ログインThe Man Waiting in the DarkNathan POVMy father was inside the archive.I stared at the message until the words blurred.Fifteen years.Fifteen years of believing he was dead.And now he was waiting for me beneath a building I apparently owned."Nobody goes downstairs," Dylan said.I looked at him."He's my father.""That doesn't mean you can trust him."I wanted to argue.But I couldn't.Not anymore.I turned toward Charles."How do we reach the archive?"He hesitated."There's a service corridor behind the medical wing.""Then show us.""Nathan, you don't understand what you're walking into."I stepped closer."Then stop hiding things and explain."Charles looked away."The archive was designed to preserve information even if the council collapsed.""And?""It was also designed to identify anyone attempting to expose it."My stomach tightened."A trap."He nodded.I looked toward the elevator.My father had spent years helping build that trap.And somehow, he had convinced me to wa
The House of Buried SecretsNathan POVThe estate belonged to me.I stared at the ownership document, waiting for the words to make sense.For fifteen years, I had believed my father was dead.Now he was alive, and apparently, I owned the very place where Project Zero had hidden its darkest secrets."Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.Jonathan's voice came through the phone."Because knowing would have put you in danger."I laughed bitterly."And keeping me ignorant made me safe?"He didn't answer.I closed the document."We're going to the estate.""Nathan, wait.""No.""There's something you need to know before you enter."I paused."The archive has two authorization requirements.""What requirements?""Legal ownership and biological verification."I frowned."Biological verification?""Your father's genetic signature was registered when the system was built. As his son, you can complete the second verification."My stomach tightened."So that's why you needed me."Silence.Then he a
The Father Who Never DiedNathan POV"Hello, son."Two words.That was all it took to destroy fifteen years of certainty.I stared at the phone.My father was dead.I had attended his funeral.I had watched his coffin disappear beneath the ground.And now his voice was coming through a phone in the Carter family study."Who is this?" I demanded.A familiar chuckle followed."Still suspicious of everyone, Nathan. I taught you well."My hands trembled."Prove you're my father."Silence.Then he spoke."When you were nine, you broke your mother's favorite vase. You blamed the dog."My chest tightened."That doesn't prove anything.""You cried when I told you the truth mattered more than punishment."I closed my eyes.Nobody else knew that.Not even my mother."Where have you been?"His answer came quietly."Exactly where they needed me."I looked at Charles.He had gone pale."Who needed you?"My father sighed."The Whitmore Council."Dylan POVI watched Nathan struggle to control his em
The Woman Who Came BackDylan POVI stared at the security screen.The woman standing outside our home looked exactly like my mother.Same face.Same eyes.Even the way she stood was familiar.Behind me, Margaret Hayes gripped the edge of my father's desk."That's impossible," she whispered.Alexander turned toward her."You said your sister disappeared.""She did.""Then who is standing outside?"Margaret shook her head."I don't know."I looked at Nathan."Can you verify the footage?"He examined the security feed."It's live."My heart pounded.For twenty-six years, I had called Margaret my mother.Now the woman whose identity she had taken was standing outside my childhood home."Open the gate," I said.Margaret grabbed my arm."Dylan, don't."I turned."Why?"Her eyes filled with fear."Because if that's Evelyn, she didn't come back without a reason."I pulled away."Then it's time we discovered what that reason is."Emma POVThe front door opened minutes later.A woman entered.
The Woman Behind the NameAlexander POV"Margaret Hayes?"I stared at Evelyn.The woman who had raised me.The woman I had called my mother.The woman who had just admitted she wasn't."Is that your real name?"She didn't answer.I stepped closer."Look at me."Slowly, she lifted her head.Her eyes were filled with tears."Alexander, please.""Please what?"My voice broke."Please understand? Please forgive you? Please pretend I haven't spent my entire life believing a lie?"She covered her mouth.I pointed toward Nathan's screen."That message says Margaret Hayes has been living as Evelyn Carter."Silence."Is it true?"She closed her eyes.Then whispered, "Yes."Something inside me collapsed.I stepped backward.Dylan looked equally stunned."Mom?"She turned toward him.And suddenly, I understood something terrifying.If Evelyn wasn't Evelyn, then who had raised Dylan?Dylan POVI stared at the woman standing before me.My mother.At least, the woman I had always known as my mother
The Son He Never ClaimedDylan POV"Your father, Dylan."My mother's words echoed through the study.I stared at her.Then at Alexander.For several seconds, nobody moved."That's impossible."My voice sounded unfamiliar.Evelyn covered her mouth."Dylan, please."I shook my head."You told us Richard was Alexander's father.""I believed he was.""Then why did you just say otherwise?"Her eyes filled with tears."Because I recognized what your father was about to reveal."Alexander stepped backward."No."He looked at Evelyn."Tell me she's lying."Nobody answered.He turned toward me."Dylan?"I couldn't speak.The recording device remained on the desk.My father's voice had stopped.Nathan reached for it."There's more."I looked at him."Play it."Alexander POVI wanted to leave.I wanted to walk out of that house and forget everything I had heard.Richard wasn't my father?Then who was I?Nathan pressed the button.The recording continued."I discovered that Richard had been raisi
Emma POV"Nothing," I said quickly. Too quickly. "Nothing's wrong with me."Dylan's eyes narrowed. He was studying me now, really looking at me in a way he hadn't since that first morning we woke up together. I could see his mind working, putting pieces together."You've been doing that all day, ha
Emma POV I woke up several hours later to the sound of raised voices downstairs. Dylan's voice was angry and sharp. And another voice, male, equally angry.I got out of bed and crept to the top of the stairs, staying in the shadows where I couldn't be seen.Dylan was in the foyer, and standing wit
Emma POVI'd never seen Dylan look at me like that before. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He'd looked at me with hatred plenty of times, with disgust and contempt and barely concealed loathing. But this was different. This was rage mixed with something else, something darker that made my blood run
Emma POVA strong hand caught my arms, steadying me before I could fall."Careful there."I looked up, and my heart stopped.It was Dylan's younger brother, Marcus Carter. I'd only met him once, briefly, at the wedding. He'd been away on business ever since, somewhere overseas. I didn't even know h







