CHAPTER 6 – The Secret Hidden for Twenty-Eight Years
The mansion entered lockdown.
Security teams flooded every hallway.
Helicopters circled overhead.
Ethan pulled Emma into the estate's underground panic room.
She was shaking uncontrollably.
"I don't understand."
"Why are they trying to kill me?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he opened the final compartment inside the wooden chest.
Hidden beneath velvet lining...
...was an old VHS tape.
The date written across it read:
October 14... Twenty-Eight Years Earlier.
Fortunately, Jonathan Blackwood had converted the recording to digital years before his death.
The screen flickered to life.
A hospital delivery room appeared.
Doctors rushed around frantically.
A nurse spoke into the camera.
"There were complications."
Then another voice interrupted.
"We have twins."
Emma's heart stopped.
Twins?
The doctor continued.
"Separate them immediately."
The camera shook.
Someone argued off-screen.
A frightened woman cried.
"No!"
"You promised both babies would stay together!"
The recording suddenly cut forward several minutes.
Jonathan Blackwood appeared on screen.
His face looked decades younger.
"If anything happens to me..."
He looked directly into the camera.
"...tell Ethan that Emma was never a stranger."
The room fell silent.
Emma slowly turned toward Ethan.
"What does he mean?"
Before Ethan could answer...
The panic room lights went dark.
Every monitor switched off simultaneously.
Emergency alarms screamed through the underground bunker.
A distorted voice echoed from hidden speakers.
"You've discovered too much."
"You have five minutes to say goodbye."
Then...
May you like
The heavy steel blast door began unlocking...
...from the outside.
