Chapter 19 - THE LAST PERSON LEFT STANDINGEvery person in the room looked at each other.
Suspicion spread faster than fear.
The guards tightened their grip on their weapons.
Nobody trusted anyone.
Not anymore.
I looked around the mansion.
At every face.
Every person who claimed to love me.
Every person who claimed to protect me.
Someone had been watching.
Someone had been controlling everything.
"Who?"
My voice was low.
"Who has been inside this mansion?"
Nobody answered.
Then Adrian looked toward the corner.
Toward the old family portrait.
"What about him?"
Everyone followed his gaze.
The portrait.
My grandfather.
The founder of the Whitmore empire.
The man everyone believed was dead.
Matteo stepped closer.
"That's impossible."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
He pointed.
"Look carefully."
I walked toward the portrait.
At first, I saw nothing.
Then I noticed it.
A small symbol.
Hidden in the painting.
The same family ring.
My stomach turned.
"He was never gone."
Adrian whispered.
"He was watching."
Suddenly, the mansion speakers turned on.
A man's voice filled the room.
Older.
Cold.
Powerful.
"Impressive."
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
"It took you longer than I expected."
I felt my blood run cold.
Because I knew that voice.
Not personally.
But from the old recordings.
My grandfather.
The dead man.
The man who was never dead.
"You destroyed my family."
My voice shook.
A low laugh came through the speakers.
"No."
The voice replied.
"I built it."
The doors locked automatically.
The guards tried to move.
Nothing happened.
The entire mansion had been controlled.
From the beginning.
"You wanted the truth?"
My grandfather's voice continued.
"Now you will get all of it."
A screen lowered from the ceiling.
A video began playing.
It showed my father.
Years ago.
Alive.
Talking to someone.
The camera moved.
Revealing the person sitting across from him.
My mother.
They weren't fighting.
They weren't enemies.
They were working together.
Then my grandfather appeared.
The video stopped.
The room went silent.
A message appeared:
PROJECT WHITMORE — THE FINAL HEIR
My heart stopped.
"What is Project Whitmore?"
Nobody answered.
Then my grandfather's voice returned.
"The reason you are alive."
I stared at the screen.
The next image appeared.
A DNA report.
My name.
Adrian's name.
And another name.
A third child.
Impossible.
May you like
There were not two Whitmore children.
There were three.
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