The choice

The message remained on Elena's screen.

COME TO THE CHAPEL ALONE.

She read it again.

Then again.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

Adrian noticed.

“What did they say?”

Elena looked up.

“They know about Lily.”

His expression changed immediately.

“What exactly did they say?”

Elena hesitated.

“They want me at the chapel.”

“Alone?”

She nodded.

Adrian shook his head.

“No.”

“You don't understand.”

“I understand perfectly.”

“They threatened Lily.”

“And that's exactly why you're not going anywhere alone.”

Elena looked toward Richard.

He had become unusually quiet.

“You know what the chapel means,” she said.

Richard didn't answer.

“Don't you?”

Richard finally looked at her.

“Yes.”

“What happened there?”

He swallowed.

“That is where the original agreement was signed.”

Charles stepped forward.

“And where Amelia disappeared.”

Elena's heart pounded.

“So that's where we're going.”

Adrian immediately shook his head.

“No. We find Lily first.”

“I don't know where she is.”

“We can trace her phone.”

“I already tried.”

Adrian pulled out his phone.

“Then I'll try again.”

Richard stepped closer.

“Adrian.”

His son turned.

“What?”

“Your security system has been compromised.”

Adrian stared at him.

“How long?”

Richard's answer was quiet.

“Long enough.”

Adrian's face hardened.

“You knew?”

“I suspected.”

“You suspected someone had access to my company's security systems and said nothing?”

“I was trying to determine who.”

“And did you?”

Richard looked at Elena.

“No.”

Charles gave a bitter laugh.

“Then we're running out of time.”

Elena looked toward the gates.

The black vehicle was gone.

“We go to the chapel.”

Adrian looked at her.

“No.”

“Adrian—”

“I said no.”

She stepped closer.

“If someone has Lily, waiting isn't going to help.”

“I'll go with you.”

“The message said alone.”

“I don't care.”

Elena stared at him.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Richard interrupted.

“There is another way.”

Everyone turned.

Richard reached into his pocket and removed a small key.

“This opens a room beneath the chapel.”

Elena frowned.

“A room?”

“An archive.”

Charles stared at the key.

“I thought that room was destroyed.”

“So did everyone else.”

Adrian took the key.

“What is inside?”

Richard looked at Elena.

“Proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“The real agreement.”

Elena's heart raced.

“And my mother?”

Richard hesitated.

“Possibly.”

They drove toward the old chapel.

The journey was silent.

Elena sat beside Adrian in the back seat.

Neither spoke.

Finally, Adrian broke the silence.

“If this is too dangerous, we turn back.”

Elena looked at him.

“You still think you can protect me.”

“I know I can try.”

Her expression softened for a moment.

“Years ago, I thought you didn't care.”

“I never stopped.”

She looked away.

Neither said anything else.

When they arrived, the chapel stood beneath the moonlight, abandoned and silent.

The doors were slightly open.

Elena froze.

“They're already here.”

Charles reached for the door.

Adrian stopped him.

“Wait.”

He pointed at the ground.

Fresh footprints.

Someone had entered recently.

Richard's face became grim.

“They're waiting.”

Elena looked at him.

“Then let's stop running.”

They entered.

The chapel smelled of dust and old wood.

At the front stood a stone altar.

Behind it was a faded symbol of three interlocking circles.

Elena touched it.

A section of the wall moved.

A hidden staircase appeared.

Charles stared.

“Twenty years…”

Richard nodded.

“The archive.”

They descended.

At the bottom was a narrow corridor.

At the end stood a metal door.

Richard inserted the key.

The lock clicked.

Inside were shelves filled with boxes.

Adrian picked up one marked BLACKWOOD–BENNETT–VALE.

Elena opened it.

Documents.

Photographs.

Letters.

And one small notebook.

She opened it.

The first page contained a handwritten name.

Margaret Vale.

Elena's breath caught.

She turned the page.

There was a sentence.

If Elena ever finds this, she must know the truth about her father.

Elena froze.

Her eyes lifted.

“My father?”

Daniel stepped forward.

“Let me see.”

She handed him the notebook.

He read the next page.

His face changed.

“What?”

Daniel looked at Elena.

“You weren't supposed to find this.”

“What does it say?”

He hesitated.

Then he whispered,

“Your biological father wasn't Daniel Bennett.”

Silence.

Elena stared at him.

“What?”

Daniel lowered his head.

“I raised you.”

Her heart broke.

“But I wasn't your biological father.”

Adrian stared at Richard.

Richard's expression had become unreadable.

Elena's voice trembled.

“Then who is?”

Before Daniel could answer, the chapel lights suddenly came on.

A voice echoed from the doorway.

“You finally found it.”

Everyone turned.

A woman stood there.

Elena stopped breathing.

The woman looked older.

Tired.

But the face was unmistakable.

The same eyes.

The same expression.

The same voice.

“Mom?”

The woman slowly lowered the hood covering her head.

“Hello, Elena.”

Margaret Bennett—or Margaret Vale—looked at her daughter.

And Elena realized the impossible truth.

Her mother was alive.