Chapter 7 - THE BETRAYAL THAT SAVED US
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“Get the babies!”
Silas threw the remote to Kaelen.
I ran toward the nursery.
My daughters were crying.
Breathing.
Alive.
I lifted them both into my arms.
They felt warm.
Real.
I cried so hard I could barely stand.
Behind me, footsteps echoed.
I turned.
Julian was gone.
My father was bleeding from the shoulder.
Margaret had disappeared.
And Silas was standing in the center of the room.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“I shot the lock.”
“You shot Julian?”
“No.”
I stared.
He shook his head.
“He escaped.”
My mother came toward me.
“Where's Margaret?”
“No idea.”
“Then we leave.”
My father spoke from behind us.
“No.”
We all turned.
“She already activated the Covenant.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
The screens began flashing.
Accounts changed ownership.
Companies transferred.
Ports switched control.
The entire Ross-Mercer fortune was moving.
But none of it was going to Margaret.
None went to Julian.
All of it went to—
the twins.
Two separate trusts.
One for each daughter.
My father looked at me.
“She used your signature.”
I shook my head.
“I didn't authorize that.”
“No.”
He smiled faintly.
“You didn't understand the document.”
I looked at Silas.
He already knew.
“What did I sign?”
Silas answered.
“A protective trust.”
I couldn't believe it.
“Julian wanted the empire.”
“Yes.”
“So why did he make me sign?”
“Because Margaret wanted him to.”
I frowned.
Then it clicked.
The entire kidnapping had been a trap.
Margaret had wanted me to sign.
But Silas had switched the document at the last moment.
He had protected the twins.
“Why would you do that?”
Silas looked at me.
“Because no empire is worth your daughters.”
My chest tightened.
My father watched us.
Then he said:
“You've become exactly what I hoped.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“A parent.”
The word stayed with me.
For the first time, I understood why Julian had failed.
He thought children created weakness.
My daughters had created courage.
Then the ceiling shook.
Dust fell.
An explosion thundered somewhere above.
Kaelen shouted:
“Boston Police!”
Silas frowned.
“What?”
Then another explosion.
“Not police,” he corrected.
“Federal tactical units.”
My mother looked terrified.
“Margaret called them.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the Covenant.”
I stared at the screens.
The entire underground estate was being surrounded.
Silas stepped beside me.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
“Then stay close.”
We moved through the tunnel.
Behind us, the estate began collapsing.
Stone fell.
Fire spread.
My father refused to leave.
“I've spent thirty years hiding.”
He looked at me.
“I won't spend my last hour running.”
I grabbed his hand.
“No.”
He stared.
“You saved me once without me knowing.”
I whispered:
“Now I'm saving you.”
Together, we escaped into the storm.
Above ground, sirens screamed across Boston.
But there was something else.
A helicopter.
Black.
Unmarked.
Hovering above the harbor.
The side door opened.
Julian stepped out.
Beside him stood Margaret.
And between them—
a man I had never seen.
Margaret shouted down:
“Elena!”
I looked up.
She pointed at my daughters.
“You think the twins are the heirs?”
May you like
She laughed.
“You've only met one of them.”
