CHAPTER 7 – The Woman Who Ordered the Fire
The flames were finally under control.
Firefighters searched through the smoking remains of Olivia Brooks' apartment while FBI agents combed through every inch of the rubble.
"There should've been a body," one detective muttered.
"But whoever planned this wanted to make sure there wasn't enough left to identify."
Olivia stood wrapped in a blanket, staring at the destruction in silence.
Five minutes earlier, she had almost died.
Now she realized someone had been hunting her long before she ever learned Arthur Whitmore's name.
Across town...
Arthur refused to remain in his hospital bed.
Ignoring every doctor's warning, he walked out with Ethan and Samuel beside him.
When the FBI escorted Olivia into the safe house, Arthur froze.
She looked exactly like her mother.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same tiny birthmark behind her left ear.
Olivia looked at him cautiously.
"So..."
"You're Arthur Whitmore."
Arthur's voice broke.
"I've searched for you without even knowing you existed."
Olivia pulled the birth certificate from her purse.
"My mother left me this before she died."
Arthur unfolded the fragile paper.
Then another photograph slipped onto the floor.
It showed Arthur holding two newborn babies.
Twins.
One wrapped in a blue blanket.
The other in pink.
Arthur collapsed into a chair.
"I remember this day..."
"The hospital photographer took only one picture."
Samuel stared at it in disbelief.
"So they really were twins..."
Arthur whispered,
"They didn't steal one child."
"They stole both."
Just then, FBI Director Mason entered the room carrying an old classified file.
"We found something hidden in William Whitmore's private vault."
He laid several yellowed documents on the table.
The title shocked everyone.
PROJECT PHOENIX
Arthur frowned.
"What is this?"
Mason answered quietly.
"Thirty-one years ago..."
"...your brother wasn't acting alone."
"There was an organization."
"They specialized in replacing heirs of wealthy families."
"They kidnapped children."
"Changed identities."
"Forged birth records."
"And controlled family fortunes from behind the scenes."
Ethan clenched his fists.
"So William was just a pawn?"
Mason nodded.
"He answered to someone much more powerful."
Samuel suddenly remembered the elegant woman from the surveillance footage.
"The woman who ordered Olivia's apartment destroyed..."
"I've seen her before."
The FBI displayed a photo on the screen.
Everyone gasped.
It was the same woman.
Her name was Victoria Blackwell.
Publicly, she was celebrated as one of the country's most respected philanthropists and CEO of a billion-dollar foundation helping orphaned children.
Privately...
She was the leader of Project Phoenix.
Arthur's hands trembled.
"How many children..."
"...did she steal?"
Mason looked down.
"We've confirmed forty-three."
"But we believe the real number is much higher."
Olivia's eyes filled with tears.
"My entire life was a lie."
Victoria suddenly appeared on every television in the safe house.
She had interrupted every news channel.
Smiling calmly into the camera, she delivered a chilling message.
"Arthur Whitmore..."
"You've already taken back your son."
"You've found your daughter."
"But you'll never stop what's coming."
She held up a silver pendant.
Samuel instantly recognized it.
"No..."
Arthur looked at him.
"What is it?"
Samuel's face turned white.
"Every kidnapped child received one of those."
Victoria smiled even wider.
"There are still twenty-seven children who don't know who they really are."
"And tomorrow..."
"I'll erase every piece of evidence forever."
The broadcast ended.
The room fell silent.
Arthur slowly stood.
He looked at Ethan.
Then at Olivia.
Then at Samuel.
"For thirty years, I fought to find my family."
"Now..."
"We're going to save everyone else's."
Outside the safe house, a convoy of black SUVs waited.
As Arthur stepped toward the first vehicle, his phone vibrated.
A single text message appeared from an unknown number.
"You're already too late. One of the people standing beside you has been betraying you from the very beginning."
Arthur slowly looked at Ethan...
Then Samuel...
Then Olivia.
For the first time...
May you like
He didn't know who he could trust.
TO BE CONTINUED
