CHAPTER 6 – THE TRUE HEIR
CHAPTER 6 – THE TRUE HEIR
The hidden room smelled of old paper and cold steel.
Nothing inside looked abandoned.
Someone had been here recently.
The servers blinked with fresh activity.
A cup of coffee still sat warm beside one monitor.
Richard.
He had been here only minutes before.
Claire immediately connected a portable drive to the central computer.
Encrypted files flooded the screen.
Thousands of names.
DNA sequences.
Financial accounts.
Surveillance reports.
Every child created through Project Heir.
Every location.
Every foster family.
Every death.
My hands shook as I searched one word.
Charlotte.
One result appeared.
Then another.
Then a third.
Claire frowned.
"There shouldn't be three."
The first profile belonged to Sophia.
Status:
Alive.
The second profile belonged to another girl living overseas under government protection.
Status:
Deceased—Age 8.
The third profile had no photograph.
Only one line.
PRIMARY HEIR – ACTIVE.
"No identity?"
Claire whispered.
"Someone erased it."
Before we could investigate further, a hidden printer suddenly activated by itself.
One sheet of paper slowly slid out.
Neither of us had touched the keyboard.
Across the page were eight words.
LOOK UNDER THE ROCKING HORSE. NOW.
I dropped to my knees.
Beneath the wooden horse was a small brass compartment.
Inside rested an old cassette tape.
Beside it...
A tiny gold bracelet.
Engraved on the inside were two names.
Charlotte. Amelia.
Twins.
Richard had told the truth.
There had been twins.
I pressed play on the cassette recorder.
Static filled the room.
Then...
My father's voice.
If you're hearing this...
...Richard has betrayed me.
Claire's eyes widened.
"What?"
The recording continued.
Project Heir was my greatest mistake.
I believed I was protecting the Drummond legacy.
Instead...
I created monsters.
Richard wanted control.
Not succession.
He planned to remove every child except one he could manipulate.
If I failed to stop him...
...find Amelia.
She was never registered.
Not even Richard knows where she is.
She alone carries the complete inheritance authorization.
Charlotte was always meant to distract them.
Amelia...
...is the true heir.
The recording ended.
Silence crushed the room.
Richard had spent twelve years hunting Charlotte...
without realizing he'd been chasing the wrong child.
Then every monitor in the room suddenly went black.
A single video feed appeared.
Sophia—Charlotte—sat tied to a chair inside a dim warehouse.
She was bruised.
Terrified.
But alive.
Richard stepped into view.
He smiled directly at the camera.
"I knew you'd find the archive."
He lifted his phone.
"I also know you've heard the recording."
His smile slowly faded.
"So now we both have the same question."
He leaned close to Charlotte and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"Where..."
"...is Amelia?"
Charlotte slowly lifted her tear-filled eyes.
Then, despite everything, she smiled.
Richard frowned.
She whispered only five words.
"She's already with my father."
My heart nearly stopped.
Impossible.
I had never met Amelia.
Or had I?
At that exact moment, Claire turned toward me with a look of absolute shock.
"The baby..."
My pulse pounded.
"What about him?"
Claire's voice barely escaped her lips.
"I think Richard switched them."
"What?"
She grabbed the DNA reports from the server.
"The infant wasn't brought to your mansion to fool you."
"He was taken from someone."
Her eyes locked onto mine.
May you like
"The real baby..."
"...may be Amelia's child."
