CHAPTER 7 — The Man They Buried Twenty Years Ago
The smoke spread rapidly through the underground vault.
Detective Mason ripped off his jacket and wrapped it around Emily's face.
"Stay low!" he shouted.
The emergency lights flashed crimson, illuminating the walls lined with evidence.
Emily's eyes landed on one box labeled:
PROJECT PHOENIX — CLASSIFIED
Without thinking, she grabbed it.
Mason fired three shots at the electronic lock.
Nothing.
The steel door didn't even dent.
Then...
A hidden speaker crackled to life.
A distorted voice echoed through the chamber.
"You've already learned too much."
Emily recognized the voice instantly.
"Richard Holloway."
The man laughed.
"You still believe I'm in charge?"
Emily clenched her fists.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to meet the man who created all of this."
The smoke suddenly stopped.
The red lights switched to bright white.
With a deafening metallic groan, the steel door slowly opened by itself.
Standing outside was not a SWAT team.
Not the police.
But an elderly man in an immaculate black suit.
His silver hair was perfectly combed.
His posture was straight despite his age.
Every security guard in the hallway lowered their heads as he walked past.
Even Richard Holloway stepped out from the shadows...
And bowed.
"Sir."
Emily's heart nearly stopped.
She knew that face.
It was impossible.
Twenty years ago, newspapers across the country had reported that William Carter—her father's older brother—had died in a private plane crash.
Emily whispered,
"...Uncle William?"
The old man smiled gently.
"I've waited a long time to see you awake, Emily."
Tears filled her eyes.
"But... you died."
William sighed.
"No."
"I disappeared."
He stepped closer, his expression turning cold.
"Because sometimes the only way to destroy a monster..."
"...is to become one."
Before Emily could speak, William opened the box she had taken from the vault.
Inside wasn't evidence.
It was a DNA report.
He handed it to her.
Emily looked at the first page.
Her hands began to shake uncontrollably.
PATERNITY TEST RESULT
Daniel Carter... NOT BIOLOGICALLY RELATED TO THE CARTER FAMILY.
She frowned.
That wasn't shocking.
Then she read the second page.
The world seemed to stop.
EMILY CARTER... NOT BIOLOGICALLY RELATED TO ROBERT CARTER.
Emily's breathing froze.
"No..."
William looked into her eyes and quietly said,
"The biggest lie wasn't your accident."
"It wasn't the hospital."
"It wasn't Daniel."
He paused for a long moment before revealing the truth that shattered everything Emily had ever believed.
"Robert Carter wasn't your father... because you were stolen from another family when you were only three days old."
The silence that followed was more terrifying than any scream.
May you like
Everything Emily thought she knew about her life...
Had just become a lie.
