CHAPTER 6: The Fire Beneath the Cross Name
CHAPTER 6: The Fire Beneath the Cross Name
Nathaniel spent the rest of the night in his private study.
The photograph of Noah lay beside the old charity picture Daniel had found.
Clara Rose Bennett.
Cross Industries.
Richard Cross.
The pieces still refused to fit.
Until Daniel entered carrying a sealed archive box.
"You asked for everything connected to your father's private foundation."
Nathaniel opened it.
Inside were decades-old financial records.
Scholarship lists.
Property deeds.
Medical grants.
One thin folder had no title.
Only a handwritten number.
Project Twelve.
Nathaniel's pulse quickened.
He opened it.
The first page contained twelve children's names.
Eleven had been crossed out.
Only one remained.
Clara Rose Bennett.
Nathaniel stared.
"What is this?"
Daniel shook his head.
"I've never seen anything like it."
The second page contained only one sentence.
Subject possesses confirmed genetic compatibility. Continue observation.
Nathaniel read it twice.
Then a third time.
His stomach turned.
"This isn't a charity file."
"No."
"It's an experiment."
He flipped through the remaining pages.
Most had been removed.
Some deliberately burned.
Others shredded.
Only fragments remained.
One surviving memo caught his attention.
Transfer infant to Bennett guardians. Financial support approved under anonymous trust. Biological connection remains sealed.
Nathaniel stopped breathing.
Biological connection.
Connection to whom?
The answer was missing.
The page had been torn away.
A knock interrupted them.
Margaret entered.
"Clara wants to leave."
Nathaniel immediately went downstairs.
He found Clara packing the few clothes she'd been given.
Emma stood nearby crying quietly.
"You can't stay," Clara said without turning around.
Nathaniel folded his arms.
"Watch me."
She spun toward him.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"They'll destroy you."
"My father spent thirty years trying."
"I mean the people behind him."
Nathaniel took another step.
"Who are they?"
For several seconds she simply stared at him.
Then she whispered—
"I don't know their names."
"But I know what they call themselves."
She looked him directly in the eyes.
"The Ash Circle."
The words sent a chill through the room.
Daniel, standing in the hallway, frowned.
"I've heard that before."
Nathaniel turned.
"Where?"
Daniel answered slowly.
"Your father's funeral."
Silence.
Daniel continued.
"Three men attended."
"They never signed the guest book."
"They never spoke."
"But before they left..."
He closed his eyes, remembering.
"...one of them said..."
"The fire survives the man."
Nathaniel suddenly understood.
Richard Cross hadn't built the darkest part of his empire.
He had inherited it.
Before anyone could speak again—
Every light inside the penthouse went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Emma screamed.
Emergency backup power failed to activate.
Daniel reached for his weapon.
"Nobody move."
A single red laser dot appeared on the living-room wall.
Then another.
Then six more.
Sniper sights.
From neighboring rooftops.
Nathaniel reacted instantly.
"Everyone down!"
Glass exploded inward as the first suppressed bullet tore through the penthouse window.
The war had found them.
May you like
And whoever the Ash Circle truly was...
They no longer cared whether Nathaniel Cross survived long enough to learn the truth.
