Chapter 7: The Bullet Was Never Meant for Lily
The gunshot echoed through the abandoned academy.
For one terrifying second...
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Then Lily slowly opened her eyes.
She wasn't hurt.
The bullet had missed her.
Instead...
Victor Hale screamed.
On the giant screen behind the stage, blood suddenly spread across his shoulder.
Everyone stared in disbelief.
Edward looked toward Ava.
Her pistol was still smoking.
She hadn't fired at Lily.
She had fired at Victor.
Victor clutched his bleeding shoulder inside a hidden control room.
"What have you done?" he shouted.
Ava lowered the gun with trembling hands.
"For the first time in my life..."
"...I stopped believing your lies."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny music box.
"I found this years ago."
"It belonged to my mother."
Victor's smile disappeared.
The music box had been hidden from her since childhood.
Inside it was a tiny recording.
Every night, after Victor left the room, Ava secretly listened to it.
She had heard Amelia's voice hundreds of times.
"My sweet girls... if you're hearing this, someone has stolen you from me. Never hate your sister. One day, you'll save each other."
Those words shattered everything Victor had spent twelve years building.
He hadn't created a weapon.
He had raised a daughter who still carried her mother's heart.
Furious, Victor slammed a red emergency switch.
The academy shook violently.
Explosions erupted beneath the old building.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
"This place was built over abandoned tunnels," Victor laughed.
"If I can't erase the truth..."
"I'll bury all of you with it."
Steel beams began collapsing.
The rescue team shouted for everyone to run.
Edward grabbed Lily's hand.
Ava hesitated.
Victor's voice echoed once more.
"Ava!"
"Come with me!"
"You belong to me!"
She looked toward the hidden exit.
Then toward Lily.
For twelve years she had dreamed of meeting her sister.
Not to kill her.
To understand why she had always felt something was missing.
Slowly...
She reached out her hand.
Lily didn't hesitate.
She grabbed it tightly.
The twins ran together for the first time.
As they reached the collapsing entrance, Victor appeared from the smoke holding another gun.
His face twisted with rage.
"If I lose everything..."
"...none of you leave alive."
He raised the weapon.
Before he could pull the trigger...
An elderly janitor stepped out from the shadows.
No one had noticed him before.
Without a word, he struck Victor's arm with an iron pipe.
The gun slid across the floor.
Victor fell to his knees.
The old man removed his dusty cap.
Edward's eyes widened.
"It... it can't be..."
The stranger smiled sadly.
"No, Edward."
"I didn't die twenty years ago."
Lily and Ava stared at the man in shock.
Edward whispered the name he never thought he would say again.
"Professor Samuel Brooks..."
"My father's best friend."
The old man nodded.
"I've been hiding for two decades..."
"...because I'm the only living person who knows who really ordered Amelia's destruction."
Lily frowned.
"We already know it was Victor."
Professor Brooks slowly shook his head.
"No."
"Victor was only following orders."
The old man pulled a faded photograph from his coat.
In the picture stood Victor...
beside a smiling woman.
When Lily saw her face, her heart nearly stopped.
It was Judge Eleanor Carter...
the respected federal judge who had just promised to oversee Victor Hale's trial.
Professor Brooks whispered,
May you like
"The woman everyone trusts..."
"...is the one who started everything."
