CHAPTER 7: The Man She Trusted for 20 Years Pulled the Trigger
Samuel's hands didn't shake.
The pistol was aimed directly at Evelyn's heart.
Her father's final warning echoed through the collapsing vault.
"Don't trust Samuel!"
For a moment...
Time stopped.
"No..." Evelyn whispered.
"You saved me."
"You protected me."
Samuel's tired eyes filled with regret.
"I did."
"And that's why this has to end."
He slowly pulled back the hammer.
Click.
Catherine burst into laughter.
"I told you, Evelyn."
"Everyone you love eventually betrays you."
The Phoenix commander smiled.
"Excellent."
"Our inside man has finally completed his mission."
Evelyn couldn't breathe.
"You've been working for Phoenix?"
Samuel slowly lowered his head.
"For twenty years."
The words hit harder than any bullet.
"I was ordered to watch you from the day you were born."
"I reported every school."
"Every friend."
"Every relationship."
"Every heartbeat."
Tears rolled down Evelyn's face.
"So... none of it was real?"
Samuel looked at her with heartbreaking sadness.
"No."
Then he paused.
"...Except loving you like my own daughter."
Before anyone could react...
Samuel spun around.
Bang!
The bullet struck the Phoenix commander in the shoulder.
Chaos erupted.
"What are you doing?" Catherine screamed.
Samuel fired again.
Another operative collapsed.
"I lied."
"I stopped working for Phoenix twenty years ago."
"I stayed close because I promised your father I'd protect you."
Gunfire exploded across the vault.
Soldiers opened fire from every direction.
Her father shoved Evelyn toward a hidden maintenance tunnel.
"GO!"
"But you—"
"NOW!"
The explosion threw everyone to the ground.
Concrete rained from the ceiling.
The self-destruct timer reached...
00:45
Samuel tossed Evelyn the flash drive.
"Run!"
She caught it just as another bullet struck Samuel in the chest.
He fell backward.
Blood covered his white shirt.
Evelyn screamed.
"Samuel!"
He smiled weakly.
"Your father wasn't warning you about who I am..."
"He was warning you about what I was about to do."
His breathing became slower.
"I had to make them believe I betrayed you..."
"So they'd stop watching your back."
The commander staggered to his feet, furious despite his wound.
"You fool!"
Samuel laughed through the blood.
"You spent twenty-six years hunting one girl..."
"And never realized..."
"There were two."
The commander froze.
"What?"
Samuel pointed toward Evelyn.
"You've been chasing the wrong Phoenix."
Every face turned toward Evelyn.
Confusion spread through the room.
Her father suddenly shouted,
"Don't tell them!"
But it was too late.
Samuel smiled one final time.
"The real Subject E-17..."
"...died twenty-three years ago."
Silence.
Evelyn's heart stopped.
"What...?"
Samuel looked directly into her eyes.
"You were never E-17."
"You were E-18."
"The only subject who was never supposed to exist."
The commander's face drained of color.
"No..."
"That's impossible."
Samuel coughed, laughing despite the pain.
"You've spent billions..."
"You've murdered hundreds..."
"You've searched the entire world..."
"For the wrong child."
The countdown echoed once more.
10...
9...
The commander screamed,
"Capture her alive!"
Her father grabbed Evelyn's hand.
They ran toward the escape tunnel.
Just before the blast consumed the vault...
Evelyn looked back one last time.
Samuel saluted her with a faint smile.
Then the entire underground chamber disappeared in a massive explosion.
As the fire swallowed everything...
One final encrypted signal escaped from the destroyed vault...
It was automatically transmitted to every intelligence agency in the world.
May you like
The message contained only seven terrifying words:
"Subject E-18 has been successfully activated."
