“Yes.”

“Then you were planning to give this to him anyway.”

“No.”

Margaret shook her head.

“I planned to destroy it before he was old enough.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Because Edward stole half the archive.”

Edward laughed from across the room.

“Half?”

Margaret turned.

“You never had more than copies.”

Edward’s smile disappeared.

Margaret continued.

“The true archive has always been with Emily.”

Emily stared.

“But I never—”

“The black case is only the access key.”

Margaret pointed toward the case.

“The actual archive is distributed across twelve servers.”

Thomas frowned.

“Site Twelve.”

“Yes.”

Rachel went pale.

“That’s where David is taking Lucas.”

Margaret nodded.

“If he gets Lucas into the system and Michael follows—”

“He has both biological keys.”

“Yes.”

“And then?”

Margaret looked at Edward.

“He can override me.”

Edward stepped forward.

“And me?”

“You were never a biological key.”

Edward’s face hardened.

“That was our agreement.”

“No.”

“That was your assumption.”

Victoria watched her father.

The rage in his face told her everything.

Edward had spent decades believing he could inherit something that had never truly been available to him.

“You used him,” Victoria whispered.

Margaret looked at her.

“Yes.”

Edward drew his gun.

Thomas raised his.

Cole raised his.

Rachel pulled Sophie behind her.

Margaret didn’t move.

Edward pointed the gun at her chest.

“You think admitting it makes you noble?”

“No.”

“You think regret erases anything?”

“No.”

“You took my life.”

Margaret’s voice remained quiet.

“You gave it willingly.”

Edward’s finger tightened.

Victoria stepped between them.

“Dad.”

“Move.”

“No.”

“Victoria.”

She stared at him.

“You disappeared.”

His expression changed.

“You left me with your enemies.”

“I was protecting you.”

“You abandoned me.”

“I watched you.”

“That makes it worse!”

Edward stared.

Victoria’s voice broke.

“You watched me become like you.”

He lowered the gun slightly.

“You watched me hurt children.”

Edward’s face changed.

“You could have stopped me.”

Silence.

Victoria wiped her eyes.

“But keeping your organization secret mattered more.”

Edward looked away.

Victoria whispered:

“You don’t get to call that love.”

Rachel watched her.

Still angry.

Still unwilling to forgive.

But for the first time, she saw Victoria confronting what she had become.

Then Margaret’s phone beeped.

A red warning appeared.

CONTINUITY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.

Margaret went pale.

“No.”

Rachel looked at her.

“What?”

“David reached Site Twelve.”

At the abandoned academy, Lucas finally cut through the plastic tie.

He kept his hands together.

Pretending.

David led him through a corridor lined with old classroom doors.

Dust covered everything.

But one room was clean.

Computers glowed behind glass.

A circular scanner stood in the center.

David placed Lucas in a chair.

“You’re going to put your hand there.”

“No.”

David smiled.

“You will.”

“My dad says—”

“I know what your dad says.”

David crouched.

“But your father isn’t here.”

A voice came from the doorway.

“Yes, he is.”

David turned.

Michael stood there.

Gun raised.

William behind him.

Lucas’s eyes filled.

“DAD!”

Michael stared at his son.

“I told you I was coming.”

David smiled.

“Perfect.”

Michael’s eyes never left Lucas.

“Let him go.”

David stepped beside the scanner.

“You still don’t understand.”

“I understand enough.”

“No.”

David looked toward William.

“Tell him.”

William’s face tightened.

Michael glanced at his father.

“Tell me what?”

William didn’t answer.

David laughed.

“He still hasn’t told you.”

Michael felt dread.

“What?”

David walked toward the central console.

“The system doesn’t require Michael Hayes and Lucas Hayes.”

Michael froze.

“It requires a father and his biological firstborn son.”

William whispered:

“David…”

Michael stared.

David smiled.

“Ask Dad why he’s really here.”

Michael slowly turned toward William.

William’s face collapsed.

“No.”

Michael whispered:

“What did you do?”

David looked delighted.

“Not what he did.”

He pointed at William.

“What she did.”

“Who?”

“Margaret.”

Michael’s blood ran cold.

David looked toward Lucas.

“Your grandmother changed one more record.”

Michael stared.

“What record?”

David pressed a key.

A birth certificate appeared on screen.

MICHAEL ANDREW HAYES.

Michael looked at the father line.

His world stopped.

Father:

EDWARD LANGFORD.

Not William Hayes.

Michael stared at the screen.

“No.”

David smiled.

“Welcome to the real family, little brother.”