Chapter Thirty: The Traitor's List

No one spoke for several seconds.

The final words of the recording echoed through the hidden office.

"...who told them where to find the children in the first place?"

The monitor faded to black.

The room felt colder than before.

Marcus was the first to break the silence.

"Someone had to provide names."

Inspector Mara Voss nodded slowly.

"Not random names."

She looked around the room.

"Specific children."

"Children whose disappearances wouldn't immediately attract attention."

Daniel folded his arms.

"Or children whose families could be manipulated."

Dr. Dawson closed his eyes.

"We never considered that possibility."

Ronan looked at him.

"No."

"You chose not to."

The accusation lingered in the air.

Dawson didn't defend himself.

Instead, he walked to a tall filing cabinet standing against the far wall.

"I owe you both something."

He unlocked the cabinet with a small brass key hidden inside his sleeve.

Unlike every other cabinet in the office, this one contained only a single gray archive box.

Across the lid, faded black letters read:

CONFIDENTIAL

FIELD RECRUITMENT

My pulse quickened.

Dawson carefully placed the box on the desk.

"I promised Sebastian I would never open this again."

His hands trembled as he lifted the lid.

Inside were dozens of sealed envelopes.

Each marked with a year.

Until finally—

The year I was born.

Dawson selected that envelope.

The paper had yellowed with age, but the wax seal remained intact.

He hesitated.

Then broke it.

A stack of documents slid onto the desk.

At the top was a typed report.

The heading made every person in the room fall silent.

Recommended Child Candidates

Inspector Voss frowned.

"Candidates?"

Dawson looked physically ill.

"We didn't write that."

"Who did?"

"I don't know."

He pushed the report toward us.

Someone had listed dozens of children.

Each name included:

Date of birth.

Secondary gender.

Family status.

Medical history.

Pack affiliation.

Financial value.

I stared at the final column.

Financial value.

Not human worth.

A price.

Marcus whispered,

"My God..."

Ronan flipped another page.

"This isn't a rescue list."

"No."

I could barely force the words out.

"It's an inventory."

The room became deathly still.

Halfway down the page...

My eyes stopped.

There it was.

Vale, Adrian

The line beneath my name read:

Status: Omega

Priority: High

Every muscle in my body locked.

No one else spoke.

No one needed to.

The truth was already sitting on the page.

Someone had known I was an Omega before I was even born.

Long before my parents bribed doctors.

Long before the forged medical records.

Long before the lie.

Ronan slowly reached for the document.

Then stopped.

"You should read it."

I forced myself to continue.

The next line read:

Recommendation: Transfer denied.

I blinked.

Denied?

A handwritten note had been added in blue ink.

Child removed by S. Vale.

My father.

He had taken me.

Not hidden me afterward.

Taken me before someone else could.

Another note appeared beneath it.

Written in different handwriting.

Continue observation. Subject remains valuable.

My blood ran cold.

Observation.

Not rescue.

Someone had watched me my entire life.

Inspector Voss carefully collected the document into an evidence sleeve.

"This changes everything."

"It changes nothing," Mr. Rowan corrected.

She looked sharply at him.

"The people responsible are still alive."

Daniel suddenly froze.

"There should be another report."

Dawson frowned.

"What?"

"The Ashcroft file."

Ronan immediately searched the remaining papers.

Nothing.

He searched the envelope again.

Empty.

"My name isn't here."

I looked up.

Neither was there any record for Ronan Ashcroft.

Only mine.

Only other children.

Never him.

Mr. Rowan watched quietly.

Then said,

"That's because Ronan was never on the recruitment list."

Every eye turned toward him.

"What do you mean?" Ronan asked.

Rowan walked to the window overlooking the underground corridor.

Without turning around, he answered.

"Someone added Adrian's name."

A pause.

"But someone removed yours."

Silence settled over the office.

Marcus frowned.

"Who?"

Rowan slowly faced us.

"I've spent twelve years trying to answer that question."

Inspector Voss crossed her arms.

"And?"

"And I finally found one witness."

My heartbeat quickened.

"Who?"

"He died yesterday."

"Elias Mercer."

Rowan nodded once.

"He was about to tell Adrian everything."

A painful realization settled over me.

The seven missed calls.

The desperate attempts to reach me.

Elias hadn't been trying to expose me.

He'd been trying to warn me.

Warn me that someone had been watching my life since the day I was born.

Before anyone could speak again, a shrill alarm echoed through the office.

Not from Genesis.

From the laptop on the desk.

A live security feed appeared.

Silverfang Tower.

Executive Floor.

Smoke.

Broken glass.

Panicked employees running through the corridors.

Marcus stepped closer.

"That's my office..."

The camera switched automatically.

Boardroom.

The Silverfang directors were gathered around the conference table.

Chairman Hale stood at its head.

He wasn't panicked.

He wasn't evacuating.

He was speaking.

The room's microphones were damaged, but one sentence came through clearly.

"Adrian Vale is no longer capable of leading Silverfang."

Marcus's face turned white.

"He's calling an emergency board vote."

My heart sank.

Of course.

While I was buried beneath the tower chasing the truth...

Someone was stealing my company.

Ronan looked at the screen for only a second before turning back to me.

His voice was calm.

"We have exactly one hour."

"One hour for what?"

He met my eyes.

"To save your father..."

He glanced at the report listing my name.

"...or save your company."

The room fell completely silent.

Because for the first time in my life...

I couldn't save both.