I sank into a deep velvet armchair, holding my baby girls close against my chest while Elias poured a glass of scotch, though he didn't drink it. He stood by the fireplace, staring into the flickering flames.

“Three years ago,” Elias began, his voice laced with a quiet, lingering sorrow, “my younger sister, Elena, fell in love with a man she believed was an ordinary university professor. She didn't know he was secretly an operative for Blackwood’s syndicate, planted to infiltrate our family.”

My breath caught. “Was that... was that Victor?”

“No,” Elias shook his head. “Victor is just a low-level cleaner who was assigned to marry you two years ago to keep tabs on the genetic lineage after Elena’s disappearance. You see, Ava, my family carries a rare genetic mutation—a neurological trait that allows for instantaneous cognitive processing and photographic memory retention under extreme stress. In the corporate espionage and underground syndicate world, that kind of genetic coding is worth billions.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “My daughters... they have that?”

“They do,” Elias confirmed, turning to look at me with fierce pride. “When Elena was murdered, Blackwood managed to steal her cryogenic tissue samples, but he couldn't replicate the neural activation sequence. He needed a surrogate host to carry the embryos to full term naturally—a woman whose body chemistry wouldn't reject the gene transfer. That’s why Victor was ordered to marry you, Ava. You were chosen by design.”

The room seemed to tilt. Every memory of my marriage to Victor—the coldness in his eyes, the way he watched me during my pregnancy like I was a scientific specimen rather than a wife—came flooding back with sickening clarity.

“He never loved me,” I whispered, a tear finally breaking free and rolling down my cheek. “It was all a lie. Every single day of my life for three years was a manufactured cage.”

Elias walked over, kneeling beside my chair. His dark, intense eyes looked up into mine with an unwavering strength that anchored me to reality.

“He used you, Ava,” Elias said, his voice firm and unyielding. “And for that, he will pay with everything he owns. But you are no longer a victim. You are the mother of the future heirs to the Vance empire. And as long as I draw breath, no one will ever touch you or those girls again.”

Before I could answer, the encrypted secure phone on the mahogany desk buzzed violently.

Elias stood up, striding across the room to pick up the receiver. He listened in silence for several seconds, his jaw tightening into a hard, unforgiving line.

“Put him on speaker,” Elias instructed coldly.

A raspy, distorted voice echoed through the speakerphone—a voice I recognized instantly from the nightmares that had haunted my marriage.

“Elias,” Victor sneered from the other end of the line. “I see you’ve rescued my wife and my merchandise. Impressive for an old wolf. But let’s see how smug you feel when the entire New York Police Department and three federal task forces raid your penthouse within twenty minutes on charges of child abduction and human trafficking.”

Elias didn't raise his voice. He smiled—a cold, terrifying smile that promised absolute destruction.

“Go ahead and call your federal friends, Victor,” Elias replied smoothly. “By the time they kick my doors down, you won't even have a syndicate left to run.”