Chapter 49 - The Heir Who Refused the CrownThe screen changed.
Everyone stared.
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
Because I hadn't chosen myself.
I hadn't chosen Rose.
I chose:
REJECT SUCCESSION.
The laboratory went completely silent.
Michael looked at me.
"You can do that?"
I nodded.
"I don't want his throne."
Jonathan's face hardened.
"You don't understand what you just destroyed."
I looked at him.
"No."
"I understand exactly."
"You spent twenty years trying to create someone who could control everything."
I stepped closer.
"But you forgot something."
"What?"
I looked at Rose.
"People aren't machines."
Jonathan's expression became angry.
"You think love will save you?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"Love is why I refuse to become you."
For the first time...
Jonathan looked uncertain.
The computer began deleting files.
One by one.
All the experiments.
All the records.
Everything.
Claire stared.
"The system is erasing itself."
Michael smiled slightly.
"Jonathan built a system that only responds to the heir."
"And the heir rejected him."
The building shook harder.
Elizabeth grabbed Rose.
"We have to leave."
But Jonathan didn't move.
He stared at the disappearing files.
Twenty years of obsession.
Twenty years of control.
Vanishing.
"You ruined everything."
I looked at him.
"No."
"You did."
He suddenly reached into his jacket.
Everyone froze.
Michael stepped forward.
"Jonathan."
"Don't."
But Jonathan wasn't reaching for a weapon.
He pulled out an old photograph.
A family photo.
One I had never seen.
My mother.
My father.
Me.
Rose.
Together.
Before everything fell apart.
Jonathan looked at it.
His expression changed.
For one moment...
He wasn't a monster.
He was just a man who had lost himself.
"I loved you."
The words surprised everyone.
Elizabeth looked at him sadly.
"No."
"You loved the idea of us."
Jonathan looked away.
Then the ceiling collapsed.
Michael pushed everyone toward the exit.
We escaped through the underground tunnel as the laboratory disappeared behind us.
Outside...
The first morning sunlight appeared over the ocean.
For the first time in years...
I felt free.
But as we watched the mansion burn in the distance...
Claire received a notification.
Her face changed.
"What?"
She looked at me.
"There is one more file."
Michael frowned.
"The system was destroyed."
Claire shook her head.
"No."
"This file wasn't inside the system."
"It was uploaded externally."
My stomach tightened.
"Who uploaded it?"
Claire turned the screen around.
A single name appeared.
May you like
ELIZABETH WHITMORE.
My mother.
