CHAPTER 4: THE MAN WHO ATTENDED HIS OWN FUNERAL
The shattered windows sprayed glass across the old mansion.
Lily screamed as Ethan threw himself over her and Anna, shielding them from the bullets.
The three red laser sights danced across the room before disappearing.
Silence.
Then...
A slow clap echoed through the darkness.
One.
Two.
Three.
The mansion lights flickered back on.
Standing in the hallway was a man dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit.
His silver hair was neatly combed.
His posture was flawless.
His smile was terrifyingly calm.
Margaret lowered her gun.
For the first time that night...
She looked nervous.
The man spoke in a smooth, confident voice.
"I've waited twenty-three years for this reunion."
Ethan stared at him.
His heart nearly stopped.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
The man smiled.
"Hello, son."
Richard Lancaster.
The father whose funeral Ethan had attended when he was just twelve years old.
The man everyone believed had died in a fiery private jet crash.
He was standing right in front of him.
Alive.
Lily looked between the two men.
"They look the same..."
Anna's face turned ghostly white.
"You should have stayed dead," she whispered.
Richard chuckled.
"Dead people don't become billionaires."
He slowly walked into the room as if he owned every inch of it.
Because he did.
He glanced at Margaret.
"You've disappointed me."
Margaret lowered her eyes.
"I had everything under control."
"No," Richard replied coldly.
"You let Ethan find Anna."
Without warning...
He slapped Margaret across the face.
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Even Ethan stood frozen.
The powerful woman who had terrified everyone for decades...
Didn't fight back.
She simply lowered her head.
Richard turned toward Ethan.
"I know what you're thinking."
"You believe your mother destroyed your life."
He smiled.
"She was only following my orders."
The words struck Ethan harder than any bullet.
"What?"
Richard casually removed his leather gloves.
"Anna knew something she should never have known."
Anna gripped the bedsheets.
"You murdered those families..."
Richard laughed.
"Not murdered."
"Sacrificed."
Ethan felt sick.
"What are you talking about?"
Richard walked toward the old fireplace.
With one press of a hidden button...
The stone wall slowly slid open.
Behind it was a secret room.
Inside were shelves filled with thousands of files.
Photographs.
Passports.
Birth certificates.
Cash.
Gold bars.
And dozens of family portraits.
Each one had a red X painted across the faces.
Anna whispered,
"The Lancaster List..."
Richard smiled proudly.
"My greatest achievement."
Lily looked confused.
"What is it?"
Richard crouched to her level.
"It is a list of every family that stood in my way."
Ethan grabbed him by the collar.
"You monster!"
Richard didn't resist.
Instead...
He whispered something only Ethan could hear.
"Your name is in the next folder."
Ethan let go immediately.
"What?"
Richard pointed toward the cabinet.
"The last drawer."
With trembling hands, Ethan pulled it open.
Inside was a thick black folder.
Across the front, in bold letters, it read:
TARGET #218
ETHAN LANCASTER
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Inside were thousands of pages documenting his entire life.
Every school report.
Every birthday.
Every relationship.
Every business deal.
Every phone call.
Every mistake.
Every secret.
Someone had been planning his death...
Since he was a child.
Then Ethan noticed something impossible.
At the bottom of the final page...
Today's date.
Underneath it were just six chilling words.
Termination scheduled for midnight tonight.
Ethan checked his watch.
11:58 PM.
Two minutes.
Richard slowly smiled.
"You've spent your whole life believing you were my son."
He stepped closer.
Until their faces were inches apart.
Then he whispered the sentence that shattered Ethan's world forever.
"You were never supposed to survive your birth."
At that exact moment...
A digital alarm echoed through the mansion.
00:00
Deep beneath the floor...
A hidden countdown reached zero.
The entire house began to shake.
Anna's eyes widened in horror.
"Ethan..."
"It's not an earthquake."
Richard calmly adjusted his tie.
"No."
"It's demolition."
The walls cracked.
The ceiling collapsed.
And the Lancaster mansion—the only place that held the truth—began to implode around them.
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END OF CHAPTER 4...
TO BE CONTINUED...
