Chapter 12 - THE BOY WITH MY EYES
The emergency lights came on.
Everything was red.
The hallway.
The walls.
The terrified faces around me.
It looked less like a secret facility and more like the inside of a burning machine.
Ryan locked the steel door.
“We have maybe two minutes.”
My father looked at him.
“Is there another exit?”
“There's one.”
“Where?”
“Behind the old generator room.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Maya, you need to leave.”
I pulled away.
“I'm not leaving without Ethan.”
She looked at him.
Then at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
We moved through the corridor.
Ethan stayed beside me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he finally whispered:
“Are you really my mother?”
I looked at him.
There was no way to prepare for that question.
“Yes.”
He looked down.
“Why didn't you come for me?”
“I thought you were dead.”
He swallowed.
“I thought you were dead too.”
We stopped.
For the first time, I saw the little boy hidden beneath the seventeen-year-old face.
The boy who had spent his entire childhood believing someone had abandoned him.
I reached toward him.
He hesitated.
Then allowed me to take his hand.
His fingers were trembling.
So were mine.
We continued walking.
Suddenly Ethan stopped.
“I know this place.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“I've been here before.”
Ryan turned around.
“You have?”
Ethan nodded.
“When I was twelve.”
My father froze.
“Who brought you?”
“Victor.”
My father's face changed.
Ethan continued.
“He showed me this tunnel.”
“Why?”
“He told me one day I would inherit everything.”
My heart tightened.
“What everything?”
“The Sterling empire.”
Silence.
Ethan looked at me.
“He told me it belonged to me.”
Daniel's expression became serious.
“That's why they kept you alive.”
Ethan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father's estate wasn't structured like a normal inheritance.”
He pulled out the original trust agreement.
“The controlling shares were never transferred to Maya.”
He pointed at a clause.
“They were reserved for her direct descendant.”
Ethan stared at the document.
“So…”
“You are the legal heir.”
I looked at Ethan.
Then everything became clear.
Logan hadn't wanted my inheritance.
He had wanted the person who would eventually control it.
My son.
The footsteps above us grew louder.
Ryan whispered:
“They're here.”
A door slammed open.
Someone shouted.
“Search every room!”
Logan.
I knew his voice immediately.
Ethan looked at me.
“That's him.”
“Yes.”
“That's the man who raised me.”
I squeezed his hand.
“No.”
I looked toward the corridor.
“He's the man who stole you.”
Suddenly, another voice came through the facility speakers.
Calm.
Deep.
Powerful.
Victor Vance.
“Ethan.”
The boy froze.
“Come out.”
Victor continued.
“Your mother has lied to you.”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“You're the liar.”
Victor laughed softly.
“Maya, you still don't understand.”
“What?”
“You think Logan stole your son.”
A pause.
“He didn't.”
My blood ran cold.
May you like
Victor continued:
“I gave the order.”
