Chapter 2 - The Doppelgänger’s GambitEmma shielded Ethan behind her back, searching the room for anything she could use as a weapon. "He’s a child, Isabella! What did you do to him?"
Isabella stepped into the room, her high heels clicking rhythmically against the concrete floor. "Isabella? Is that who you think I am?" She laughed, a sharp, cold sound. "Isabella Sterling is currently sleeping off a heavy sedative in a private medical facility in Zurich. I am her twin sister, Victoria."
Emma’s mind raced. "Why would you lock your nephew down here?"
"Because the Sterling empire isn't built on real estate, Emma. It's built on software—specifically, a biometric encryption code that William's late wife created before her death," Victoria explained, tapping the syringe against her palm. "The key to access a forty-billion-dollar slush fund isn't a password. It’s encoded into Ethan’s DNA. But William doesn't know that. He thinks his late wife left him everything outright."
Victoria revealed that she had orchestrated her sister's disappearance to take her place, aiming to extract the genetic key from Ethan before William discovered the fraud.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the spiral staircase. "Victoria? Where did you go?"
It was William’s voice.
Victoria’s calm demeanor cracked. She lunged forward with the syringe, targeting Emma. Emma reacted instantly, swinging a heavy metal IV pole she grabbed from beside the cot. The metal struck Victoria’s wrist, sending the syringe shattering onto the floor. Grabbing Ethan's hand, Emma shoved Victoria into the cot and bolted out the door, slamming it shut behind them and locking the manual latch.
They sprinted up the stairs just as William reached the hidden passage behind the painting.
"Emma? Ethan?!" William gasped, staring in utter disbelief at his pale, trembling son and the housekeeper covered in dust. "What is going on down here?"
May you like
"That woman isn't your wife!" Emma screamed. "She locked Ethan in a vault beneath the house!"
Before William could digest the revelation, the hidden door swung open entirely. Victoria stepped out into the hallway, holding a small detonator. "If anyone leaves this estate tonight, the entire lower level goes up in flames—along with every server holding your family's fortune."
