CHAPTER 6 – The Secret That Changed Everything
CHAPTER 6 – The Secret That Changed Everything
Three days passed.
The Voss estate became a fortress.
Every vehicle was inspected.
Every visitor searched.
Every phone monitored.
Still...
Nikolai couldn't shake the feeling that someone had already infiltrated his home.
One afternoon, Victor summoned Iris to his private study.
She entered nervously.
The walls were lined with books older than she was.
Family portraits stretched back generations.
Victor motioned for her to sit.
"I owe you an explanation."
She remained silent.
He opened a worn leather folder.
Inside were newspaper clippings nearly thirty years old.
Photos.
Deaths.
Explosions.
Missing people.
"What do you know about your parents?"
Iris frowned.
"My mother died when I was twenty."
"My father died before I was born."
Victor slid one photograph across the desk.
A younger woman smiled into the camera while holding a newborn baby.
Iris's breath caught.
"That's..."
"My mother."
Victor nodded.
"Her name wasn't Beaumont."
"What?"
"She changed it."
Iris stared at him.
"I don't understand."
Victor took a slow breath.
"Your mother's real surname..."
He tapped the photograph.
"...was Renard."
The room spun.
"No..."
"She was Lucien Renard's younger sister."
Iris stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
Victor handed her another document.
A birth certificate.
Her mother's name.
Elise Renard.
Official.
Stamped.
Real.
Iris's hands shook violently.
"So..."
"My mother..."
Victor finished the sentence.
"You are Lucien Renard's niece."
Silence consumed the room.
Every memory suddenly felt different.
Every unanswered question.
Every family story.
Every missing photograph.
Victor continued quietly.
"Your mother fell in love with an ordinary schoolteacher."
"My father..."
"Lucien forbade the marriage."
"They ran away."
"They disappeared."
Victor's eyes darkened.
"Officially."
Iris slowly backed away.
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
Victor's voice became almost inaudible.
"...your father didn't die in an accident."
The blood drained from her face.
"No..."
"He was murdered."
"By whom?"
Victor looked directly into her eyes.
"Your uncle."
Iris collapsed into the chair.
Everything inside her shattered.
Lucien Renard hadn't just ordered her death.
He had already destroyed her family once before.
And now...
He intended to erase the last bloodline that threatened his legacy.
Just then the study doors burst open.
Nikolai entered, breathing hard.
"We have a problem."
Victor stood immediately.
"What happened?"
Nikolai held up a tablet.
"The hospital."
"What about it?"
"Our internal investigator found missing records."
Victor's expression froze.
"Which records?"
Nikolai looked at Iris.
Then spoke the words that changed everything.
"The clinic where Iris had her ultrasound..."
"...someone altered her medical file yesterday."
"They changed her status from 'pregnant'..."
"...to 'miscarriage.'"
Silence.
Then Victor whispered,
"They're preparing for something."
Before anyone could respond, every light inside the mansion suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the estate.
A heartbeat later...
The emergency alarm screamed through the halls.
"SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!"
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From outside came the deafening roar of explosions as the front gate was blown apart.
The Black Wolves had arrived.
