain?”
“Control.”
“Of the empire?”
“Of the future.”
I stared at her.
Then I understood.
She didn't want the family's money.
She wanted the evidence.
The evidence could destroy judges.
Politicians.
Law enforcement officials.
Entire corporations.
With it, she could blackmail the entire city.
But there was another option.
The archive could be opened.
And destroyed.
I looked at Clara.
She understood.
“You want to destroy it.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor heard us.
“No.”
She raised her gun.
My mother opened her eyes.
Everyone froze.
She whispered:
“Gabriel.”
I turned.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You have to listen.”
“Mom.”
“I was never held hostage.”
“What?”
She looked at Eleanor.
“I stayed.”
Eleanor went still.
“Why?”
My mother smiled sadly.
“To protect my children.”
Clara stared.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Gabriel would come?”
“I prayed.”
She looked at me.
“And I knew he would.”
I felt tears fill my eyes.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because the only way to break the trust was to make everyone believe it still had power.”
My mother looked toward the archive.
“The evidence is a trap.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“It was never designed to control the city.”
Eleanor's face changed.
“It was designed to expose it.”
My mother continued.
“Your grandfather wanted the family destroyed if corruption ever reached its highest level.”
She looked at me.
“The trust doesn't belong to you.”
“It belongs to the victims.”
Silence.
“The original plan was to release everything.”
Eleanor stepped backward.
“No.”
My mother smiled.
“Your greatest mistake was assuming power was the point.”
Then she looked at me.
“Finish it.”
I touched the signet ring to the scanner.
The screen turned green.
The locket turned green.
The newborn's biometric scan turned green.
Then another message appeared.
RELEASE ARCHIVE?
I looked at Eleanor.
She was shaking.
I pressed:
YES.
Every file exploded onto encrypted federal servers.
Names.
Transactions.
Bribes.
Blackmail.
Everything.
Eleanor screamed.
Her empire collapsed in seconds.
Victor ran.
Federal agents stormed the hospital.
Clara fell beside our mother.
I grabbed her hand.
“We did it.”
She cried.
“No.”
She looked at Maya and the babies.
“We survived.”
Then my father's bloodstained face appeared in the doorway.
He had survived the gunshot.
He was pale.
But standing.
And beside him stood Victor.
Handcuffed.
My father looked at me.
“You finished what I couldn't.”
May you like
Then he smiled.
“I'm proud of you.”
