CHAPTER 25

Thomas Reed was alive.

For a moment, Dani genuinely thought she was hallucinating.

The penthouse seemed to tilt beneath her feet.

The photograph on Julian's phone remained frozen on the screen.

Clear.

Sharp.

Undeniable.

An older woman exiting a black SUV.

And beside her—

Thomas Reed.

Very much alive.

Very much breathing.

Very much not dead.

Silence swallowed the room.

Nobody moved.

Nobody blinked.

Nobody spoke.

Because there was no logical explanation.

Thomas Reed died three years ago.

There had been a funeral.

A death certificate.

An investigation.

A burial.

People didn't come back from that.

Yet the photograph existed.

And the image looked recent.

Painfully recent.

The anonymous caller had made sure of that.

Finally, Stella whispered:

"No."

The word sounded broken.

Dani couldn't blame her.

She felt exactly the same.

Julian remained motionless.

His gaze locked on the screen.

Expression unreadable.

Dangerously unreadable.

Then he zoomed in.

Examining the image more closely.

Dani stepped beside him.

The photograph sharpened.

The details became clearer.

And suddenly something felt wrong.

Not with Thomas.

With the woman.

Her pulse accelerated.

"Wait."

Julian glanced at her.

"What?"

Dani pointed at the screen.

"The woman."

Nobody understood immediately.

Then Stella leaned closer.

And froze.

"Oh my God."

The realization hit all three of them at once.

The woman in the photograph wasn't just any woman.

It was Elena Cross.

The room erupted.

"Impossible."

Julian's voice sounded cold.

Controlled.

Yet Dani could hear the strain beneath it.

The pressure.

The uncertainty.

The fear.

Because Elena Cross was supposed to be dead.

Or missing.

Or hidden.

Not casually walking around with a dead investigator.

The stranger—the woman claiming to be Stella's sister—looked equally stunned.

"That's her."

Nobody argued.

Nobody needed to.

The old photographs matched.

The facial structure.

The eyes.

The features.

Age had changed her.

Time had changed her.

But not enough.

It was Elena.

Alive.

Twenty-eight years after supposedly dying.

Which raised one terrifying question.

Why?

The stranger seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"My mother told me Elena vanished."

A pause.

"Not that she died."

Dani's stomach tightened.

Because suddenly another possibility emerged.

The death certificate had been fake.

Not forged.

Created intentionally.

A disappearance disguised as a death.

A way to erase someone.

And if someone had gone through that much effort...

Then Elena wasn't just important.

She was dangerous.

Julian moved immediately.

Action replacing shock.

His phone was already in his hand.

Calling someone.

Giving orders.

Demanding answers.

Classic Julian.

When chaos appeared, he attacked it.

The call connected.

"Trace the image."

His voice left no room for argument.

A pause.

Listening.

Then:

"I don't care how long it takes."

Another pause.

"Now."

The line disconnected.

The stranger watched him.

Carefully.

"You won't find the sender."

Julian's eyes narrowed.

"Why not?"

The woman laughed softly.

Without humor.

"Because Thomas taught them better."

The statement landed heavily.

Dani noticed it immediately.

Thomas taught them.

Not Thomas taught me.

Them.

Plural.

The realization sent a chill through her.

There was more than one person involved.

Of course there was.

Nothing this complicated ever involved just one person.

The stranger seemed to realize she'd revealed too much.

Her expression hardened.

Julian noticed.

Immediately.

"What aren't you saying?"

The question hung in the air.

The woman remained silent.

Too silent.

Then:

"Thomas wasn't alone."

The room froze.

Again.

Another revelation.

Another secret.

Another piece of a puzzle growing larger by the minute.

Dani's pulse quickened.

"What do you mean?"

The stranger looked toward the photograph.

Toward Thomas.

Toward Elena.

Then finally answered.

"He had help."

Midnight arrived without anyone noticing.

The penthouse had become a war room.

Documents covered every available surface.

Photographs.

Reports.

Hospital records.

DNA analyses.

Court filings.

The evidence seemed endless.

Yet somehow they still lacked answers.

Dani sat at the dining table.

Exhaustion pulling at her.

The pregnancy wasn't helping.

Neither was the stress.

Her body felt heavy.

Her mind felt overloaded.

The baby.

The thought appeared unexpectedly.

For a brief moment, everything else faded.

The conspiracies.

The secrets.

The danger.

There was still a baby.

Still a future.

Still something worth protecting.

Her hand drifted unconsciously to her abdomen.

The gesture felt natural now.

Comforting.

Then she noticed Julian watching.

The realization made her freeze.

For several seconds neither spoke.

The silence felt different than before.

Not awkward.

Not hostile.

Complicated.

Julian's gaze dropped briefly to her hand.

Then returned to her face.

Something softened in his expression.

Just slightly.

Gone almost immediately.

Yet she saw it.

And somehow that made everything harder.

Because despite all the chaos surrounding them...

The pregnancy remained real.

The baby remained real.

Their connection remained real.

No matter how much they tried to ignore it.

A knock interrupted the moment.

Sharp.

Urgent.

Everyone looked up.

The stranger immediately tensed.

Julian moved first.

Crossing the penthouse.

Opening the door.

A security officer stood outside.

Breathing hard.

Clearly rattled.

Not a good sign.

"What happened?"

Julian's tone sharpened instantly.

The guard swallowed.

Then delivered the words that changed everything.

"We found a body."

The room went silent.

Dani felt her stomach drop.

Julian's expression darkened immediately.

"Where?"

The guard hesitated.

Fear visible in his eyes.

Then:

"The underground parking garage."

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Because bodies weren't normal.

Not even in their increasingly insane lives.

The guard continued.

"It was discovered thirty minutes ago."

Julian's jaw tightened.

"Who?"

The guard looked uncomfortable.

Very uncomfortable.

The kind of uncomfortable that usually meant terrible news.

Then he answered.

And Dani felt ice flood her veins.

"One of the company's board members."

The room froze.

Because suddenly Thomas Reed wasn't the only death connected to this mystery.

Not anymore.

Twenty minutes later they were descending into the private garage.

Security teams surrounded the area.

Police sirens echoed in the distance.

The scene looked chaotic.

Controlled panic.

Julian moved through it effortlessly.

People stepped aside automatically.

Years of authority creating instinctive obedience.

Dani followed.

Despite every rational reason not to.

She needed answers.

Needed clarity.

Needed something.

The parking garage felt cold.

Concrete.

Steel.

Flashing emergency lights.

The atmosphere alone felt wrong.

A sheet covered the body.

Police officers moved around it.

Photographing.

Documenting.

Investigating.

One detective approached Julian immediately.

Middle-aged.

Serious.

Tired.

"We have a problem."

Julian's expression didn't change.

"I've noticed."

The detective didn't smile.

Didn't react.

"You're going to want to see this."

Dani's pulse accelerated.

The detective lifted a clear evidence bag.

Inside was a folded piece of paper.

Nothing remarkable.

Until Julian opened it.

Read it.

And went completely still.

The detective looked toward Dani.

Then Stella.

Then the stranger.

"Mean anything to you?"

Nobody answered.

Julian slowly unfolded the note.

Then turned it around.

Allowing everyone to read.

Dani felt her blood run cold.

The message contained only six words.

Six simple words.

Yet somehow they felt terrifying.

Thomas Reed tried to warn you.

Below the sentence sat a symbol.

A symbol Dani recognized immediately.

The same symbol she'd seen stamped on several of the hospital documents.

A circle.

A triangle.

And a single letter inside.

V

Victor Vance.

The realization struck everyone at once.

The symbol wasn't random.

It wasn't decorative.

It was a signature.

A mark.

A warning.

A declaration.

The detective frowned.

"You know what it means."

Not a question.

An observation.

Nobody answered.

Because nobody wanted to.

Then another officer approached.

Holding something.

A folder.

Old.

Weathered.

Damaged.

The officer handed it to the detective.

"We found this under the victim."

The detective opened it.

Looked inside.

Then froze.

Completely froze.

His expression changed instantly.

Shock.

Real shock.

The kind that couldn't be faked.

Julian noticed.

Immediately.

"What is it?"

The detective looked up.

Slowly.

Carefully.

As though struggling to process what he was seeing.

Then he answered.

And the words sent a chill through every person in the garage.

"It's a list."

Nobody spoke.

The detective swallowed.

"A list of names."

Dani's pulse thundered.

"What names?"

The detective looked down again.

Then back up.

His face pale.

Very pale.

"Everyone connected to Room 214."

The world stopped.

Because Room 214 was where everything began.

The switched babies.

The hidden records.

The lies.

The agreement.

Everything.

The detective continued.

"There are twelve names."

A pause.

Then:

"Eight are already dead."

Silence exploded through the garage.

Absolute silence.

Because suddenly this wasn't just a mystery.

It wasn't just a conspiracy.

It wasn't just a family secret.

Someone was systematically eliminating witnesses.

One by one.

For decades.

Then the detective turned another page.

And his expression changed again.

Fear.

Pure fear.

"What?"

Julian demanded.

The detective slowly handed over the list.

Julian looked down.

Read.

Then froze.

The color vanished from his face.

Immediately.

Dani's heart hammered.

Because she'd never seen him look like that.

Never.

"What is it?"

Julian didn't answer.

Couldn't answer.

Instead, he handed the paper to her.

With trembling fingers, Dani looked down.

And found the final four names still alive.

Julian Carter Vance.

Stella Carter Vance.

Elena Cross.

And—

Daniella Mitchell.

At the bottom of the page, beneath all four names, someone had written a final message in red ink.

Three remain.

One dies tomorrow.

Choose carefully.