CHAPTER 6 — The Chairman's Son
Silence swallowed the forest.
Even the armed men lowered their weapons.
The elderly man walked forward slowly, carrying nothing except an elegant wooden cane.
His silver hair was perfectly combed.
His shoes never touched the mud.
Power followed him without effort.
Rose whispered one word.
"Chairman."
The little title carried more fear than any weapon.
Mason refused to move.
"You're lying."
The old man smiled gently.
"I expected that."
He opened a leather folder and tossed several documents onto the hood of the truck.
Birth certificates.
Hospital records.
DNA reports.
Photographs.
Mason picked up the oldest picture.
A young woman held a newborn baby in a hospital bed.
Standing beside her...
...was the Chairman.
Not the man Mason had called Dad for thirty-five years.
His hands began to shake.
"No..."
The Chairman sighed.
"Your mother tried to run away with you."
"She believed she could hide my only heir."
"She failed."
Lucas stepped in front of Mason.
"You don't deserve to call yourself his father."
The Chairman looked disappointed.
"I raised you too, Lucas."
"I rescued you from the streets."
"You turned two abandoned boys into brothers."
Lucas's voice hardened.
"You didn't rescue us."
"You trained us."
The Chairman didn't deny it.
Instead, he smiled.
"Everything I built..."
"Everything Wolf controls..."
"It belongs to Mason."
Rose couldn't stay silent any longer.
"It belongs to no one!"
"It was built on murdered children."
The Chairman's eyes grew cold for the first time.
"Careful."
"You of all people should remember what happened the last time you defied me."
Mason looked at Rose.
"What is he talking about?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"The night I disappeared..."
"I wasn't kidnapped."
"I surrendered."
Mason stared at her in disbelief.
"I traded myself..."
"...for your life."
His knees almost gave way.
Everything he had believed for eight years collapsed in seconds.
At that exact moment...
A terrified little voice echoed through the darkness.
"Mason!"
Everyone turned.
The little girl burst from the trees, running as fast as she could.
Her yellow shirt was torn.
Her wrists were bleeding from broken zip ties.
"Dad!"
She threw herself toward Mason.
He caught her just before she fell.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I found Mom..."
Rose's heart stopped.
"What?"
The little girl looked up, trembling.
"I found the other Mom."
Every face froze.
Rose whispered,
"What... did you just say?"
The child slowly pointed toward the black helicopter hovering above the trees.
A woman stepped out.
She had Rose's face.
Rose's eyes widened in horror.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
The woman smiled.
May you like
"Hello, sister."
END OF CHAPTER 6...
